Here is the story i copied from the ' Sentinel ' 9/22
George Diaz
Orlando Sentinel
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Ian Supra still has a 'SupraStrong attitude fighting cancer
Athlete and former swimming and water polo captain, Ian Supra has lost over 40 pounds in his battle with cancer.
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Ian Supra remains resolute in esophagus cancer fight as former water polo star at Dr. Phillips leans on family
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Ian Supra, former water polo star at Dr. Phillips, remains resolute in cancer fight
September 20, 2014, 2:16 PM
There are days, when he is strong enough, that Ian Supra will step outside his mother's town house to feel the sunshine splash his face..
He can tolerate 15 minutes, tops, but that's a good thing. A sliver of light in a world gone dark.
Stage IV esophageal cancer.
There's no sense in trying to understand why. Bad stuff happens to good people, in this case a 19-year-old kid who was once a great athlete at Dr. Phillips High School and the epitome of health.
Now he clings to a small plastic pan in case he gets nauseated and walks tentatively with a port on the right side of his chest.
2014 Bill Buchalter Spirit Award Recipient: Ian Supra of Dr. Phillips
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Ian Supra of Dr. Phillips is the 2014 Bill Buchalter Spirit Award Recipient.
That lets in the chemo, a poisonous beast as insidious as the cancer that's busting up his insides. Chemo kills the bad cells but the good ones too, and there are consequences.
His body is frail, having lost 42 pounds in just months. His sense of taste and smell have been compromised. He doesn't dare drive, for fear of nausea or pain in his stomach kicking in.
Supra, formerly a star water-polo player at Dr. Phillips, has been on this "journey," as he calls it, since he was diagnosed with the disease last January. There is a 20 percent survival rate, which is one of the reasons his mom, Jackie, stopped researching things on the Internet a long time ago.
Focusing on the negative sucks away all the positive karma, which is what Ian, Jackie and his father Chris hold on to every day.
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"Supraman" — as his friends have tagged him — is going to beat his enemy, this kryptonite. He has to. They hold on to hope. They hold on to each other.
"I keep telling him he's my rock," Jackie says. "He keeps telling me I'm his rock."
There's an extended family too. Water-polo teammates who drop by the house every day to cheer him up and play on the PS3. Dr. Phillips students who have held carwashes and other fundraisers. Strangers who have kicked in money on a youcaring.com website and have helped raise close to $92,000. Friends and teammates who recently moved the entire contents of their old home into the town house while Ian and Jackie were in a Pittsburgh hospital.
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@ElmaMStultz Go away scammer! You are a fraud.
adelita01
at 11:49 AM September 21, 2014
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As awful as this story is on so many levels, it is also inspiring. Ian may be weak, but the Suprastrong Nation will gladly prop him up on its shoulders and spreads the encouraging word through Twitter (
@SupraStrong_13).
"It's what keeps me going and envisioning the light at the end of the tunnel," he says.
The strength that Ian draws from his friends and family has been ongoing and rising since the Sentinel began documenting his fight against cancer in March. It also speaks to the power of the social network and its ability to do great things.
It brings shame to FSU quarterback Jameis Winston. It brings empowerment to Ian Supra.
The reality is that he needs an army of resilient soldiers to fight this disease.
Ian has undergone seven rounds of chemotherapy and two surgeries. The first one was July 2, when surgeons removed 60 percent of his esophagus and a third of his stomach and re-created his esophagus with flaps from the lining of his remaining stomach.
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And there was an emergency surgery in Pittsburgh on Sept. 8 to deal with persistent stabbing pain and nausea. Dry heaves from the chemo created a hernia. Part of his bowels had moved up toward his chest. The surgery fixed things but also revealed seven microscopic cancer cells, raising concerns.
Ian is now trying to recover from that and gain weight before he is strong enough to handle the next round of chemo. They are going the holistic route, with some natural supplements and a plan similar to that of a 36-year-old friend who was given a 1 percent chance of survival with gallbladder cancer. She has now been cancer-free for 11/2 years.
"It's been rough," Ian says, chatting about 20 minutes before having to excuse himself because the nausea is kicking in again. Jackie rushes upstairs to grab the plastic pan, brings it to him and then cradles him with a mother's love.
As a nurse at Florida Hospital, she probably knows too much about pain and diseases and survival rates. As a mother, she blocks all of that out and moves on with prayers that her only son will be healed one day.
She also finds strength in others, particularly co-workers. "They're amazing," she says. "They are always asking about him, praying for him. In the recovery room, the nurses have stars on their work desks next to their patients, and the stars have Ian's name on them to remind them to pray for him all day long…."
She breaks down, one of the rare times she is overcome by emotion in front of Ian. There are private places for that.
Ian remains resolute, looking to enroll at the University of Central Florida in the summer of 2015 once he steadies himself again. It is the mind-set of an elite athlete, always pushing forward, never looking back, trying to block out the frustration that pops into his mind.
"I am sure anyone in my shoes would feel the same," Ian says. "There are a lot of times when I miss the past, but all you can do is block that out and think about the future, think about that happening again. … I'm just trying to work back to where I was."
Cancer, always indiscriminate and insidious, doesn't care about any of that. But it's in for a fight. Ian's game plan is simple:
Live another day — and for a ray of sunshine in a world gone dark.
gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Díaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego
Copyright © 2014, Orlando Sentinel
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What an inspiring story lan.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
sorry to hear about the diagnosis - agree is hard to get info as cns lymphoma is rare. I was treated with high dose chemo at UCSF by Dr James Rubenstein. when I relapsed three years later consulted with Lisa DeAngelis at Sloan Kettering in NY and did treatment (including autologous bone marrow transplant) at UCSF again. is 6 1/2 years since initial diagnosis and am cancer free, without ever having brain radiation. my advice would be to get to major medical center where they are familiar with treating this, as soon as possible. is still no standard treatment but was important to me to avoid brain radiation if possible. good luck and let me know if I can provide any more info. if you want to talk would be available. hasn't been any easy road but am healthy and no regrets.0February 2015
Here is the story i copied from the ' Sentinel ' 9/22
I hear ya about being mad. I know he can't help it but it still makes me mad. I want him to get better and he cant do it if he is not stronger. I feel like I am in this by myself even though he is the one that is sick. It sure isn't easy.0January 2014
