Pitt's James Conner Pens Emotional Piece On His Battle With Cancer
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- "I was invincible. And then, all of a sudden...I wasn't."
Pitt running back James Conner has penned an emotional piece in The Player's Tribune, outlining his journey from being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December of 2015 to being declared cancer free in May.
In the piece, he starts by talking about "hitting a wall," during his chemotherapy treatments.
"I'm not going to say that I wanted to die right before receiving treatment six, because I wasn't ready to leave this earth. But I definitely remember sitting in that green leather hospital chair, waiting for the nurse to mix up the chemo batch, and thinking, I do not want to be here right now," he wrote.
Conner goes on to talk about how his diagnosis and treatment transformed his identity, making it so he could not recognize himself.
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"I'm six-foot-two, 250 pounds. The James Conner I had worked so hard to build myself into, the guy I saw when I looked in the mirror before being diagnosed, was … strong," he said, explaining that he couldn't believe who he saw in the mirror during treatment.
In the deeply personal article, Conner outlines from beginning to end how it felt to battle his cancer. From telling family and friends about the diagnosis, to the heavy physical toll treatment took on him, the football star leaves nothing out.
But this story has a happy ending.
"The thing I remember most about leaving the hospital after my PET scan on the fourth Monday in May is how tightly I held my cellphone," he wrote.
That was the day that James Conner found out he was cancer free, his doctor told him it was a complete remission.
Near the end of the article, Conner remembers the stack of letters from well-wishers he received through the entire process.
"I can't wait to repay that kindness for the remainder of my life."
