Breast Cancer Blog

Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

This Sunday, the Patriots will attempt a fourth Super Bowl victory. Former Patriots offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi will not be there to protect Tom Brady. Last May, the then 31 year old Andruzzi was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer where tumors can double in size in a day. But a story best told is told from the beginning, and often the beginning of a story is not realized until it has already been lived.

“God puts you in certain places for a reason,” is the way Andruzzi explains events that connect us in ways we can not see at the time. Lucy Buckley’s young son was diagnosed with brain cancer. One day at the store, she approached several Patriots team members to ask if there was something they could do to bring joy to her son, as her young son was a devoted Patriots fan. Andruzzi became involved in the boy’s daily life, and after his death, started the C.J. Buckley Brain Cancer Research Fund at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Andruzzi comes from a family of people who care and give of themselves. His three brothers are New York firefighters. On 9/11, his brothers were first responders. Andruzzi could not save a young boy’s life, but he did make the last year of his life more wonderful by taking the time to spend time with a Patriot’s fan. It is a basic life tenet that states while we might not be able to save the world, we are here to repair the world. You do what you can do when life calls on you to do it. Without knowing what it all means at the time. From the heart, without thought of reward.

Andruzzi could not have known, while spending time with a young cancer patient, that he would one day be diagnosed with cancer. So, it was when Andruzzi became a cancer patient the Buckley family stepped in to help. You see, Lucy Buckley is a children’s cardiologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston. She contacted everyone she knew, and was able to put the Andruzzi family in touch with the very best cancer specialists. An aggressive cancer requires aggressive treatments. Andruzzi talked his way through the grueling treatments by remembering his young cancer friend has endured equally debilitating treatments with courage. Sports Illustrated features Andruzzi’s story in Fight of his life. Today, Andruzzi is cancer free.

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