Hostile
The Duke
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Some of you have heard me talk before about a friend mine, Davy, who has had 3 brain tumors in his very young life. He and his wife Carrie are quite possibly the toughest people I know. I go to Church with them.
About 6 years ago Davy (24 or 25 at the time) asked several of us if we could meet in a classroom at Church to say a prayer for him. He told us all he had been having really bad headaches and that that the next day, Monday, he was having a CAT scan and he was really scared. We all were at that point.
On that CAT Scan they found a brain tumor about the size of a golf ball. They scheduled him for surgery the very next day, Tuesday. The next Sunday Davy and Carrie were at Church. He had massive scars and staples in his head and he was clearly quite weak, but he was there. I was floored.
Things would have been good except Davy got infections and they had to begin aggressive treatments and as you can imagine Davy went through hell. So did Carrie. They were so young and the cancer was so aggressive.
In fact, about 6 months after the first tumor and in the midst of fighting the infections they found another tumor. This one was the size of a baseball. Right back in for surgery. Davy was only given a 25% chance to live. He was still in the hospital when 7 of us who had played church softball with him decided we would shave our heads and go see him.
Seeing him laugh at us when we walked in that hospital room bald like he was made us all feel like he could beat the odds. One of the guys, Jared, contacted the LiveStrong Foundation that is Lance Armstrong's cancer research charity. Not only did they send Davy survival materials and information, Lance himself called Davy to tell him to keep fighting. I thought that was beyond cool.
Davy was in such delicate condition that he couldn't have people touch him for risk of infections. I never once heard him complain.
Davy did beat the odds and even enrolled in and got accepted to Medical School. He is studying Oncology. The local PBS station even did a story about him.
Things were going good for 3 years and the 3rd tumor hit. This one was also about the size of an orange. I will never forget Carrie begging him that if he was going to leave her, leave her with a baby. That killed me.
The thing was, because of all of Davy's chemo and radiation they knew he would would probably never be able to father children. Before the 2nd tumor and treatments they had donated sperm with the purpose of a future pregnancy for Carrie.
We did not know if Carrie would go ahead with a pregnancy if Davy died or not. I don't think anyone could blame her if she lost him and didn't. I can't even imagine how hard that would be.
The 3rd surgery to remove a tumor went better than the first two, and I am pleased to say that Davy looks like he finally has this horrible disease whipped. For 2 years after the final surgery they injected fluid into Davy's skull cap on a monthly basis to grow more skin. For two years his head was shaped really funny. It looked like he had another huge tumor on the back and right side of his head.
Very conscious of how his head looked Davy wore a skull cap everywhere.
Nothing slows him down. Barely a year after that 3rd tumor he was speaking at Medical Conferences. Here's an agenda where he did a presentation. You'll find his name at the 1:15 PM slot on July 25th.
http://www.opa.medicine.arizona.edu/medcamp/2007agenda.htm
In late July of last year Davy finally got the surgery to have a normal shaped head again. He's growing hair back albeit in patches.
33 weeks ago Carrie had invitro fertilization and they found out she was pregnant with twin boys.
I just found out a few minutes ago that Carrie had the babies Wednesday night at 10:30 PM. The reason Davy could not call anyone to let them know...he had a major medical exam yesterday and couldn't afford the time to talk to anybody.
Today he started calling people. Man, what a journey. They are still so young but they are both so tough. Carrie is being released tonight. The babies will spend at least 3 more weeks in the hospital. I can't wait to see them.
Sorry for the long story. Hope it wasn't boring.
About 6 years ago Davy (24 or 25 at the time) asked several of us if we could meet in a classroom at Church to say a prayer for him. He told us all he had been having really bad headaches and that that the next day, Monday, he was having a CAT scan and he was really scared. We all were at that point.
On that CAT Scan they found a brain tumor about the size of a golf ball. They scheduled him for surgery the very next day, Tuesday. The next Sunday Davy and Carrie were at Church. He had massive scars and staples in his head and he was clearly quite weak, but he was there. I was floored.
Things would have been good except Davy got infections and they had to begin aggressive treatments and as you can imagine Davy went through hell. So did Carrie. They were so young and the cancer was so aggressive.
In fact, about 6 months after the first tumor and in the midst of fighting the infections they found another tumor. This one was the size of a baseball. Right back in for surgery. Davy was only given a 25% chance to live. He was still in the hospital when 7 of us who had played church softball with him decided we would shave our heads and go see him.
Seeing him laugh at us when we walked in that hospital room bald like he was made us all feel like he could beat the odds. One of the guys, Jared, contacted the LiveStrong Foundation that is Lance Armstrong's cancer research charity. Not only did they send Davy survival materials and information, Lance himself called Davy to tell him to keep fighting. I thought that was beyond cool.
Davy was in such delicate condition that he couldn't have people touch him for risk of infections. I never once heard him complain.
Davy did beat the odds and even enrolled in and got accepted to Medical School. He is studying Oncology. The local PBS station even did a story about him.
Things were going good for 3 years and the 3rd tumor hit. This one was also about the size of an orange. I will never forget Carrie begging him that if he was going to leave her, leave her with a baby. That killed me.
The thing was, because of all of Davy's chemo and radiation they knew he would would probably never be able to father children. Before the 2nd tumor and treatments they had donated sperm with the purpose of a future pregnancy for Carrie.
We did not know if Carrie would go ahead with a pregnancy if Davy died or not. I don't think anyone could blame her if she lost him and didn't. I can't even imagine how hard that would be.
The 3rd surgery to remove a tumor went better than the first two, and I am pleased to say that Davy looks like he finally has this horrible disease whipped. For 2 years after the final surgery they injected fluid into Davy's skull cap on a monthly basis to grow more skin. For two years his head was shaped really funny. It looked like he had another huge tumor on the back and right side of his head.
Very conscious of how his head looked Davy wore a skull cap everywhere.
Nothing slows him down. Barely a year after that 3rd tumor he was speaking at Medical Conferences. Here's an agenda where he did a presentation. You'll find his name at the 1:15 PM slot on July 25th.
http://www.opa.medicine.arizona.edu/medcamp/2007agenda.htm
In late July of last year Davy finally got the surgery to have a normal shaped head again. He's growing hair back albeit in patches.
33 weeks ago Carrie had invitro fertilization and they found out she was pregnant with twin boys.
I just found out a few minutes ago that Carrie had the babies Wednesday night at 10:30 PM. The reason Davy could not call anyone to let them know...he had a major medical exam yesterday and couldn't afford the time to talk to anybody.
Today he started calling people. Man, what a journey. They are still so young but they are both so tough. Carrie is being released tonight. The babies will spend at least 3 more weeks in the hospital. I can't wait to see them.
Sorry for the long story. Hope it wasn't boring.
