Spring Break
The Daily OrangeRace | Tulsa's Holloway battles cancer with support of teammates
By Jeff Westfall
Posted: 11/17/08, 10:41 PM EST Section: Sports
If you look at the University of Tulsa offensive line, you can see the ties that bind them. You see their hulking bodies, their mammoth arms, and now their newly shaved bald heads.
The Tulsa offensive line has shaved their heads to honor teammate Wilson Holloway's season-long battle with cancer.
"I wasn't sure if I would be physically able to play," Holloway said. "It was the first thing I asked because I have just heard the terrible horror stories about chemotherapy and just was worried I wasn't going to be able to practice or workout over the summer."
Holloway's signs started during spring workouts. Sprints were agonizing. The air evaporated from his lungs and he felt fatigue he had never experienced before. The coaches noticed it too as Holloway stood panting between sprints.
The team pulled Holloway aside and had the trainers examine him. He underwent tests and X-rays to reveal there was a large mass in his chest pressing against his lungs and constricting his breathing. A final biopsy revealed that he had cancer - Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Those two words sent Holloway home to his family in Edmond, Okla., to undergo treatment. As he lay at home that night he was bombarded with comforting calls and texts from his teammates, his other family.
Holloway was determined to beat the cancer and get back on the football field in the fall.
For the next six months, Holloway would have three-week cycles of chemotherapy. He would have three days straight of chemotherapy, then have three weeks off. The treatment swung his weight from 265 down to 230 pounds before ballooning him up to 285. On Aug. 22, Holloway had his last round of chemo, one week later he played in Tulsa's season opener against Alabama at Birmingham.
"It felt great. I was just happy to be practicing, but being able to suit up and play, I can't describe it, I was just very thankful."
For the next five weeks, Holloway was used sparingly as a backup tackle for the Golden Hurricanes. It was after an Oct. 11 checkup that his worst nightmare was realized. The cancer had returned, just five weeks after doctors told him it was gone. Holloway immediately began a more vigorous and physically taxing chemo schedule. His first bout with Hodgkin's left the veins in his arms too weak to withstand another treatment session, so a new port was installed in his chest to administer the cancer-fighting toxins. The more vigorous chemo schedule left Wilson with a new battle, one his teammates didn't want to let him face alone.
The Tulsa offensive line has shaved their heads to honor teammate Wilson Holloway's season-long battle with cancer.
"I wasn't sure if I would be physically able to play," Holloway said. "It was the first thing I asked because I have just heard the terrible horror stories about chemotherapy and just was worried I wasn't going to be able to practice or workout over the summer."
Holloway's signs started during spring workouts. Sprints were agonizing. The air evaporated from his lungs and he felt fatigue he had never experienced before. The coaches noticed it too as Holloway stood panting between sprints.
The team pulled Holloway aside and had the trainers examine him. He underwent tests and X-rays to reveal there was a large mass in his chest pressing against his lungs and constricting his breathing. A final biopsy revealed that he had cancer - Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Those two words sent Holloway home to his family in Edmond, Okla., to undergo treatment. As he lay at home that night he was bombarded with comforting calls and texts from his teammates, his other family.
Holloway was determined to beat the cancer and get back on the football field in the fall.
For the next six months, Holloway would have three-week cycles of chemotherapy. He would have three days straight of chemotherapy, then have three weeks off. The treatment swung his weight from 265 down to 230 pounds before ballooning him up to 285. On Aug. 22, Holloway had his last round of chemo, one week later he played in Tulsa's season opener against Alabama at Birmingham.
"It felt great. I was just happy to be practicing, but being able to suit up and play, I can't describe it, I was just very thankful."
For the next five weeks, Holloway was used sparingly as a backup tackle for the Golden Hurricanes. It was after an Oct. 11 checkup that his worst nightmare was realized. The cancer had returned, just five weeks after doctors told him it was gone. Holloway immediately began a more vigorous and physically taxing chemo schedule. His first bout with Hodgkin's left the veins in his arms too weak to withstand another treatment session, so a new port was installed in his chest to administer the cancer-fighting toxins. The more vigorous chemo schedule left Wilson with a new battle, one his teammates didn't want to let him face alone.
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