MPD Lieutenant, veteran faces rare Stage 4 cancer diagnosis

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A Milwaukee police lieutenant has seen hundreds of homicide cases and has seen danger while serving overseas -- but now, he's facing death in a way he never imagined. MPD Lt. Chris Blaszak has been diagnosed with a life-threatening form of cancer.

44-year-old Chris Blaszak is a loving husband and father, and he's served 22 years with MPD -- as a homicide detective and lieutenant.

This past summer, he talked with FOX6 News about ShotSpotter -- technology used to track gunfire.

Blaszak has been on sick leave for weeks now -- recovering from surgeries to his face, after what Blaszak thought was an infected wisdom tooth turned out to be Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the mandible.

The cancer and surgeries have taken away Blaszak's ability to shave, but haven't taken away Blaszak's sense of humor.

"Some people were joking that I looked like that character Tom Hanks played in Castaway. People getting me a Wilson ball so I'd have someone to talk to," Blaszak said.

Blaszak says his cancer is rare for someone his age, and is normally diagnosed in people who are heavy smokers or heavy drinkers.

"I'm neither of those," Blaszak said.

"It's a shock to everybody," Blaszak's cousin, Delanie Ford set up a fundraising webpage to help the family deal with the costs insurance won't cover and the income cancer has taken away from Blaszak's family.

"This fundraiser for me was a no brainier because they would do it for any of us," Ford said.

"It's humbling. It's overwhelming," Blaszak said.

Overwhelming could describe the surgeries to remove the tumor and infected tissues, the bone taken from Blaszak's leg to graft to his face, and the post-surgical emergency that nearly took his life.

"I have plenty to complain about, but there's always someone who has it worse," Blaszak said.

Flanked by family, the man who wasn't taken down by the Taliban when he was serving in Afghanistan in the military, and the former homicide detective who wasn't intimidated by murderers plans to survive yet another danger.

"I'm going to keep plowing forward because that is the right thing to do," Blaszak said.

Blaszak is in the process of considering chemo and radiation therapy.

A fundraiser is planned for May 3rd at Kelly's Bleachers in Milwaukee.

"Battle for Blazo" GoFundMe Fundraising Page

"Battle for Blazo" Facebook page