Patrick Sullivan’s story inspires his coach, teammates

Lance Armstrong may have saved the life of SIU swimmer Patrick Sullivan.

After reading about Armstrong’s ordeal with testicular cancer last December, Sullivan began self-examinations. In the middle of July, the freshman sprinter noticed an abnormality, and his fears were realized when he was told he had testicular cancer.

While testicular cancer accounts for a slim percentage of the forms of cancer that can be found in men, it is one of the most common. It normally occurs in men between the ages of 20 and 35. So, when Sullivan found out about his case at the age of 18, he fell into a slim category.

“I was pissed at first, pretty mad,” Sullivan said, shrugging as he recounted his reaction to being diagnosed with testicular cancer. “You don’t have anyone to blame though, so you just say what’s next.”

There was little time to reflect on the diagnosis. Within 24 hours, Sullivan was in surgery.

In a procedure that lasted only 30 minutes, doctors went in and successfully removed Sullivan’s first testicle.

However, Sullivan’s ordeal was far from over.

A second surgery was required to reduce swelling in his groin as a result of the first operation. Within three days, doctors came back to Sullivan with scans of his abdomen and chest.

The lymph nodes in his abdomen appeared to be enlarged.

Sullivan was given two nerve-wrecking weeks to recover from his first surgeries before doctors went in again to examine the lymph nodes.

“My dad was praying, ‘It’s nothing, it’s nothing,’ constantly,” Sullivan said. “But I thought it had to be something.”

Sullivan was expected to be in surgery for four to six hours.

But he was out in three hours and nothing was found, much to everyone’s relief. He bears a purplish scar that travels from his waist to about six inches above his naval as a reminder of the scare.

Throughout the month of surgery and recovery, Sullivan said his parents were actually more frightened than he was.

“I wasn’t that scared because I had read Lance Armstrong’s book,” Sullivan said. “I knew I had to be confident and that it was a curable disease.”

According to www.tc-cancer.com, a website developed to inform and support people about testicular cancer, Sullivan had reason to be confident about his outcome. Testicular cancer is treatable, and is approaching a 100 percent cure rate if caught early, as it was in Sullivan’s case.

Sullivan had endured three surgeries. Now he was worried about the amount of recovery time he had before his swimming and diving training season began.

Rick Walker, head coach of SIU’s swimming and diving programs, had been following along with Sullivan and his family through the harrowing events. His main concern wasn’t whether or not Sullivan could compete, but if the young man would be all right.

“The last thing on my mind when I found out was the possibility of losing a recruit,” Walker said. “In talking with his father, we never once discussed competition or training.”

Walker told Sullivan and his parents there was no risk he could lose his scholarship or position on the team, and he would be welcomed into the program after a semester or year away.

Sullivan, who never entertained the thought of postponing his collegiate career in athletics, impressed Walker with his determination.

“He has not let anything get him down,” Walker said with a grin. “To a lot of people, including myself, he has reached hero status.”

Sullivan’s tribulations have certainly made the members of the swimming team more aware of testicular cancer and the threat it poses.

“I think there’s also been a higher awareness because of Lance Armstrong, and what he has done,” Sullivan said.

Everyone on the team has been extremely supportive of Sullivan, and he has made his experience with testicular cancer a non-issue by talking openly about it. He’s even able to joke about it.

“During practice or whatever, some of the guys will say, ‘balls to the wall,'” Sullivan laughed. “I say, ‘Nah, it’s ball to the wall, man.'”

Such statements are indicative of the kind of attitude Sullivan has – an attitude that Walker admires greatly. Walker wasn’t surprised by the modern medicine that helped Sullivan, but he was surprised by Sullivan’s determination to jump right in.

“It wasn’t a dumb decision,” Walker said. “He’s not back to soon and he’s done very well.”

For Sullivan, the ordeal had a profound effect.

“I was happy to get a second chance at life,” Sullivan said with a ‘Live Strong’ wristband, the fund-raising item from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, encircling his right wrist. “I was happy to get a second chance to have fun and to bust my butt in the water.”