Dancers Against Cancer

4310 Appleby Sand Road,Nacogdoches TX 75965

12 November, 2022

Description

Dancers Against Cancer (DAC) is a charity organization at Stephen F. Austin State University that raises awareness for various cancers and raises money to donate to a cancer recipient and local foundation every semester. We dance for a cause and a cure, and we love what we do! This semester, our team voted to raise awareness for Thyroid Cancer, which occurs within the cells of the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of your neck. Our team will also be donating to the East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope, which is located here in Lufkin, TX. As well as to our Recipient, Lincoln Finley. And our basket Recipients: Joey Golata, Earnest Brown, Carrina Gonzalez, and Dell Hamilton. Lincoln's Story: Lincoln was on a trip to Houston to see the Astros play with his father when he developed a rash over his arms and then felt ill the following day, he was complaining of foot pain, but still wanted to go to the museums and Astros game. That weekend he developed a fever and was taken to urgent care where the doctor just said it was nothing unusual and to come back if the fever was still there in a week. Five days later the fever subsided and Lincoln went to the family bay house in Corpus Christi for the annual Fourth of July get-together. On July 5th the fever came back and his father left at 6 am that morning to drive him back to his pediatrician. They arrived at 3:30 pm and the doctor told them to rush to Cooks Childrens for a blood test before they closed at 5 pm. They made it there with minutes to spare took the blood test and drove home. Five minutes after they got home they got the call no parent ever wants to hear—that your son has leukemia. They rushed to Cooks Childrens where he was admitted and spent the next three weeks. He is now in outpatient chemo at Cooks Childrens with periodic stays in the hospital depending on chemo reactions. He has been very courageous, strong, and brave as can be through chemo, surgeries, many spinal taps, isolation, and more pills than anyone should take on a daily basis. He was given an 85% survivability rate and a two-and-a-half-year chemo schedule with the first year in secluded quarantine. He keeps the nurse and doctors laughing and always puts a smile on everyone’s face. He’s a warrior and loving to everyone he meets. He’s our hero.