My Son & Dodgers Think Cure

 

I have a twenty two year old son fighting for his life. My son has Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Better known as Hodgkin's disease. As a parent it blows you away to find out that your kid has cancer. College basketball player who stands 6'4" inches tall and can jump out of the gym. He was just starting to find his stride when we noticed a lump on his shoulder. We saw it a few months earlier but didn't pay much attention to it. Three or Four months later it had gotten a little bigger and we went to have it checked out. CANCER!!

You would think there would be a sign or something. You are probably saying "the lump stupid". Well, he felt nothing no night sweats, no itching of the scalp, nothing abnormal. It is shocking when they tell you the bad news. We will beat this thing because of the advancement of cancer treatment for Hodgkin's disease. This is the reason why the Dodgers Dream Foundation and Think Cure program is so important. Cancer affects so many households around the world. I believe that every one of them are shocked to hear the news and that is when you start to pay attention and understand how serious this is. There is no rhythm or reason why cancer hits this person and misses that one. We have come a long way in getting closer to a cure but we need your financial help to continue the process.

One of the things that people don't talk much about is the toll it takes on a family. You go through so many tests to find out how far along the cancer is, you have so much time away from work going from doctor appointment to doctors appointment. I think we did that for two straight months. This is before you get second opinions to make sure they have it diagnosed correctly. So you spend long hours away from you job and while you are at your job it's hard to do your work. When you have a loved one going through this process it consumes you. In doing my research so many families fall apart during this time because it's hard to be at the doctor's office and keep the house in order. People are losing their jobs and when the financial strain starts piling up they are losing everything else. We definitely need to find a cure for this dreaded disease but don't forget about what the families are going through. They are affected also in a totally different way and need help and other options to offset this emotionally taxing and expense journey.

We are in our second month of chemo. My son has lost his hair but is in great spirits. He still tries to get out and play basketball when he feels up to it. He still is laughing. That's cool to me because I know they have to put poison into his body to beat this disease and I hate it. He has his bad days and you can't do anything to help him except be there. I can't wait until this next four months are over. Whatever you can do to support the Dodgers Think Cure program; do so it goes a long way.

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