People That Make a Difference
Written by Ashley Cooke
There have been many people throughout Besties with Testies that have come along to help us fight against testicular cancer. Dan Wright is one of those people. Dan found out that he had testicular cancer two years ago. He went to an urologist because he found out that he was having back pain due to an enlarged kidney. While there, he showed the doctor a lump on his right testicle and found out that afternoon that it was testicular cancer. It was only twenty-five days after his nineteenth birthday; too young to find out you have cancer. Having cancer at such a young age put his education on hold, but only for a semester. Dan stayed positive and he says that his positive attitude and having so many people there to support him really helped him through his treatment.
Dan was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer traveled into both of his lungs as well as his tracheal lymph nodes. Thankfulluy, not into his brain which would have moved him into stage four. He went through four cycles of chemotherapy, each three weeks long. He had some complications, an allergic reaction to some of the chemo, and after his first surgery, he developed three blood clots in his right leg as well as one in his lungs which caused him to be hospitalized longer.
Dan’s story has a happy ending. He has been cancer free since November 9th, 2010. He said the whole process brought him a lot closer to family. He recently celebrated his 21st birthday and became engaged to his girlfriend! Dan now gives back to the community by helping to support Besties with Testies in any way that he can. He has raised a lot of money for us and always shows his support. He even came out to Denver to help us make a video we can share with others about Testicular Cancer. Thank you Dan, from all of us at Besties with Testies. We could not do what we do, if it weren’t for people like you.
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