Our Thoughts and Prayers are with you....

Where’s DJ? DJ hasn’t been around. Has anyone heard from or seen DJ? This along with the numerous texts and Facebook messages I’ve received from a lot of y’all have been something I’ve been getting over the last 2 months and now that I’ve come to terms with everything and have a solid plan, I’d like to take this time to break my silence.

As some of y’all were aware, over the last few months I was experiencing bad abdominal pains. I kept putting it off, being stubborn, and hoping it would just simply go away because in my mind it was just me getting older, being sensitive to certain foods, a lack of nutrition, bad sleeping habits, etc., I don’t know… but it didn’t, and it just kept getting worse. On April 14, I was attending a Red Sox game and I barely made it through the game due to the pain being so severe. I made the decision to finally go to the hospital that night and get checked out. And thank God I did, because after running numerous scans and labs I received the gut-wrenching news that there was a mass in my colon and that it may be cancerous. I was then admitted for further testing.

It’s still tough to even put into words but after a colonoscopy and a biopsy of the mass 2 days later, it was confirmed that I in fact had colon cancer. Not only that but the tumor was big enough that it was almost completely obstructing my colon which was causing me so much pain. This being life threatening, they performed surgery to remove the section of my colon that contained the cancer a couple days later (which was very successful). About a week later, after being admitted for nearly 2 weeks, I was finally discharged and headed home to recover.

Now I wish I could tell you all that was it and that I’m on my way back to work but I can’t right now. Before detection and removal, the cancer from my colon unfortunately spread to an area in my liver forcing me to now embark on this journey. On June 21 I will begin my first treatment of chemotherapy which will be administered every few weeks until they feel the tumor is small enough to safely remove. This could ultimately take 3-6 months.

As we all know from the work we do every day, this type of situation could really break someone’s spirits and take them down a bad path. I’ll be the first to admit that at times it’s been tough on me mentally and I’ve fell into a bit of depression and self-isolation, but I am a very strong man whose been tested pretty much my whole life. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I want you all to know that I’m in good shape, I’m in good spirits, that I’m taking care of myself, and that I’m ready to take on this battle with everything I have in me. And I know I am not alone… I have my very strong faith and all my trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ , the love and support from my loved ones and friends (which include all of you), and a great team of doctors and experts from St. Vincent’s Cancer and Wellness Center in Worcester and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston by my side through it all.

I sincerely want to thank each one of you that have reached out or asked about me and I’m sorry that I’ve been so distant. Me trying to process all of this and calculate a plan has not been an easy thing to do. But now that you all know, I just ask that you keep me in your thoughts and prayers, stay strong for me, and most importantly continue to make a genuine difference in the life of our patients every day.

Just like I tell all the patients I see, “everyone just needs a little help in life” and right now I just need that “little help.” I miss you all dearly; the work we do, the bonds we form, and the laughs we share… I miss it all. We as a team are always stronger together and you all know that I have each and every one of your backs in times of distress… and I know y’all have mine. I promise you that I will remain strong and that God willing I will get through this storm and be back stronger than ever!

Please be well and take care of yourselves… I will see you all soon!

Sincerely yours,

DJ

“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5