BleedGopher
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Per Shama:
The last several months have been another rough stretch for beloved former Gopher football player and cancer survivor Casey O’Brien who turns 26 on Monday.
His father Dan detailed the story in a recent interview with Sports Headliners. Casey has battled Osteosarcoma, a bone disease, since he was a freshman at Cretin-Derham Hall. Dan said things took a “turn on us” in December and that led to 30 days at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The cancer had moved into Casey’s lungs and impacted their function. “…It’s his breathing that’s been the biggest challenge (of late),” Dan said. “We spent some time down in Mayo. We spent some time in Chicago doing some different things—kind of cutting-edge stuff—and happy to say he’s getting a little bit better. We still have a long, long way to go, but we’re seeing some progress. So that piece is good.”
The cutting-edge procedures are an experiment for Casey who has beaten away cancer many times only to see it return. But he and his father remain upbeat about the outcomes.
“We think so,” Dan said. “You never know for sure what’s hiding in your body somewhere or what (else). …We’re screening…with some spot treatment and also with an overall chemotherapy which will touch his entire body.”
Dan resigned from his position as head football coach at Holy Family Catholic High School in January to move into a full-time support role for Casey who works as a financial advisor for RBC in downtown Minneapolis. “He loves it,” Dan said about Casey’s career.
Casey works from home in the mornings and Dan said “we get him downtown” in the afternoon. He described RBC’s support for his son as “phenomenal.”
There are times when Casey receives oxygen to help him breathe. Going for a walk is one of those instances.
Most people who face cancer multiple times don’t survive, but Casey battles on. And then there are all the surgeries he has faced. More than 40?
“Forty plus,” Dan said. “We couldn’t even tell you. We stopped counting with all the different procedures.”
Go Casey!!
The last several months have been another rough stretch for beloved former Gopher football player and cancer survivor Casey O’Brien who turns 26 on Monday.
His father Dan detailed the story in a recent interview with Sports Headliners. Casey has battled Osteosarcoma, a bone disease, since he was a freshman at Cretin-Derham Hall. Dan said things took a “turn on us” in December and that led to 30 days at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The cancer had moved into Casey’s lungs and impacted their function. “…It’s his breathing that’s been the biggest challenge (of late),” Dan said. “We spent some time down in Mayo. We spent some time in Chicago doing some different things—kind of cutting-edge stuff—and happy to say he’s getting a little bit better. We still have a long, long way to go, but we’re seeing some progress. So that piece is good.”
The cutting-edge procedures are an experiment for Casey who has beaten away cancer many times only to see it return. But he and his father remain upbeat about the outcomes.
“We think so,” Dan said. “You never know for sure what’s hiding in your body somewhere or what (else). …We’re screening…with some spot treatment and also with an overall chemotherapy which will touch his entire body.”
Dan resigned from his position as head football coach at Holy Family Catholic High School in January to move into a full-time support role for Casey who works as a financial advisor for RBC in downtown Minneapolis. “He loves it,” Dan said about Casey’s career.
Casey works from home in the mornings and Dan said “we get him downtown” in the afternoon. He described RBC’s support for his son as “phenomenal.”
There are times when Casey receives oxygen to help him breathe. Going for a walk is one of those instances.
Most people who face cancer multiple times don’t survive, but Casey battles on. And then there are all the surgeries he has faced. More than 40?
“Forty plus,” Dan said. “We couldn’t even tell you. We stopped counting with all the different procedures.”
Go Casey!!
