Former Cougar Battling Cancer

[hawkwing]

Former BYU Cougar and close personal friend, Kirk Davis, has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. This is what he said on facebook:

To all my family and friends I want to first thank you for your prayers and friendships. On May 28th 2015 I was diagnosed with malignant large cell lung cancer. My family will be setting up a blog or a message center to post updates as the situations are changing daily on treatment options. As I write this, I am lying down in the Critical Care Unit pondering the last 5 procedures since Wednesday. The current option is removing the entire left lung. The Tumor is between the upper and lower Left Lobes and next to a major artery.This makes alternative options for treatment rare. In the next few weeks there will be a donation site established if you wish to donate to my family. It will be attached to the Blog or message center. God and Time will determine if my work is done here in this earthly life. Those that know me well, Know I will never give up, I will fight to the end,.I will fight the good fight, but its much easier to do when I know I have all of you pulling for me... God Bless you all Kirk Out.

I wanted to reach out to all my band of brother's from Rick's and BYU. For people who don't follow football or could careless i want to explain. To fully understand the things that football teaches, you must go into the dynamics of a family or team unit. It taught me that I must trust in other's to be where they are suppose to be at the time they are suppose to be there. Secondly,No matter the curcumstances of the game we win or lose together, no one play or incident determines the outcome of a game. Like a family or team there will be times when we dont see eye to eye or one of us lets the team down. I have experienced and been both of theses. The lessons I learned from these experiences changed me for the better. My teammates never abondoned me , were always encouraging, and defended me. I have never forgotten this when I had Hodgkins at BYU they were there and throughout my life they have always been there. Next to my family and closest friends my band of brother are the greatest gift God could have given me in this life. I fight this knew battle for you and my family. I write this tonight as who know what tomorrow brings except hope the hope for another day at Life.... Kirk OUT

Kirk played Defensive Back at BYU from 1987-1988, as a Rick's Jr College transfer. While playing at BYU he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, which he delayed surgery on for 3 weeks in order to keep playing.

Kirk is one of the most generous people you'll ever know. He spends countless hours serving the sick and needy. I'm sure he would appreciate some thoughts and prayers on his behalf. If you'd like to drop him a message on facebook his account is: https://www.facebook.com/akdavisorg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[hawkwing]

Here's an update:

To all Kirk's Family and Friends, We have set up a donate site for Kirk. As you know Kirk is battling cancer for a second time . First Hodgkins Lymphoma, and now Lung Cancer, Kirk will need all our support during this time in his life as the prognosis is that he will lose his entire Left lung. This will require extensive recovery and therapy. Kirk has been engaged in helping others with cancer for the past 25 years through obtaining NFL Jersey's signed for kids with cancer. His family is forever grateful to all of you who have sent words or encourgement and prayers. God bless you all and in the word's of our friend and Father...Kirk -Out...

Here's a link to the gofundme account: " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[scott715]

Thanks for the info.

[hawkwing]

Kirk had his left lung removed today, this is what the family had to say:

While they were performing the pneumonectomy, they noticed that there were some cancer cells in his pericardium(the thin membrane lining the heart, I don't know if it is his outter layer or inner layer of the pericardium that the cancer cells are located). So what does that mean? Well after he's recovered from his lung removal, he will begin chemotherapy and/or radiation. That is all we know for the moment. I will update y'all when we get more information later.

I know they are still in need of financial help, also.

[BroncoBot]

Awful. Best wishes in treatment and recovery. Thanks for the updates Hawk.

[nuk13]

What a tragedy. Even so his words are an inspiration.

[hawkwing]

Looks like there's been more bad news. After the surgery Kirk suffered a heart attack. Because of his physical state and previous medical history they were unable to treat it using the traditional methods and essentially just had to let it run it's course. Luckily he, with the help of his doctors and nurses was able to get through it and is recovering, albeit much weaker and slower than otherwise.

[hawkwing]

Better news today, Kirk has had his breathing tube removed and is now breathing on his own with his one remaining lung. He's still got a very sore throat, as you can no doubt guess, and his lung and heart are repositioning themselves into the center of his now spacious chest cavity, which is expected, but can be somewhat painful. Doctors are hopeful that they will soon be able to remove the drainage tube that leads to his chest cavity. Still it's very good news and progress.

[hawkwing]

Kirk, my friend and ambassador of BYU's Band of Brothers, has gone to his rest after a serious of 1 step forward, 2 steps back. After the lung removal he had a series of problems including heart attacks, internal bleeding, and sepsis. He can finally rest peacefully now.

I just want to say what a powerful, giving, kind soul Kirk has. I have seen him give his all to help others in need and I know the Lord is getting a powerful soul to assist him in the work on the other side of the veil. I'm also heart broken for his family here and wish them my sincerest condolences.

[Fido]

Condolences to friends and family. So sorry for your loss.