El Paso man’s cancer treatment on hold due to Harvey

Not all of Hurricane Harvey’s victims are in the Texas Gulf Coast.

Eddie Rangel should have been in Houston this week. Instead, he’s at home in El Paso, watching as the Space City struggles to emerge from unprecedented amounts of rainfall.

“I wasn’t really into the news,” Rangel told ABC-7. “But I started seeing what was going on, and yeah, I just (started) paying more attention and seeing when everything’s going to pass.”

He has a vested interest in the city’s recovery.

Rangel was scheduled to undergo a surgery to remove a tumor from his neck at MD Anderson Cancer Center on Aug. 28. Ahead of Harvey’s landfall Friday, he received word that his procedure may be cancelled, so he and his mother postponed their trip to Houston.

“It feels like a ticking time bomb,” he said. “I want to find out if it is (cancer), or see what else can be done.”

Rangel has cause for concern. In February, he was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer. The cancer has spread to his lymph nodes. Since his diagnosis, he has undergone chemotherapy and surgery to remove some of the diseased tissue.

Rangel does have some good news. Thursday night, he received an email rescheduling his procedure for Oct. 3.

In the meantime, Rangel will think about how to spend this Friday, as he turns 22.

“It’s another year I got to live,” he said. “Another day with my family and people I love.”