2/15/22

Edwin "Ed" Joseph Cwiek, Jr.

12/19/1956 - 2/13/2022

Ed Cwiek lost his valiant battle with Stage 4 cancer on Sunday, February 13, 2022. He worked at Liberty Coke for 20 years before recently retiring. A devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend. He leaves behind his loving wife Debbie of 41 years. He leaves behind his sister Mariellen and her husband Peter and their sons Connor and Tyler. His children Donna Dempsey and her husband Scott, Eddie Cwiek III and his wife Colleen, Michelle Parvez and her husband Maj, Danny Cwiek and his wife Stephanie. He also leaves behind 7 precious grandchildren Ryan, Jack, Eddie IV, Joey, Colton, Sienna and Ace.

Ed was a respected and devoted referee for soccer, basketball, and an umpire for baseball and softball.. He was recently named referee of the year by the Raritan Valley Soccer Officials Association.

Ed belonged to the 5th Member Fan Club for Metallica and enjoyed going to concerts with his friend Marshall. Ed was an avid golfer and competitive athlete his whole life. He was a fantasy football fanatic and even won a playoff pool last week.
He had a zest for life and love for his family. He enjoyed trips to Nags Head, North Carolina.

He will be deeply missed by so many.
In lieu of flowers, he has requested that donations be made to StJude.org. Please include our email as a recipient so we can be notified: EdCwiekDonate@gmail.com.

Funeral services will be private. There will be no public viewing or wake as he requested private services to be done. We will be releasing the location of his final resting place in the near future for those who wish to pay their respects. The response to those affected by our Dad's passing has been overwhelming and we can't thank you enough for all of the support and love over the past year.

Carpe Diem.

Update #10 (2/14/22)

Unfortunately this is our last update. Yesterday, February 13, 2022 our dad, Ed, lost his valiant battle with cancer. He had been adjusting to his new chapter with his trach tube the past month but started having complications. These issues became too great and he was placed on hospice in the hospital this past Friday. He was made comfortable and was surrounded by love and his family all weekend. He told us he was ready and at peace and was happy. He was determined to make it to Super Bowl Sunday and to the surprise of his nurses and doctors, he was able to hold out till Sunday. It’s a true reflection of his resiliency and the way he was. He passed quietly and peacefully with us by his side and that’s all we could ask for.

At every stage of his fight and every setback he maintained his strength and positive outlook. He wants us to celebrate his life and “party like there is no tomorrow”. We are so thankful for the memories we have with him and he will never be forgotten. We are filled with love by all the people who have reached out and shared their memories with Dad over the past year.

Thank you for being on this ride with us.
Carpe Diem.
Love,
The Cwiek Family
🤘🏻

Update #9 (1/10/2022)
On Tuesday, 12/28, dad went to a scheduled OT appointment at the Princeton-Plainsboro hospital for the lymphedema in his face. He hasn’t been feeling well and the nurse recognized he looked bad and found that his blood oxygen level was in the low 80’s. He was sent to the ER and was diagnosed with pneumonia. The ENT came to him in the ER and recommended he get a tracheotomy and be transferred to UPENN in Philly as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there were no open beds in Philly. He was admitted to the Plainsboro hospital on Tuesday night and waited there for 3 days but was stable and comfortable on his oxygen, fluids and meds.

Dad was transferred late on New Year’s Eve to UPenn in Philadelphia. Our mom visited earlier that afternoon and they celebrated New Year’s together. He had his tracheotomy procedure first thing on New Year’s Day. The procedure went well and he was moved to an ENT floor where they primarily handle patients with trachs. He was up and about the hospital hallways and happy to be playing his music on his phone in his room.

Dad came home late last week and is adjusting to the new chapter in his life. He's grateful to be home and to be recovering from pneumonia. The trach tube comes with a new set of challenges but Dad is making the best of it and happy to be alive.

He has overcome all other obstacles that have come his way and he plans to get through this as well. His spirits are good. You can text him or anyone of us if you want to pass a message along. Our family is so appreciative to the doctors and staff at both hospitals for helping him get through this and come home.

Carpe Diem.

Love, The Cwiek Family

Update #8 (12/7/2021)
An update from Dad:
Well it’s been about 3 1/2 months since my last update…

Since my treatments have ended, I have retired from Coke and continued my recovery plans. I was actually feeling good enough for a couple months to start reffing high school soccer games. Worked a lot of games in September and October, felt great getting out exercising and re-joining my friends from the soccer community. I used a handheld electronic whistle. The season ended and I was presented with the Soccer Ref of the Year Award by Raritan Valley Soccer Officials Association. I’m very proud and honored to be giving this award and it means the world to me.

I was also feeling well enough to take in some music events. I enjoyed them with my friend Marshall Dorfman, he’s been by my side before this happened and there at every step and keeps going in the right direction, Thank you!

At the end of September I also was able to fly to Alabama with Scott and Donna and the boys. His band played a festival called Furnace Fest and I had an incredible time working the merch tent and seeing my son-in-law play LIVE! Thank you to the guys in Stretch Arm Strong and everyone at Furnace Fest for making that weekend so special for us. Thank you to the Furnace Fest community who has continued making donations and sending messages, it has really helped boost my spirits. You all ROCK.

On October 25th, we proudly welcomed the arrival of our 7th grandchild. Congratulations to Danny and Stephanie on the birth of their first child, Ace Everett! We were so excited to meet him.

In November I had tests and scans completed. They revealed that nothing has spread, but unfortunately the tumor is still there and there has been new activity in my throat. Currently that is what I’m dealing with on a daily basis. Still no speech, swallowing/or food, I'm living on feeding tube and maintaining my weight. Still seeing my doctors multiple times a week for issues and complications that have arisen from the treatments. Been traveling to Plainsboro and Philadelphia for my medical appointments. Taking it day by day.

I'm currently enjoying my new recliner which I received from the family as an early birthday gift! (Dec 19th). It helps me sleep and rest more comfortably.

ONE year since I started feeling this tumor and started on this journey. Since November, the road has gotten tougher but I ain’t given up that easy. I’m grateful I was feeling well enough after the treatments to enjoy some things.

THANK YOU everyone for your well wishes, words of advice, jokes, and support to help pay the bills not covered by insurance. Going to keep on fighting this as long as I can. No regrets.

CARPE DIEM!

-Ed

Update #7 (8/15/2021)

It’s been a grueling few months of radiation and chemo treatments, but Dad has officially completed them! He is one TOUGH guy and is still moving forward with his positive mindset even after everything he’s gone though.

He’s now recovering and resting while his body to continues to fight. We will not know any updates for about 3 months. His body must recover and heal and then they will do scans to let us know any news. In the meantime we wait and Dad is trying to enjoy things and was very excited to see Guns n Roses recently at Met Life Stadium! This summer he's had to stay inside from the sun but he was able to make it to Jack's swim meets a few times. We had a celebration this week to mark the end of his treatments and celebrate Ryan's 12th birthday.

Our family appreciates the continued support and love and messages sent his way. Dad turned in his work phone, so he has a new phone number. Please email him (or us) if you would like to text him and don’t have the new number yet. He’s still unable to talk, so text or email is the best way to reach him directly.
We’ll update in the fall when we have hopefully good news to share!

We love you all. Carpe Diem.
Love,
Ed and The Cwiek Family

Update #6 (6/8/2021)

I would like to update everyone on my status. My scans came back and the tumor has stayed the same size. It did not shrink like we had hoped, but the good news is it didn't continue growing.
I just started my final phase of treatments which consist of 8 weeks of Chemotherapy every week and Proton radiation 5 days a week.
I'm in good hands with Dr. Sokol at Penn Medicine and Dr. Chon at ProCure Radiation in Somerset.
I want to thank everyone for their support and words of encouragement. This is gonna get worse before it gets better but I expect this and I'm prepared to handle anything they do to me.
CWIEK STRONG!
THANKS again for the donations, advice, cards, words of inspiration and just the general support of all my family and friends.

CARPE DIEM!

Ed 🤟

Hi everyone- thank you for your continued support! Dad has been keeping busy as much as he can. We decided to have an early Father's Day hang while he's in the early phase of his treatments and still feeling up for it. We had his Metallica swag custom framed so he can enjoy seeing it everyday. We all wore Metallica shirts in solidarity and support for Papa C. Thank you again to our friend Chris for making that Metallica care package happen!!

We had a very special day celebrating Nini's 87th Birthday (it was over Memorial Day weekend)! It was the first time our extended family has been together and it was so nice to see everyone. Nini is our maternal grandmother and we love her very much!!

Dad has also enjoyed a visit with Nini, a visit from his sister Mariellen and he appreciated the help from some of his old soccer players taking a tree down in the yard.

Thanks again for following our Dad's story. He's got 6 more weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. He's grateful for each day he has and appreciates any text he gets! Time to finish out this battle strong!! CARPE DIEM 🤟

Love, The Cwiek Family

Update #5 (4/30/2021)

What a month it’s been! Since our last update, Dad has finished his 4th round of chemo and immunotherapy treatments. The feeding tube has allowed him to maintain his weight and even put a few pounds back on!

At the end of March, a very special friend sent a care package that certainly lifted Dad’s spirits. He was sent a personalized box from his favorite band in the whole world, Metallica!! He was surprised with a hand written get well note, signed drumsticks, a variety of guitar picks from Metallica shows all over the world and a bottle of Metallica’s very own whiskey brand. As a member of Metallica’s fan club “Fifth Member”, Dad was so thankful and touched by this very special gesture. Thank you again, Chris!!! We can’t thank you enough and express how much this meant to him and our family. You rock!!!

On Easter, our family received an extra special announcement. We are so happy to announce that our brother Danny and his wife Stephanie are expecting their first child in October! We were totally surprised when they hopped in for this picture and told us this wonderful news. It’s a boy! Dad will have another little baby motivating him through his treatments!! It will be his 6th grandson and 7th grandchild. Congrats to Danny and Steph, we are so happy for you!! Michelle and Maj's little lady, Sienna, is doing well, she’s now 6 weeks old and brings a smile to Dad’s face everyday. We also celebrated Joey’s 4th birthday and look forward to little Eddie’s 8th birthday next week! (Also Happy 31st Birthday today 4/30 to Danny!)

Dad has been working with his team of doctors twice a week to work on his swallowing, talking and tongue exercises. He had scans this week to see what progress has been made. Within the next couple weeks we will hopefully have some good news to share. When he’s not doing his feedings every 2 hours, he has been enjoying doing light yard work in this beautiful spring weather, going on walks and spending time with his grandkids. He’s determined to keep his mind and body strong going into his next phase of treatments. He's also started a collection of band patches that he kept Donna busy with sewing them all on his favorite Metallica jacket!

Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. You all have been a light through this process and continue to motivate him to push though and keep his positive mindset. Thank you for your continued donations and well wishes.

We love you all! CARPE DIEM!! Love, Ed and the Cwiek Family

Update #4 (3/30/2021)

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks! After his second round of chemo and immunotherapy treatments, Dad was having difficulty eating, swallowing and keeping weight on. His doctors placed a feeding tube which he now gets all his nutrition from and will hopefully gain some energy and weight back.

On March 15th, our family welcomed the birth of Sienna Mae! She is Dad’s 6th grandchild and the first granddaughter! She has brought so much light and love to our family right now. Congrats to Michelle, Maj and big brother Colton!
Dad started his 3rd round of treatments today and will continue for the next 4 days. Thank you for checking in and continuing to send your love and support!! It’s a tough road but he is keeping busy and has PMA! (positive mental attitude).

Above is a pic from the hospital today and message from Dad:
Tubes, Tubes! Going into the 3rd quarter. Let the games begin…CARPE DIEM! Thank you everyone!!
Ed 🤘🏼

Update #3 (3/11/2021)

This week Dad started his second round of treatments. Our family is grateful for all of your continued support and love!!

Hello everyone.
This is me at U PENN in Plainsboro where I'm going for my Chemotherapy/ Immunotherapy infusion.
Great support staff making procedures go smoothly.
Looks like 4 months of treatments down the road.
I'm in for the long haul and will be coming out stronger on the other side.
Thanks again for ALL your support! - Ed

Update #2 (2/24/2021)

Once again, we’d like to thank everyone for their love, support and extremely generous donations! We are so grateful to have such wonderful people in our lives!!

Dad has completed his first week of chemo. While he’s doing an awesome job kicking cancer goodbye, he still has a long road ahead! So please keep rooting him on as he gears up for round 2!

Here's a message from Dad/Ed:

I want to thank everyone for their generous gifts, funny stories, words of encouragement, sharing of similar stories are all greatly encouraging to me.
The responses, not just from people that know me but from the people that only know me through their associations with my family and friends has been overwhelming.
I'm truly blessed to have such a support group.
I've completed my first full week of treatments and I starting to feel the effects but the onset has been gradual so that's good for me.
I have a couple weeks to recover and start another cycle on 3/9.
Thanks again...
CARPE DIEM! - Ed

Update #1 (2/19/2021)

All we can say is - WOW! We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who has reached out, donated, shared this page and sent their well wishes! Your love and support is SO appreciated. This picture was taken yesterday (2/18/2021). Today, Dad is finishing up Day 4 of chemo. He is feeling good and will be wearing his chemo pack at home through tomorrow (Saturday).

He wanted to let you know how thankful he is:

I'm extremely grateful for all the support and funny responses, it makes me laugh, I know I need more of that medication.

This is crazy! Never expected anything like this! Makes me feel very, very blessed to have touched so many lives.

Really good for my mental state.

If you have any pictures or funny anecdotes, send them to the site and we'll post.

CARPE DIEM! - Ed

Welcome To Ed Cwiek's Fundraiser (2/17/2021)

Hi! Thanks for visiting Ed's donation page. Whether you know our dad from Coca-Cola, reffing, being a member of the Metallica fan club, or are family or friends, he can really use your support right now.

Over the past few months, our dad started to feel a lump beneath the base of his tongue. He made an appointment to have it evaluated and in that time it started giving him a hard time speaking and swallowing. Working with his cancer team at UPenn, and after multiple tests, it was diagnosed as a Stage 4 squamous cell tumor (called cancer of the head and neck). It’s considered Stage 4 because of the location but it has not yet spread to other parts of his body. Due to the size and location it is inoperable. Doctors believe they can knock it out with the chemo and immunotherapy but it’s going to take a tremendous toll on his body. As some of you may remember, he had cancer 20 years ago and with radiation therapy he beat it...AND HE PLANS ON BEATING IT AGAIN!!!

Yesterday he had his port put in and today (2/16) he started chemotherapy at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro. He’s staying positive but we know it’s going to be a long tough road back.

If you know my dad, you know he never stops moving. He's always been active and this has helped him stay as healthy as possible going into this battle- even the doctors were impressed a 64 year old man was on zero medications and this will hopefully put him in the best position to recover from this. Medical bills are already starting to add up, which is why we created this page for donations. If you are able to donate, we would greatly appreciate it and no donation is too small! We understand these are tough times for so many, so you can also show some love by sharing this page with your friends and family. Well wishes and positive thoughts are needed too! We can’t wait to have our Dad back spending time with his grandkids, especially since he has his first granddaughter arriving next month!

We are hopeful and grateful he has a positive mindset and will do what he can to get through this. Your support at this time will mean everything to our family- whether thats through donations or positive messages. It is very difficult for him to speak on the phone due to the tumor, and he is not on social media, so if you would like to send him some love you can write it on this page with your donation or email EdCwiekDonate@gmail.com and we will get the messages to him. If you have any questions or would like to donate separately please email us as well.

Thank you from the bottom of our heart for visiting our dad's page.

To quote our dad: CARPE DIEM! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

Love,

The Cwiek Family

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Support Ed Cwiek's battle with Stage 4 Cancer

By The Cwiek Family

Support Ed Cwiek's battle with Stage 4 Cancer

We need your help to alleviate the burden from Ed's medical bills!