Invincible: Family, faith and friends strengthened Air Force veteran as he fought multiple bouts of cancer and COVID-19

As a young man, Robert Plick thought he could handle anything. Life presented him with many challenges. After powering through — and never missing a day of work — he learned he is, indeed, invincible.
Feb. 16, 2023
Robert Plick learned the values of "duty, honor and sacrifice," from his dad. Both men served in the military and the younger Robert has proved his invincibility by never missing work as he fought both cancer and COVID-19. Photo by Willie Petersen, for UCHealth.
Robert Plick learned the values of “duty, honor and sacrifice” from his dad. Both men served in the military and the younger Robert has proved his invincibility by never missing work as he fought both cancer and COVID-19. Photo by Willie Petersen, for UCHealth.

Robert Plick learned the military ethos of “duty, honor and sacrifice” from his father, a Black man born in the segregated South, who served multiple combat tours for the U.S. Army in Korea and Vietnam before finishing his military career in Colorado Springs.

Plick lost his dad during the COVID-19 pandemic but continues to live his father’s values every day, prioritizing faith, family and service.

Plick spends his working days at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus, walking several miles to administer electrocardiograms (EKGs) to dozens of patients.

He does so cheerfully, knowing that the work helped him to survive a much greater, long-running challenge that included bouts with three kinds of cancer, heart failure and COVID-19.

“You have to put others before yourself,” says Plick, 65.

In work and life, Plick draws strength and inspiration from his dad, Robert J. Plick, with whom he shares a birthday: February 26.

: Robert Plick and his dad on their birthdays in 2019. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.
Robert Plick and his dad on their shared birthday in 2019. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.

Plick’s dad was born in New Orleans in 1932 and joined the Army at 17. He served a combat tour in Korea and earned the rank of master sergeant by the age of 21. He completed three more combat tours in Vietnam before returning to the States for a final 30-year stint at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.

Deep ties to his dad and the military before coping with cancer and COVID

Plick followed in his dad’s footsteps, joining the military at age 21. Though the younger Plick chose the Air Force over the Army, father and son look startlingly similar in side-by-side uniformed photos taken 25 years apart. Plick says his father passed on more than physical characteristics.

“He taught me the importance of honor and duty, to be respectful, and to do the right thing,” Plick said.

For him, doing the right thing meant serving patients at the hospital even as he battled through disease. He never missed a day of work through a grueling chemotherapy regimen and continued even as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened and increased his risk of exposure to the virus.

“If my dad could get through Vietnam and take care of his soldiers, I felt I could continue to take care of my patients,” Plick said.

“You show up. You never let the flag hit the ground,” Plick said, referring to African American Civil War Sgt. William H. Carney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for famously saving the American flag in battle.

Kidney cancer followed by lymphoma

The details of Plick’s medical odyssey demonstrate the strength of that commitment. In 2012, he worked in health care education at a Denver college when he discovered blood in his urine. His providers suspected a kidney stone, but imaging revealed cancer in the left kidney. He underwent robotic surgery that cleared the cancer while preserving two-thirds of the kidney.

With that behind him, Plick joined University of Colorado Hospital in 2015 as an ancillary health technician (AHT) performing patient blood draws and EKGs. All was well until 2018, when he noticed he was more fatigued than usual. That’s ordinarily no cause for concern for AHTs, who routinely log several miles walking from unit to unit during a shift.

“I thought I was just tired from work,” Plick said.

Unfortunately, he needed far more than rest to recover. That spring, Dr. Manali Kamdar, clinical director of lymphoma services at the UCHealth Blood Disorders and Cell Therapies Center, performed a biopsy on tumors above and below Plick’s diaphragm. She diagnosed him with nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin disease – cancer originating in white blood cells called lymphocytes. It’s a relatively rare type of lymphoma.

Persevering through chemotherapy

Kamdar prescribed a chemotherapy regimen called R-CHOP: a combination of five cancer-killing drugs. Plick got his infusions on Fridays to give him the weekend to recover. He said the drugs took a physical toll. He was weak and jittery. When his hair began to fall out, his wife, Leatra, shaved his head.

His shaking hands prevented him from doing blood draws, but he continued to perform EKGs and maintained his 12-hour shifts without missing a single day of work. His spirit proved more than sufficient to bolster his physical weakness.

“Going to work helped me to stay focused and gave me a goal,” Plick said. As associate minister at the Northeast Church of Christ in Denver, he also drew strength from “a commitment to put others in front of yourself.”

Robert Plick with his wife, Leatra, who helped him through his health care ordeals. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.
Robert Plick with his wife, Leatra, who helped him through his health care ordeals. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.

His determination did not go unnoticed. After Plick completed his chemotherapy regimen, hospital management and his department recognized him for his unblemished attendance record. Kamdar praised his commitment while emphasizing that other patients should not be afraid to undergo the same regimen. Medications to treat nausea, diarrhea and other side effects help patients maintain their quality of life throughout treatment, Kamdar said, though many will require time off from work.

“Robert tolerated the chemotherapy well and pushed himself through,” Kamdar said. “Hats off to him.”

A hit to the heart

In September 2018, Plick’s cancer was in remission, but his ordeal was far from over. He continued to work, but physical weakness still nagged him.

Robert Plick, right, and his dad, Robert J. Plick, in pictures taken when both were 21 years old. The resemblance was more than physical. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.
Robert Plick, right, and his dad, Robert J. Plick, in pictures taken when both were 21 years old. The resemblance was more than physical. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.

“My legs felt like they weighed 50 pounds apiece,” he remembered.

Plick woke up one morning in December with a fever and a heart rate above 120. He went to UCH, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia, but that was only his most immediate problem. Tests showed the left ventricle of Plick’s heart had an ejection fraction of 13%, meaning that it was pumping at only about a quarter of its normal capacity.

His heart failure was a terrible turn, but in one vital way, Plick was lucky. He received care from Dr. Lavanya Kondapalli, the state’s only fellowship-trained cardio-oncologist. In that role, Kondapalli specializes in heart problems caused by toxic chemotherapy drugs. In Plick’s case, one drug in the R-CHOP regimen, doxorubicin, is linked to heart damage. Kondapalli recognized the issue and prescribed medications to help restore Plick’s heart health.

Dr. Lavanya Kondapalli recognized that Plick’s heart failure was the result of a single drug in his chemotherapy regimen. Photo by UCHealth.
Dr. Lavanya Kondapalli recognized that Plick’s heart failure resulted from a single drug in his chemotherapy regimen. Photo by UCHealth.

The crucial catch was the product of collegial collaboration. Kondapalli and Kamdar have worked together for several years, building the Collaborative Cardiac Care for Lymphoma Patients program to guard against heart problems caused by the drugs used to treat that specific cancer. Each lymphoma patient gets a baseline echocardiogram before beginning chemo. After they are in remission, Kondapalli schedules a checkup, which includes another echocardiogram to detect any signs of heart damage.

Kondapalli said the checkup normally occurs within one year after patients finish chemo. But a tiny fraction of patients, including Robert Plick, suffer “acute toxicity” that results in a catastrophic decline in the heart’s pumping power, she said.

The medications Kondapalli prescribed have gotten Plick’s ejection fraction back into the mid-40s. There is no guarantee that it will stay there, but he has reason to be hopeful if he takes his pills every day, Kondapalli noted.

“He is managing a chronic medical problem,” she said. “Many highly functional people are in the [ejection fraction] range he is in.”

Robert Plick has fought through both cancer and COVID-18. Photo by Willie Petersen, for UCHealth.
Robert Plick has fought both cancer and COVID-19. This Air Force veteran learned “duty, honor and sacrifice” from his dad and refused to skip work during his cancer treatments.Photo by Willie Petersen, for UCHealth.

Yet another cancer challenge

Plick did continue to function after Kondapalli’s treatment, but another threat emerged in the late summer of 2019. It started with a stubborn sore throat that made swallowing difficult. He was working a shift at the hospital one day when he encountered Kamdar making her inpatient rounds. When she asked him how he was, he told her about the pain bothering him.

“I was worried and wanted to make sure there was nothing there,” said Kamdar, noting that the chronic lymphoma that Plick had can recur in survivors. She pulled out her cell phone, asked Plick to open his mouth, and shined a light on his throat. When she saw swelling, Kamdar told him she wanted to check out the problem right away.

In September 2019, a PET scan showed a mass on his right tonsil that became a third type of cancer invader. This time it was squamous cell carcinoma, which affects the outer and middle levels of the skin. Surgery would mean cutting out part of his tongue. Instead, Plick met with medical oncologist Dr. Antonio Jimeno, a specialist in head and neck cancers, who recommended radiation and another chemo regimen, this time with a single drug.

The 35 radiation treatments turned out to be Plick’s toughest challenge yet. The cancer-killing beams made his throat feel like it was badly sunburned. Swallowing was painful, so he rarely ate solid food. Ninety pounds melted from his 240-pound frame. His daughter, Shonta, had to buy him a new set of clothes in medium, the size he had worn in high school.

“I wouldn’t recommend that diet to anybody,” Plick said.

The radiation finally forced him to the sidelines at work. He took short-term disability to cover a 40-day recovery. He returned to work in December 2019. Kamdar said that exams in August and November 2020 showed no evidence of residual cancer, although he will continue to see her, Kondapalli and Jimeno in follow-up visits to guard against recurrence.

Robert Plick during chemotherapy treatment to treat his lymphoma. Through the ordeal he did not miss a day of work. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.
Robert Plick during chemotherapy treatment to treat his lymphoma. Through the ordeal, he did not miss a day of work. Photo courtesy of Robert Plick.

Cancer and COVID-19

The challenges to Plick’s battered body didn’t end with the last cancer treatments. He was doing EKGs in the Emergency Department at UCH one night in August 2020 when his supervisor pulled him aside and told him he “didn’t look right.” A charge nurse took his temperature, which was 103, and his heart rate, which was 124.

Her order was succinct: go home now. A drive-thru test the next day confirmed he was positive for COVID-19, and he immediately quarantined for two weeks.

“I was devastated,” Plick said. “I was afraid I’d wind up on a ventilator.” To make matters worse, his wife, Leatra, also tested positive for the virus.

: Dr. Manali Kamdar helped Plick through his bouts with lymphoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Photo by UCHealth.
Dr. Manali Kamdar helped Plick through his bouts with lymphoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Photo by UCHealth.

Plick battled through another round of pneumonia after the COVID-19 diagnosis, but he and Leatra recovered and later were able to get their COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.

For now, at least, Plick’s medical struggles have ceased. Both Kamdar and Kondapalli are quick to note that Plick can take justifiable pride in his own journey back to health.

Individual strength – and plenty of help

“A lot has to be credited to Robert and his optimism and insightfulness in bringing his symptoms to us sooner,” Kamdar said. “And everything we have asked him to do, he has done without fail.”

Kondapalli added that Plick is “an active member of his care team. He does a great deal to make sure he advocates for himself. He has never felt sorry for himself. He is going to do what he has to do to keep moving forward. He is going to live the best life he can live and help people. His mental strength is remarkable.”

Thanks to his own determination, the support of his providers and unwavering commitment from Leatra, Plick looks to the future with joy and optimism.

Yet 2020 left him with a permanent loss that he cannot undo.

In November, 2020, Robert J. Plick died in Fort Collins at age 88. (Thankfully, he did not contract COVID-19 and died of natural causes.) Plick got to see his dad a week before he passed away.

Plick and Leatra joined his dad in spirit last March at Arlington National Cemetery where his dad’s ashes were interred with full military honors.

The life lessons of his father, tested by the long struggles with disease, have indeed left him wiser.

“Life is fragile” Plick said. “From one day to the next, having the ability to provide my services with honor, duty and sacrifice to help my patients, that’s my greatest reward, besides my faith.”

About the author

Tyler Smith has been a health care writer, with a focus on hospitals, since 1996. He served as a writer and editor for the Marketing and Communications team at University of Colorado Hospital and UCHealth from 2007 to 2017. More recently, he has reported for and contributed stories to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Colorado School of Public Health and the Colorado Bioscience Association.