Young Adult Cancer: Chase Budurka "It Gets Better" | Cincinnati Children's

https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/c/cancer-blood/cancer/aya

Chase Budurka: "Don't let the negativity shine through. It gets better. It might feel like that next bag of chemo is going to make you feel worse than the previous. I've been there."

During his freshman year in college, Chase, a tech-savvy soccer enthusiast, had a game plan. And it didn't involve cancer.

Chase: "Like your typical college freshman, I was at Starbucks, the closest one I could get to, studying at the beginning of the day and drinking coffee until I was done. And then that's when I was playing indoor soccer over the winter and started having an ankle pain. Wound up going to the doctor, and it kind of, it all went from there."

After being referred to Cincinnati Children's for further testing, a biopsy of his shin revealed that Chase had blood cancer. A diffuse large b-cell lymphoma in his right shin bone.

Chase: "So I started treatment on a Tuesday, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As soon as that last bag was done, I got my blood count shot, Neupogen, to get my counts back up. And then as soon as they got to the point I could go home, I got to go home and try to regain some normalcy for five more, seven more days, and then go back and do it all over again for five rounds."

After five months of treatment, and with the support from his family and friends, Chase was ready to get back to it. Whatever "it" would be.

Chase: I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And I started working for Apple and decided to put college on hold because that's kind of the way the world shifted at that point in time. And eight years later, I stand before ya, kind of shocked that that's how my life was gonna turn out, but Apple was my end goal from the beginning and didn't know that's the path I'd take to get there."

With mind over batter, Chase has overcome so much and continues yes to keep a positive outlook while pursuing his passions and inspiring many, both on and off the field.

Chase: "I started over here on this practice field as a player, attended the halls of this school and coached as soon as I got back on my feet, got seated into Apple, and I got right back on the soccer field because that's my passion. And as I've coached more and more often and I go back yearly, once a year for my follow-ups because I'm now in the survivorship program. Having that influence on those littler kids that I get to work with through foundations like Dragonfly, it's something that I now get to give my experience back to others. So really just being an advocate and a champion for different programs that might help someone that's in a position that I have unfortunately but fortunately been in, is kind of where I am in life. Really just being that light."