Julie started crying, too. She said, "When did you find out?"
Matt said, "Today. I started feeling different over the summer. At first I thought, Welcome to the NFL, but right after the sonogram, I actually felt like something inside of me had changed. And I was way off in Monday's game. I couldn't even walk to the bench without feeling winded. And my face was pale and my eyes were bloodshot. And you remember that accidental kick I took to the groin?" Julie nodded. "Well," Matt continued, "it seemed to hurt much, much worse than it should have. And I noticed a lump there. I thought it was just a knot from being kicked, but it wasn't going away. So I went to the doctor today to get it checked out. He says I have testicular cancer."
Julie said, "Well, what's the next step?"
Matt said, "Surgery tomorrow. They think it's already spread to the abdominal lymph nodes."
The next day, Matt had his initial surgery to remove the source of the cancer. The doctors told Matt, "There's something else you should consider. Testicular cancer treatments can sometimes cause infertility. In cases like yours, we recommend putting a sperm sample into storage in case you need it later." Matt and Julie talked it over and decided to do that. Once that was done, Matt had to deal with the press getting the news. And then he had to begin chemo.
Matt told Julie, "When I get sick from chemo, I now know how you felt going through morning sickness."
Julie smiled and said, "Hey. We're even now."
Matt later had a second surgery to remove the abdominal lymph nodes. While he was resting, a nurse told him, "You have a visitor."
Matt, still groggy, said, "Who is it?"
The nurse said, "It's a man. He says he used to play football with you."
Matt, a bit more alert, said, "Bring him in."
The nurse called, "He's in here. Wheel on in."
Matt thought, That's strange. That means the guy's in a wheelchair. The only person I know of in a wheelchair is-
"Hi, Saracen!" called the visitor. Matt was stunned. It was Jason Street.
Matt said, "Jason Street? What are you doing here? I never thought I'd see you again."
Jason replied, "Well, I heard you were sick and decided to come see how you were."
Matt said, "Thanks, man. That means an awful lot to me."
Jason said, "Noah's here, too."
Noah ran in and said, "Hi, mister. Did you used to play football with Daddy?"
Matt said, "Yes, I did. I filled in for him when he got hurt."
Noah said, "Wow. That means you played with Riggins. You know, Daddy once said that Riggins is his best friend, but his life isn't worth a-"
Jason clamped his hand over Noah's mouth and said, "Why couldn't I have had a son who didn't repeat every word I said?"
Matt replied, "Well, kids are like little parrots. You have to watch what you say."
After they talked a while, Jason and Noah left. Matt's treatments continued. They made him sick, but not sick enough that he couldn't get excited about the baby. When Julie had her second sonogram, they could see how much the baby had grown. The doctor asked if they wanted to know the sex. They said, "Umm-no."
After two months, the blood tests showed that Matt was in remission and he could stop chemo. Matt and Julie had faced and won their biggest battle yet.
