Seizing the day after surviving cancer

Brad Underwood COURTESY PHOTO The perception that life is fragile and fleeting is not uncommon among grandparents, war veterans or those who have faced down a deadly disease. But it’s still surprising to hear someone in his 20s express that knowledge so clearly and earnestly.

“Life is short. You could be here one minute and gone the next minute,” said Brad Underwood, a 24-year-old criminal justice major at Southwest Florida College in Fort Myers. “With me that is what cancer brought to my attention, is that life is not always a guarantee. I totally live my life differently than before I had cancer. I live my life to the fullest now.”

Two years ago, after he discovered a lump in the shower, Mr. Underwood had it removed. After a biopsy, the “lump” turned out to be malignant. A doctor diagnosed him with testicular cancer.

“It was just one of the most heartbreaking things a person can go through, to have a doctor tell you, ‘yes you have cancer,’” he said.

He responded to the news with incredulity, bewildered and distraught by this recent cruel turn of luck. In the same year, he also had his gallbladder and appendix removed. A few years before that, his sister Cailen was killed in a car accident. He had just started college. His life was supposed to be beginning.

“I really felt like, ‘is this really what’s going to happen to me?’” Mr. Underwood said.

Fighting the disease and saving his life meant undergoing three months of radiation treatments. For five minutes every Monday through Friday, “I went into this giant X-ray machine,” Mr. Underwood said. “Honestly, it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do, dealing with that. It just took every bit of energy out of you.”

The treatments made him sick for four or five hours after each session. His mother, stepfather and grandmother helped him through the ordeal.

“They were there when I couldn’t sleep at night, when I was crying, when I was going through the pain of dealing with the radiation, my body dealing with the radiation treatments,” Mr. Underwood said. “They were there every step of the way.”

Through the American Cancer Society, he met and spoke with other men who had survived testicular cancer.

“Sometimes it’s easier talking to someone who survived it and has more knowledge about it,” Mr. Underwood said. “I felt more comfortable talking about it with somebody else besides a doctor.”

He was surprised to learn that young men, between the ages of 15 and 30, are the most likely group to develop testicular cancer.

“You’re talking about dealing with teenagers, people in high school,” Mr. Underwood said. “I was 22 when I found out and I was really scared and I can only imagine what a teenager would go through.”

More than a year ago, in January, doctors told Mr. Underwood they could no longer detect cancer in his body. But he’s left with a sense of uncertainty about the future, because he can’t afford the recommended checkups that show the cancer has remained dormant. His mother’s insurance plan paid for radiation treatments, but she switched to a job that doesn’t provide coverage.

So far, his status as a cancer survivor has kept him from finding health insurance he can afford. One company quoted him a price of about $200 per month. He’s hoping the national health care legislation that passed a few weeks ago will help provide the insurance he needs.

Mr. Underwood is now a junior at Southwest Florida College, and is still employed in the school’s library. He’s a volunteer for the American Cancer Society, as the team captain of Southwest Florida College’s Relay For Life team. The ACS’s annual event begins on April 23 at 6 p.m. and ends at noon the next day. The relay teams take turns walking for 18 hours, helping raise money to study and treat cancer in all its forms.

Mr. Underwood is seizing the moment maybe more than he ever has, relishing time spent with his family and girlfriend.

“I live by not passing up anything,” he said. “If I get an opportunity to do something, I always try to do it.” 

in the know

>>What: American Cancer Society Relay

For Life

>>When: April 23, starting at 6 p.m., until noon

the next day >>Where: The Lee County Sports Complex >>Details: night festivities begin at 6 p.m.,

including music, dancing, midnight

volleyball, bingo tournaments and

Saturday morning activities.

>>Visit: www.relayforlife.org/fortmyersfl

for more information, to sign up with one of the 54 relay teams, start your own team, or make a donation. Forming a new team requires an entry fee of $100, but it doesn’t cost anything to join an existing team.