Hey everyone, recently one of my really close family friends was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had it years ago and now it came back. In order to try to cover his costs of chemotherapy and such he was selling tshirts for $15 or two for $25 and wristbands for $5 and he asked if we could try to spread the word. This guys seriously the model of an amazing, kind and loving person so I really wanted to try to help him out. If anyone would be interested at all just let me know. Below is his life story written by himself. Fight The Good Fight All those years when we were younger, running around playing, falling down getting those minor bumps and bruises. Finding our limits you could say. All for what reason? Life does not teach you how to prepare yourself for what is to come. Not even mom and dad can protect you from the future you that lies before you. You just live!!! And you make sure you live it the fullest. Mistakes will happen, regrets will take place but you will still strive on because that is what you do. I will never forget the day it all started to become clear to me. What life was throwing me, i mean Im a baseball player, can handle that high heat or that nasty curve, but those are games and life is not! You find that out fast along the way. It was Day 1 as I will call it, year 1996. I found out that I would be going in for surgery and missing the first 6 weeks of the calendar school year. I knew something was wrong because for the first time in my life i just had that feeling that something internally was taking place that i could not see or take care of myself. From that point on I always knew that today would be the first day of the rest of my life and to be prepared for what was to come because this was only the beginning. I went into my first surgery scared, not knowing what road lye ahead, i was only 13. Parents crying and still me just lying their awaiting an operation to correct me. I found out I had been diagnosed with bilateral undecending testicles. Not something to rare but an easy fix as per the surgical team. Surgery took place and i pushed on back into 6th grade like nothing had ever happened. Free to grow up and free to live life but still that feeling inside that this was just the beginning. I then began to mature and realize that life is not something that you take for granted. It is given to you to make the most of it to create an ever long impression of who you are and what you stand for. Something i began to take very serious. It takes hard work, discipline and you need to find out who you are, what your made of. It is very easy to just fall down, quit and give up, but for me that was never an option. Their was no give up in me with anything. I would always give my best and learn from my mistakes. Stay focused and be strict on the task at hand. I could never let myself down ever. I was done with being 65 lbs overweight with high cholesterol and bad blood pressure. I would stop eating that fast food, high fat unhealthiness that you find in the center aisles of the grocery store. This was the one change that i knew had to be made to save myself and prepare me for my future of what was to come and i saw it clear as day. My new home, the gym. It became my therapy.my place to exhaust myself and get lost in my music to let the lyrics take me over. Anything that bothered me mentally would fuel me to find out what physically lied beneath my bodies surface. Not for anyone else, but just for me. I watched carefully of all my surroundings; acceptance of people with one another, bullying, hard times at home with family. I grew a soft spot that made sure i would always treat everyone right. This would all start the beginning of my etched in stone rules of life that i would forever live by. Treat others how they treat you, love me or hate me but this is me and I should have the right to be accepted for who I am instead of who you want me to be. Life can be lived through patience and relaxed conversation. Happiness is not a gift, it is created. Arguing leads no where, fights lead to injuries and self pride over hurting another human being who comes from his own family with his own set of problems. Dont judge a book by its cover, you never know what could come from inside. Some things are better left unsaid. A handshake, a fist pound or even a simple respectful nod could go a long way to meaning the world of a difference in matters. Living by these rules i have made many friends along the way. More than I could have ever imagined possible. Over time they became much more to me, they became my family. Always knowing that they could count on me no matter what the circumstances. They are my LIFE, MY FAMILY. All the money in the world could not take that away from me. It is forever priceless. I am and will be forever grateful for my first 31 years of my life and the years that will continue to count on. The day has arrived, January 23rd, 2012. I found myself right where i was ready to be , what i had been preparing for since 1996 when I felt that first gut feeling. I was ready. Prepared for the worst, but confident in myself that nothing would hold me back from living my life. This is my life. After thorough checkups and scans by the Oncologist I was informed that I had Testicular Cancer in my right testicle and it would have to be removed for biopsy. Willing and ready we went on with the procedure. I was afterwards diagnosed with Classic Seminoma, a form of testicular cancer that was treatable but could come back and spread. I would have to continue scans and watch for any dormant cells to become active. I was back to being me but would strive further to become as healthy as possible because instill had a feeling that this was not the end. I was to strong for this and life for me has always been a challenge and i always accepted my challenges to the fullest and never took them for granted. For they are what made me what i am today and i will grow stronger. Continuing my healthy ways i succeeded beyond my own expectations to the best shape i had ever been in and would continue to maintain my healthy lifestyle. Then out of the blue i met my rock. I had only asked for a few things in life and this was one. Laura, the greatest gift that god could have ever put in my path. This gave me even more motivation for what i knew needed to be done. So blessed to have her by my side with me as I journey on, always keeping on top of me through it all. We began to push on together and would take on anything that came our way as one. The day came, I never saw it coming. An unexpected visitor inside of me was letting me know that it was here for me. August 15th, 3:30am, I awoke to something that I had never experienced before. For the first time in my life I was scared, unsure of what was happening. All i could feel was the disruption underneath my skin in my right lower abdomen and pelvis, radiating down to my right groin and right side lower back with immense pressure that took me right off of my feet. I fell to my knees at the front door next to my step father then slowly gathered myself to my feet. No Quit I told myself, get up and push on. Mom awaited in the car very concerned. No one has ever seen me like this. I am the strong one with no room for weakness. We arrived at the Emergency Room at 5:30am after a few episodes of vomiting from the severe pain. I entered the doors and was taken off my feet again down on one knee at the receptionist counter for check in. I could feel my life slowly draining out of me. They took me in for standard vitals showing a SAT of 87, far below normal, Blood Pressure 78/39 and a heart rate of 33, Bradycardia!! Now the concern began to set in fully between myself and the staff. This was an emergency. I sat there basically on the verge of coding. I had no energy, breathing was at best faint and minimal. I could barely open my eyes and that is when I heard it over the operator system, CODE 1000 fast track ER cubicle 4. With all of my strength I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was that I was Cubicle 4. It set in fully, your body goes into defense mode. My spirited lifted with no give up. I said to myself breath, deep breathes and your going to make it through this. Hearing them telling my mother in the background to sit down and they were taking care of me. All I could think was I had to wake up, I had to reassure my mother that I was going to be ok and I did. My heart rate remained extremely low at 37-40 BPM. All they could do was medicate me at the time to keep me comfortable, but the pain never left. Two CT SCANS later they informed me that I had a 10 cm mass putting pressure on my Inferior Vena Cava which is one of the largest vessels in the body which runs parallel to the aorta, small intestine stretching the duodenum and pressuring the right kidney, areas with vital blood supply which made the biopsy extremely difficult. I was admitted and was to be sent for biopsy to see if it was even possible to find out what lie in this massive mass. 4 grueling days of pain and nothing to show for it. I felt emotionally and physically crushed at every moment of the day and only wanted to cry. But every time i felt weak their they were, my family and friends. They made me strong. I have never felt so loved and it made me fight harder. NO QUIT #SMOOTASTRONG. Smoota is basically the nickname of my personality and the strong comes from Livestrong. My whole life I have loved to help people with all their challenges and help them strive to do and be better. So who would I ever be to quit on anyone or anything. Im a lion and all i know how to do is survive!!! Nothing more could be done at this hospital so i was finally discharged following numerous amounts of phone calls to medical staff and board members at Sloann Kettering from Lauras and my wonderful family. I was directed to be put in the hands of Dr. Bosl, a specialist for Oncology dealing with Testicular Cancer. He would become my new angel that would guide me along the way and help me through this all. The first time I have ever needed help and I was ready to do whatever was requested of me by him. I started chemo Day 1 at Sloann on 8/22/2014 at 2 PM, he then reassured me that my chances of survival and defeat of the cancer could be over 90% as long as I followed the path he would set me out on. So here I stand, first 5 days of chemo done, my body redesigning itself with both good and bad cells to defeat this evil that lurks inside of me. I will push on and never quit. The hardest thing I will have to deal with is watching all of my friends and family worry about me, not fully aware of my health or well being at times.p, but let me assure you that I will win because I will not quit . I will fight until my last breath for all of you. Cancer does not mean this is the end, it means that this is the beginning to finding out what you are made of and who is around you that believes in you that if anyone is going to beat this than it is YOU!!! That is the greatest feeling you could ever endure. That is life, that is love. Stay strong, stay SMOOTASTRONG and Fight The Good Fight!!!
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 20:35:25 +0000
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