Saturday, February 19th 2011, 10:12 pm
Laura Moss, News On 6
TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa is a second home to an athlete who knows just how tough the battle against Hodgkin's lymphoma can be.
DJ Marshall is back on the field after a year of treatment here in Tulsa.
The Kansas football player says he lost 35 pounds and found a baseball sized lump in his neck before he was diagnosed.
"I was actually joking it's a tumor, you know, and a lot of people were saying no don't say that," Marshall said.
Coaches and trainers say they thought the football Sophomore was partying too much. Come to find out, the 19 year old had Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Through his time at the hospital, Marshall met a lot of people going through similar treatments. He says their stories were key in his recovery.
"I just remember that people expect me to have the biggest heart and fight," he said.
Marshall wears bracelets friends and family has given him to remind him of his supporters and of other people's struggles.
After months of chemotherapy at the Tulsa Cancer Treatment Center, the Kansas University player is back on the field.
He's been practicing with the team and is almost back to his pre diagnosis condition. He says the key to his success came from other people and believing in himself to pull through.
"It will be God I think first, and then the support I got from everyone else, from everyone around me and I think myself for motivation and just believing in myself that I could do it," he said.
DJ was driving to Tulsa every two weeks for treatment. Now he makes the three hour trek from Lawrence every three months to make sure he's still in the clear.
DJ says he was saddened to hear that TU football player Wilson Holloway lost his fight to Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He says he's praying for the family and teammates.
02/16/2011 Related Story: Tulsa's Wilson Holloway Loses Battle With Cancer
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