Patient with cancer finds healing in pelvic therapy
From surgeries to chemotherapy to a staggering number of medical appointments and tests, cancer is physically and mentally exhausting.
By the time 46-year-old William Busch met with Powers Health’s Therapy Services team to map out a plan to rebuild his strength, the rigors of cancer treatment had taken a toll.
“You feel like a fraction of a person because you can’t do what you used to,” the Lansing man said.
About 15 months after his diagnosis, William was paired with Maria Liberio, PT, DPT, a clinical specialist who specializes in oncology and pelvic health at Powers Health. Through pelvic therapy, William had two goals – to eliminate the need for hernia surgery and to grow strong enough to return to the gym.
He had to start with the basics – four weeks of breathing exercises.
“I used to kickbox,” William said. “I’m used to working out hardcore. When I first got to therapy, I was not allowed to do a push-up. I thought, ‘How far have I fallen that I can’t even do a push-up? Being knocked down to breathing exercises was a big mental letdown.”
William trusted Maria.
“She laid out the process,” William said. “She said, ‘It’s going to be slow, but you’ve got this.’ She designed weekly workouts for me that slowly challenged my recovery.”
He stretched, did yoga and worked his way up from lightweight to heavy resistance bands. Each passing week, he grew stronger.
“We put in the work,” William said. “In doing that, we were able to avoid surgery on my hernia and get me back in the gym. It’s taught me a lot about perseverance.”
That lesson is one he will continue to lean on, as William knows staying healthy will be a challenge for the foreseeable future.
The first sign something was wrong came in 2024.
“I was out on a business trip and felt a hard lump in my upper right abdomen,” William said.
At the time, he was about three months into building an improved lifestyle – including a renewed dedication to exercise–to deal with hardships in his personal life. He thought maybe he had pulled a muscle.
Medical providers at an urgent care performed a sonogram that showed several lesions on his liver, so they sent him to a nearby Emergency Department for further analysis. A gastroenterologist reviewed the findings and bloodwork. She had William return for follow-up testing in her office.
Less than three weeks later, on Feb. 28, 2024, William was diagnosed with liver cancer. He underwent a colonoscopy the next day. On March 6 of that year, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer with complete metastatic infiltration of the liver. Colon cancer had spread to his liver and overtaken it.
Testing revealed more than 60 tumors in his liver, one of which was the size of a golf ball.
He started chemotherapy to shrink the tumors ahead of surgery. Despite the cancer diagnosis and start of chemo, William continued to work. But six weeks into chemo, he was part of a wave of job terminations. Fortunately, he had amassed some financial savings and was able to focus on his health.
After 14 rounds of chemotherapy, William underwent his first liver surgery on Oct. 7, 2024. A 3-inch section of colon was removed, along with 12 tumors from the left half of his liver.
“That was a Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon, I started walking,” William said.
Tuesday night, he experienced complications and underwent emergency surgery Wednesday morning.
“By Friday, I was walking the stairs,” he said. “My body reacted well to everything.”
By Saturday, he was out of the Intensive Care Unit. Monday, he underwent a liver ablation for the tumors. He went home Oct. 17, 2024 and healed for six weeks until his next surgery.
“My body responded so well the entire time,” he said.
On Dec. 2, 2024, a surgeon removed the right half of his liver, which was riddled with more than 50 tumors, and his gall bladder. After a five-week post-operative break, William was back on chemo.
“I did six more rounds of chemo between January and April of 2025,” he said. “On that sixth round, they declared me in remission for the first time. That’s when I met Maria.”
William had a lot of abdominal pain from a hernia over his incision, Maria said.
“We worked together on bowel health and lifestyle factors,” she said. “He continued exercising during all his chemo sessions and were able to reduce his hernia. He had no pain when we completed therapy.”
Remission lasted only two months. Tests on June 6 revealed cancer had returned.
“I’ve been doing chemo since June of 2025,” William said. “I know I will do chemo the rest of my life.”
At the end of January 2026, he was reduced to maintenance level chemo. That lasted eight weeks until another tumor developed on his liver. In early May, he was slated to undergo Y-90 radioembolization, a two-part minimally invasive form of radiation therapy to remove the tumor.
William carries a green notebook with him to every doctor’s appointment; he jots dates, logs test results and notes answers to his questions. Every other week, he texts updates to a group comprising more than 100 people from all chapters of his life.
Raised in Porter County, William worked as a stage hand at the now-demolished Star Plaza Theater. He ran the spotlight for famous acts and even did fire control when prop comic Carrot Top performed.
He studied music business in college and moved to California to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He found work in rehearsal studios and hosted battle of the bands competitions.
He segued into a more stable career in renewable energy, first in California and then in Las Vegas. When his father died in 2016, William moved back to the Midwest and worked in the electric vehicle industry until he was laid off.
Finding work had been a struggle, but in early June, he started a new job as a construction manager for an electric vehicle charging company in Chicago.
In his free time, William does outreach through text-based support for the American Cancer Society.
“People get diagnosed and they reach out,” he said. “I’m willing to share my story and my experience with them.”
