My Story:

Cancer hit close to home this year for me, I was diagnosed with non-seminoma, pure embryonal germ cell testicular cancer. I was diagnosed and had my first surgery in March of 2017 in Syracuse. This surgery was followed by a visit to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City in May which resulted in plans to undergo another surgery in June, following the end of my semester. My parents and I drove down to New York for the pre-surgical testing the day before the surgery on June 8th. I started the day with a CAT scan and was eating in-between appointments when the doctors called and told us to skip the rest of the pre-surgical appointments because they would not be necessary. The doctors informed us that the cancer had spread to a lymph node in my stomach and that the node was too big to successfully operate on. I needed to do chemotherapy. I had my port put in and then began my first of four cycles of chemotherapy on June 26th. Throughout the entire process I refused to let the cancer/chemotherapy stop me. I still worked and tried to hangout with friends as much as possible even as the hair-loss set in and the cycles became more and more difficult to get through. I finished my chemotherapy treatments on September 1st and went back to school to attend classes for the Fall '17 semester. That wasn't the end however, in October of 2017 I underwent a six-hour retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. I spent a week in the hospital and then a month recovering at home before finally returning to Potsdam.

This year I have formed a team, comprised of my fellow Army ROTC Golden Knights in an effort to show support to our honored angel, Beydn Swink. Beydn passed away from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in February of 2014. Beydn's father, Josh (SFC Swink to me) is a cadre member at our program who has provided guidance to my fellow cadets as well as a great deal of support to me. I am also doing this in honor of my grandmother, Stephanie Field was taken too early from my family in December of 1996. Please help the Golden Knights and I do everything we can to knock out these awful diseases!