It's all good, everybody....


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By Dr. Buckeye on 08:16:17 12/22/17

In October of 2005 I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. I was 3 weeks shy of my 47th birthday, my wife and I had 3 teenaged children and the uncertainty of what lied ahead had us all terrified.

I vividly remember watching the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State played Notre Dame and the speed of Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Pittman was just too much for the Irish to handle. After the game I sat crying, wondering if that was the last Buckeye game I would ever watch. More importantly, I wondered if I'd see my children graduate from high school, college, get married and hold my grandchildren. You see, the next day I was starting chemotherapy and we had no idea how I would respond to the treatments.

Fortunately, I found a wonderful doctor and the treatment protocol for follicular lymphoma has dramatically improved over the years. I've been treated 5 times since 2005 and I'm still kicking. Today, I simply take a pill daily and it has kept the lymphoma in check for over 3 years now. I can do whatever I want, there's no worries about blood counts, losing the little hair I have, I'm more physically active today than I was in 2005. And my doctor remains my hero, not so much for the treatments but the way he's kept me positive about my situation over the years. When we first met he told me he was going to take care of me. He told me there were promising treatments being developed for my lymphoma. And he told our children that their dad (me) was going to be around for a long, long time. As I said, it's 12 years now and counting.

I look forward to every Buckeye football season like it's Christmas. It's a bond that I had with my dad and one that I share with my kids. I'm an Ohio State alum and there's nothing quite like going back to campus in the fall and reliving those college days. And even though I'm less than a year away from turning 60 those memories are as vivid as they were nearly 40 years ago. So many wonderful times I've spent on that campus and in Ohio Stadium.

I used to get caught up with all the recruiting news but I think our coaches have done just fine with the kids who want to be Buckeyes so I put my trust in them and look forward to cheering on the new crop of players over the next three to four years. We'll only get 15 games a year at best (14 this year), I'm going to enjoy them as much as I possibly can.

Since 2005, Ohio State has played 170 games - we've won 144 of them. (I don't give a damn about the vacated wins of 2010 - I watched Ohio State win 12 times that year, that's good enough for me!) That's nearly an 85% win percentage. And in that total is a 12-1 record against *ichigan. Not much to complain about there.

My kids have all graduated from college; they're off my payroll! In October of 2016 - the night of the Wisconsin game where we won in OT - our oldest son got married. (There were quite a few cell phones tuned in to the game that night and when the final sack occurred the reception hall erupted - our son's father-in-law wondered what the hell was going on.) And who knows, maybe next Christmas I'll be holding that first grandchild. It's all good, everybody! It's truly been a wonderful life. Merry Christmas!!!


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