Aesculus gilmus
08-23-2006, 08:15 AM
http://www.theoldcoach.com/archives/001384.php
Gilmer LB Battling Leukemia
GILMER - Josh Nelson wanted desperately to represent his school in last season's playoff opener against Daingerfield.
It wouldn't let him.
He wanted desperately to suit up in pads in the second-round matchup against Canton.
It would not let him.
It, leukemia, has by far become the Gilmer linebacker's biggest opponent during the last year or so.
Not Daingerfield. Not Canton. Not even archrival Gladewater.
It's a deadly disease Nelson was diagnosed with in January; a disease that took his loving mother's life just a few months later.
The Gilmer football team has dedicated the 2006 season to Nelson, who currently is listed in 'guarded' condition at Children's Medical Center of Dallas.
The Buckeyes' motto: "Son of a Champion" - which, according to About.com, is what the name Nelson means.
Said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor: "The kids wanted to do something to help have Josh as part of the season, so we did some studying and we found out his name means 'son of a champion' ... We thought that was appropriate because we know how much he loves his mother."
The Buckeyes received word of Nelson's mother being stricken with leukemia just before last season. So Nelson, Traylor said, understandably went through emotional change during the course of the schedule.
It was his physical change, though, that boggled everyone. Nelson showed signs of major illness at the end of district play, and reported in similar condition to offseason in January.
The team thought he had pleurisy, defined as an inflammation of the pleura - a two-ply membrane that both encloses the lung and lines the chest cavity.
Symptoms of pleurisy:
n Pain during each breath, pain when moving and extreme pain when coughing.
n Difficulty breathing, dry coughing, weakness, head-ache, loss of appetite, chills, fever and rapid heartbeat.
Doctors, however, diagnosed him with leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells.
Among the symptoms:
n Bruising, excessive bleeding, fever, chills, weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite and/or weight, swollen or bleeding gums, headaches and enlarged liver and spleen.
Nelson, Traylor said, didn't want to admit how sick he was.
"He didn't even want to talk about it. He didn't want everyone to know he was sick," Traylor said. "I had to make him tell the team. He just said it was no big deal, don't worry about it. I just knew it was much more serious than he thought it was. I was extremely upset, as all my coaches were."
Same went for the players.
"Me and Josh used to do a lot of stuff together, we're buddies," said senior receiver Jamell Kennedy. "I wish he was out here playing with us. It's for him."
Treatment has gradually worn Nelson's body down. It has come to a point where he spends much of his time at Children's Hospital.
In the meantime, sadly, his biggest supporter was losing her own battle with leukemia. And in April, his mother, Trena Fischer, passed away. Nelson arrived at her funeral in an ambulance.
Traylor calls Nelson a wonderful kid. Thoughtful. A devout Christian. The kind of kid any coach would love to have on his team.
"Josh always signed his name Nel+son," Traylor said. "His commitment to the Lord, and his dedication to our youth group at church has led many of our football players to believing in God. The more he hurts, the more and more he gives to the Lord. The kids have come to know how deep Josh's relationship is with the creator."
Senior linebacker Dominique Buchanan can attest. Just last year, Buchanan began attending church services on a regular basis: Nelson talked him into it.
"The last time he was down I went and talked to him, and we talked about what we were going to do when he gets better," Buchanan said. "And we talked about us winning state for him ... We miss him a lot. And we're going to play like he was here. It's really important (that we win state for him)."
Buchanan's other goal for the season: "Just stay in church and rack up enough tackles for me and him," he said.
Gilmer will kick off the season Aug. 31 favored by many to win the Class 3A state title.
And the East Texas Football Classic, home to the Buckeyes' season opener, is where the small-but-scrappy Nelson enjoyed his best performance of 2005, Traylor said.
What Traylor hopes to see Aug. 31 is a massive throng of Buckeye fans wearing No. 1 jerseys with the name Nelson printed on the back. Though Nelson wore No. 28, a Gilmer business is selling the jerseys to symbolize his being No. 1 on the town's mind right now.
"I would imagine it's going to be sad, but happy," Traylor said of the opener.
In closing, Adam Turner, a senior receiver, quoted Nelson in an English paper as saying: "If I could choose to live with cancer or without, I would choose to live with it so I could be as close to Jesus Christ right now as I am."
- For information on ways to help Nelson, contact the Gilmer National Bank's Charles Turner at 903-843-5653 or Gilmer athletic secretary Amy Ward at 903-841-7598
Gilmer LB Battling Leukemia
GILMER - Josh Nelson wanted desperately to represent his school in last season's playoff opener against Daingerfield.
It wouldn't let him.
He wanted desperately to suit up in pads in the second-round matchup against Canton.
It would not let him.
It, leukemia, has by far become the Gilmer linebacker's biggest opponent during the last year or so.
Not Daingerfield. Not Canton. Not even archrival Gladewater.
It's a deadly disease Nelson was diagnosed with in January; a disease that took his loving mother's life just a few months later.
The Gilmer football team has dedicated the 2006 season to Nelson, who currently is listed in 'guarded' condition at Children's Medical Center of Dallas.
The Buckeyes' motto: "Son of a Champion" - which, according to About.com, is what the name Nelson means.
Said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor: "The kids wanted to do something to help have Josh as part of the season, so we did some studying and we found out his name means 'son of a champion' ... We thought that was appropriate because we know how much he loves his mother."
The Buckeyes received word of Nelson's mother being stricken with leukemia just before last season. So Nelson, Traylor said, understandably went through emotional change during the course of the schedule.
It was his physical change, though, that boggled everyone. Nelson showed signs of major illness at the end of district play, and reported in similar condition to offseason in January.
The team thought he had pleurisy, defined as an inflammation of the pleura - a two-ply membrane that both encloses the lung and lines the chest cavity.
Symptoms of pleurisy:
n Pain during each breath, pain when moving and extreme pain when coughing.
n Difficulty breathing, dry coughing, weakness, head-ache, loss of appetite, chills, fever and rapid heartbeat.
Doctors, however, diagnosed him with leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells.
Among the symptoms:
n Bruising, excessive bleeding, fever, chills, weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite and/or weight, swollen or bleeding gums, headaches and enlarged liver and spleen.
Nelson, Traylor said, didn't want to admit how sick he was.
"He didn't even want to talk about it. He didn't want everyone to know he was sick," Traylor said. "I had to make him tell the team. He just said it was no big deal, don't worry about it. I just knew it was much more serious than he thought it was. I was extremely upset, as all my coaches were."
Same went for the players.
"Me and Josh used to do a lot of stuff together, we're buddies," said senior receiver Jamell Kennedy. "I wish he was out here playing with us. It's for him."
Treatment has gradually worn Nelson's body down. It has come to a point where he spends much of his time at Children's Hospital.
In the meantime, sadly, his biggest supporter was losing her own battle with leukemia. And in April, his mother, Trena Fischer, passed away. Nelson arrived at her funeral in an ambulance.
Traylor calls Nelson a wonderful kid. Thoughtful. A devout Christian. The kind of kid any coach would love to have on his team.
"Josh always signed his name Nel+son," Traylor said. "His commitment to the Lord, and his dedication to our youth group at church has led many of our football players to believing in God. The more he hurts, the more and more he gives to the Lord. The kids have come to know how deep Josh's relationship is with the creator."
Senior linebacker Dominique Buchanan can attest. Just last year, Buchanan began attending church services on a regular basis: Nelson talked him into it.
"The last time he was down I went and talked to him, and we talked about what we were going to do when he gets better," Buchanan said. "And we talked about us winning state for him ... We miss him a lot. And we're going to play like he was here. It's really important (that we win state for him)."
Buchanan's other goal for the season: "Just stay in church and rack up enough tackles for me and him," he said.
Gilmer will kick off the season Aug. 31 favored by many to win the Class 3A state title.
And the East Texas Football Classic, home to the Buckeyes' season opener, is where the small-but-scrappy Nelson enjoyed his best performance of 2005, Traylor said.
What Traylor hopes to see Aug. 31 is a massive throng of Buckeye fans wearing No. 1 jerseys with the name Nelson printed on the back. Though Nelson wore No. 28, a Gilmer business is selling the jerseys to symbolize his being No. 1 on the town's mind right now.
"I would imagine it's going to be sad, but happy," Traylor said of the opener.
In closing, Adam Turner, a senior receiver, quoted Nelson in an English paper as saying: "If I could choose to live with cancer or without, I would choose to live with it so I could be as close to Jesus Christ right now as I am."
- For information on ways to help Nelson, contact the Gilmer National Bank's Charles Turner at 903-843-5653 or Gilmer athletic secretary Amy Ward at 903-841-7598