re: ESPN undiagnosed non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (More personal story p.3)

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Dick Leverage

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What an incredible story. I can't imagine going through all that. How has your perspective on life changed, if at all?

I have my routine Dr Appointment in a few weeks, and I've been severely fatigued for about two weeks now and other than that just not really feeling right. Definitely going to have to bring it up to him. I do the usual blood tests every 6 months, would anything be detected in those if it were there or would they have to be looking for something specific?

I really wasn’t trying to inspire anyone and I am humbled at the replies. I know it is a powerful testimony and most people that I meet know me a while before they ever know about the cancer. They always show a lot of interest and ask a lot of questions. I think out of the inquisitive desire to know how they would handle it ....from someone who actually handled it. I will give an abbreviated version of my mindset from when I found out but bare in mind that it is very spiritual and if that would ruin the Inspiration derived from my original post, now is the time to stop reading.

I had a feeling it was cancer after my dentist said it wasn’t tooth related and sent me to the ENT. My mom, her brother, her sister, and her dad all died of cancer. I had a strange peace about me when I went to his office a few days after the excision. I expected him to tell me it was cancer and I had my mind prepared. When he broke the news, I just shrugged it off like he told me I had a cold. He asked if I was alright and that I didn’t react to the news normally. I told him that I wasn’t worried about it and let’s talk about the plan to heal. We did and when I left the office the only thing I could think about was that I wanted a frosty from the Wendy’s across the street. LOL. I got the frosty and called my wife on the way home. She freaked out and was crying and I calmed her down a little. I told her this was just a challenge to work through. A little adversity that I could deal with. I didn’t even want to tell anyone. Like I mentioned in the first post, the clinical trial worked like a charm. So much so that my Oncologist said that it was the biggest topic of conversation in their group. They couldn’t believe how my body responded to the treatment after only 3 cycles. I never really felt in peril during the first bout. I just had the mindset that “there is no way this is offing me.” I was very confident.

The relapse was a nightmare scenario. I was standing in my bedroom one morning and it felt like I was peeing down my right leg. I looked and there was nothing. Just warm tingling. It happened again a couple of days later but was followed by a burning sensation on my inner thigh skin. It hurt to touch. Over two weeks it progressed to my whole inner and outer thigh and it was constant. I called my oncologist and he had me in for a scan. The scan showed nothing out of the ordinary. By the next week, I couldn’t lay down and had to sleep sitting up on the couch with pillows stacked on the arm to lean on. The pain was becoming unbearable and my oncologist sent me to a neurologist the next week and prescribed me OxyContin. The neurologist did the needle test and said “nope, nothing wrong that she could see.” Another two weeks go by and I am taking 3 OxyContins a day and waiting to see a rheumatologist. Just bouncing from one specialist to another. The rheumatologist said “cant see anything wrong.” Next stop, 3 weeks later was an orthopedic surgeon who wanted to do an in depth nerve study. By this time, I couldn’t walk on my own. I had a walker. His study came back and it showed all kinds of nerve damage and muscle atrophy in the Psoas area. He and my oncologist wanted to send me to a renowned neurologist at Emory. By now, I was writhing in pain at night. I had to shut my kids and my wife’s bedroom doors so they wouldn’t hear me whimpering and sobbing from the pain. The Emory neurologist office called and said they could get me an appointment.......in 8 weeks. I wife called my oncologist crying and begging for him to expedite the appointment. They called back and said I could come in a week. I talked to my oncologist and told him that I would try to last a week but if I couldn’t tolerate anymore we would drive to Emory ER and wasn’t leaving until someone could tell me what was happening to me. I wasn’t scared. I was mad at not knowing. The next morning I tried to stand up and my legs collapsed. I told my wife to get the kids to school and when she got home we were going to Emory.

We went and I was in so much pain they were just giving me dilaudid every 30 minutes for the hours that they were examining me. I had all of my files from all doctor visits and we had to tell 8 different doctors the same long story over and again. They admitted me that night and started doing all kinds of neurological tests the next morning. They did a spinal tap but couldn’t get enough spinal fluid to be useful. A second spinal tap was the same result. The next day they did a CT spinal tap and again couldn’t get any fluid. Then later that day they did a CT muscle tissue sample. I had to lay on the bed while a doctor inserted a tube through my waist and down into the inner thigh to get a sample. It took 8 minutes. After the 1st minute, I was literally crying and moaning because my back was hurting so bad. The nurses were standing at my shoulders looking at the doctor like “please hurry.” The muscle tissue sample showed them nothing. Finally, after 3 days. somebody came up with the bright idea to do a full body MRI. It was to take 2 hours they said and I said there is no way I can lay down flat for 2 hours. They had to put me under for the MRI. I vaguely remember coming to and them rolling me back to my room. The next morning, when the doctors started their morning rounds, I heard them talking outside my door. I heard “massive tumor” and knew before they came in what it was. I was actually relieved because now I, and we, knew what we were dealing with.

Three months went by from the first tingling in my leg to the day after the MRI. The CT scan that was originally done two weeks after the tingling didn’t detect anything because it the tumor was in its infancy. Just barely irritating the nerves. The ER doctors had that CT because we brought it with us and the lack of anything detected threw them off the scent and they spent 3 days looking in the wrong direction. The riddle of why they couldn’t get any spinal fluid was solved though. They were sticking a needle into a tumor and not the spinal cord!

Anyway, I talked about the prognosis and treatment in the first post. What I didnt mention was my mindset. It was 100% faith driven. Again, I was at the strangest peace I have ever had. I prayed alone daily in my hospital room. I talked to Jesus like he was just standing there as a friend. I told him I was ready to come home if that was his fathers will. If not for the pain that my wife and kids would feel, in fact, I wanted to come home. I just prayed that he give me peace to accept his will. Funny thing is that many nurses and doctors would comment on happy and upbeat I always was. I told them why many times. One nurse was very inspired. It was a black girl named Gwen. I prayed with her as she accepted Jesus as her Lord by my bed late one night.

Was that his will? That I should be humbled and suffer to help Gwen find him? Others also? I am still figuring that out 9 years later. Is this my testimony? I don’t feel like I do enough to earn the extra life time that I have been given. I want to believe that he had plans for me to do something good and worthwhile.

As far as how it changed my perspective on life, it did so exponentially. Georgia football was once a selfish passion. I missed some of my kids events when they were young to travel to an away game or to go on hunting or fishing. I was a loving husband and dad but always found a way to put my hobbies and interest first. I would twist around justifying to absolve myself of guilt. After the ordeal was over and I was on the road to recovery, my priorities did a complete 180. Everything comes behind my God and my family. Everything , no exceptions.

In the ESPN NC pregame video voiced over by Thompson, did anyone else catch the Aschoff reference when they were going into the lounge where Lil Wayne was performing? Someone was wearing a Florida jersey with his last name on it.

Aschoff attended UF.

I thought it was a nice touch.

Good to hear man. I had cancer at 33 with a 3 and 6 month old. I was terrified they wouldn't know me. I am 6 years out.

That kind of shite terrifies the hell out of me


My god man. Glad you’re a survivor