“,”providerName”:”Instagram”,”providerUrl”:”https://www.instagram.com/”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:658,”contentType”:”rich”},”__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”From the Mayo Clinic, Joe drove to the Dodgers’ Spring Training complicated, the place he broke the information to Andrew Friedman, the staff’s president of baseball operations. Friedman informed Joe that he had the total assist of the staff and to do what was greatest for himself.nnFollowing his dialog with Friedman, Joe drove again to his condominium and packed his belongings. That night time, Joe was geographically remoted from family and friends. Inside an emptied condominium, Joe was alone along with his new actuality.nn“I think as people, we want certainty,” Joe mentioned. “Not knowing was tough. So, my focus was to get home to my family, find doctors that I trusted and could treat me and go forward from there.”nnUpon returning to California, Joe started therapy at UCLA Health in Los Angeles.nnJoe underwent surgical procedure to take away the tumor, and following the surgical procedure, he underwent a full-body scan to find out if the most cancers unfold. That scan revealed that the most cancers had metastasized to his left lung. Joe was subsequently prescribed 4 rounds of chemotherapy, every spherical being every week lengthy, six hours per day.nn“One of the [most significant] memories I have from the whole experience was the phone call saying that he would have to get chemo,” Kylie mentioned. “That just broke me. My aunt was also going through stage four cancer. It was fresh in my mind how difficult it was, and to know that it would physically break him down was heartbreaking.””,”kind”:”textual content”,”__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”
n”,”providerName”:”Instagram”,”providerUrl”:”https://www.instagram.com/”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:658,”contentType”:”rich”,”__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Upon beginning chemotherapy, Joe commuted to Los Angeles from Orange County, an hour-and-a-half drive made slightly easier due to the lack of cars on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the second round, the side effects began to kick in. Joe lost his hair. He constantly felt nauseated, weak.nnThe treatments were, without question, difficult, but as an athlete, Joe knew how to follow a road map to recovery, even one as extreme as chemotherapy. He understood what his body could endure. What proved more difficult was knowing his family was seeing him in a diminished state.nn“Some days towards the end of round three and round four, I couldn’t get off the couch and I didn’t feel good and I was throwing up,” Joe said. “As you see someone you love so much go through this and you can’t help, I think that’s harder. I realized that pretty early on.””,”type”:”text”,”__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”
What a month it’s been for the @Rockies‘ Connor Joe (.349/.451/.605).
The success is allowing @cojo__18 to become a role model for both Asian Americans & people fighting cancer. 💪🏽#TesticularCancerAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/IbKoJj0Ehz
— MLB Players Media (@MLBPlayersMedia) April 22, 2022
nn”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”,”__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Even as he grinded through chemotherapy, Joe wasn’t content to remain on the couch. On days he felt capable, he found means to be active, from lifting to biking to kayaking. To Kylie, Joe’s willingness to move, even amid treatments, didn’t come as a surprise.nn“We love to be outside. We love to be active,” Kylie said. “He did know it would give him energy and a breath of fresh air to get back in the gym, do things that he loves and get his mind off things.”nnFollowing his final round of chemotherapy, Joe remained in a bit of limbo as he’d have to wait four to six weeks after his final infusion to determine if he was truly cancer-free. He kept himself occupied to the best of his ability, but his status continued to hover over him and his family.nnOn July 20, 2020, they’d have to worry no longer: Joe was cancer-free.nn“It was pure joy, excitement, relief — so much relief,” Kylie said. “I was so proud of him. He conquered so much in a short period of time. So much emotional stress. So much physical stress. He had to do all the key milestones by himself because it was COVID and we couldn’t be with him. It was so much alone time during a hard time. I’m so proud of him for overcoming all of that.””,”type”:”text”,”__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”
n”,”providerName”:”Instagram”,”providerUrl”:”https://www.instagram.com/”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:658,”contentType”:”rich”,”__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”It’s frequent for Joe to put on clothes with a optimistic message, together with a yellow T-shirt that reads, “Good Vibes Only” across the Pirates’ clubhouse previous to video games. Given what he’s been via, what his household has been via, it’s onerous to kill Joe’s vibe.nnThe expertise served as a actuality test; he by no means feared for his life, however the journey supplied him with an understanding of life’s frailty. Joe was reminded of what’s most essential. For him, that’s his household, his mates, his relationships. His relationship with Kylie is stronger. His relationship along with his mom, Mee-Sun, and father, Peter, is stronger, one thing that he didn’t know was potential. Baseball is a big a part of his identification, however Joe has discovered he’s not outlined as a person by his ardour. Rather, he’s outlined by his relationships, how he interacts with and treats others.nnJoe isn’t proof against unhealthy days — he’s solely human. In having the sport taken away from him, Joe has fallen in love with the sport, and the whole lot that comes with it, another time.”,”kind”:”textual content”,”__typename”:”Image”,”caption”:null,”contextualCaption”:null,”contextualAspectRatio”:null,”credit score”:null,”contentType”:null,”format”:”jpg”,”templateUrl”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/formatInstructions/mlb/i5vy29mnvenrxpwfrwgj”,”type”:”image”,”__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”He enjoys the video games, the competitors, however he enjoys the little issues, the monotonous issues, the unglamorous issues, too. The stretches, the lifting, the defensive work. When Joe finds himself caught up within the grind of a season, he remembers when he was bodily incapable of stretching, of lifting, of defending, of the whole lot.nn“It refreshed my perspective. It reminded me that this is a game,” Joe mentioned. “We get to play a game for a living. You’re running around with 25 other dudes trying to win a baseball game. It brought me back to the days of Little League and playing with your friends and nothing matters but winning … whether you’re 0-for-4, but made some cool plays on the field or you’re 4-for-4 and drove in six.nn“It allowed me to see the joy of baseball again. I’m not sure how it would’ve turned out if I was never diagnosed with cancer, so that’s another reason why I’m grateful for that journey, not only because of my relationships with my family and how that strengthened us, but my perspective on baseball and the joy that I find in it now.””,”kind”:”textual content”],”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:”Two years to the day after comeback milestone, Pirates utility man is grateful”,”abstract”:”Connor Joe didn’t initially notice the importance of what he had simply accomplished.nIt was July 20, 2021. The Rockies referred to as up Joe from Triple-A, and in his first sport again with the ballclub, he was to start out in left discipline and hit second. In his third plate look of”,”tagline(“formatString”:”none”)”:null,”tags”:[“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”,”__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-656582″,”title”:”Connor Joe”,”person”:”__ref”:”Person:656582″,”type”:”player”,”__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”justice-delos-santos”,”title”:”Justice delos Santos”,”type”:”contributor”,”__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-134″,”title”:”Pittsburgh Pirates”,”team”:”__ref”:”Team:134″,”type”:”team”,”__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”,”__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-life”,”title”:”MLB Life”,”type”:”taxonomy”],”kind”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/formatInstructions/mlb/m4hbt0latgedayphwwze”,”title”:”Connor Joe celebrates two years cancer-free”}},”Person:656582″:”__typename”:”Person”,”id”:656582,”Team:134″:”__typename”:”Team”,”id”:134,”Team:115″:”__typename”:”Team”,”id”:115}}
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Two years to the day after comeback milestone, Pirates utility man is grateful
11:24 AM UTC
Connor Joe didn’t initially notice the importance of what he had simply accomplished.
It was July 20, 2021. The Rockies referred to as up Joe from Triple-A, and in his first sport again with the ballclub, he was to start out in left discipline and hit second. In his third plate look of the night, Joe despatched Marco Gonzales’ mistake fastball over the center-field fence and into Coors Field’s forest for his first profession residence run.
He glided across the bases. He gladly wore a smile upon receiving a hero’s welcome within the residence dugout. Kylie, Joe’s spouse, is usually a reserved observer, however couldn’t assist however bounce up and down whereas watching on her telephone whereas again residence in California.
Joe knew — everybody knew — that he had simply hit his first profession residence run, a 441-foot no-doubter at that. Hitting his huge fly was already motive sufficient to rejoice. As Joe jogged out to the outfield for the following half-inning, he realized the bigger significance of what he had simply accomplished.
A 12 months prior, precisely, Joe had overwhelmed most cancers.
“At the time that I played the game, I wasn’t thinking that,” Joe mentioned. “I knew it was my first home run in the big leagues — that was enough to be excited about — but the next half-inning, I went out to the outfield and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is my one-year anniversary, too.’ That was pretty incredible, the way God works and the way things happen for a reason.”
Joe questioned what was taking so lengthy.
It was February of 2020. Joe was with the Dodgers in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, his first time in huge league camp. Before Joe might start work, he underwent a normal bodily.
The examination dragged on longer than anticipated, lasting roughly 45 minutes. The physician felt one thing “odd” throughout the bodily and really helpful an ultrasound, which Joe acquired the next day. The sonographer who performed the ultrasound wasn’t at liberty to debate his findings, however did divulge to Joe that it doubtless wasn’t a cyst.
“This whole time, I have communication with my wife, but not with my family,” Joe mentioned. “It’s anxious, man. Going home at night, being by myself in this apartment, being alone with so many thoughts running through my head. You think the worst, right? I do think of cancer, that sort of stuff.”
Joe remembers what unfolded subsequent “like it was yesterday.” He and the Dodgers’ head medical director went to the Mayo Clinic the place Joe endured an assortment of checks. At the top of the day, Joe was informed that the outcomes have been in line with testicular most cancers.
Connor broke the information to Kylie as he drove again to his condominium. They each broke down over the telephone. Joe pulled over to the facet of the highway at one level as a result of the crying was so intense.
“It really caught us off guard,” Kylie mentioned. “You never want someone you love to go through anything that difficult. It was really hard. It was a very emotional time.”
From the Mayo Clinic, Joe drove to the Dodgers’ Spring Training complicated, the place he broke the information to Andrew Friedman, the staff’s president of baseball operations. Friedman informed Joe that he had the total assist of the staff and to do what was greatest for himself.
Following his dialog with Friedman, Joe drove again to his condominium and packed his belongings. That night time, Joe was geographically remoted from family and friends. Inside an emptied condominium, Joe was alone along with his new actuality.
“I think as people, we want certainty,” Joe mentioned. “Not knowing was tough. So, my focus was to get home to my family, find doctors that I trusted and could treat me and go forward from there.”
Upon returning to California, Joe started therapy at UCLA Health in Los Angeles.
Joe underwent surgical procedure to take away the tumor, and following the surgical procedure, he underwent a full-body scan to find out if the most cancers unfold. That scan revealed that the most cancers had metastasized to his left lung. Joe was subsequently prescribed 4 rounds of chemotherapy, every spherical being every week lengthy, six hours per day.
“One of the [most significant] memories I have from the whole experience was the phone call saying that he would have to get chemo,” Kylie mentioned. “That just broke me. My aunt was also going through stage four cancer. It was fresh in my mind how difficult it was, and to know that it would physically break him down was heartbreaking.”
Upon starting chemotherapy, Joe commuted to Los Angeles from Orange County, an hour-and-a-half drive made barely simpler because of the lack of automobiles on the highway throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. At the top of the second spherical, the unwanted effects started to kick in. Joe misplaced his hair. He continuously felt nauseated, weak.
The therapies have been, with out query, troublesome, however as an athlete, Joe knew learn how to observe a highway map to restoration, even one as excessive as chemotherapy. He understood what his physique might endure. What proved harder was realizing his household was seeing him in a diminished state.
“Some days towards the end of round three and round four, I couldn’t get off the couch and I didn’t feel good and I was throwing up,” Joe mentioned. “As you see someone you love so much go through this and you can’t help, I think that’s harder. I realized that pretty early on.”
Even as he grinded via chemotherapy, Joe wasn’t content material to stay on the sofa. On days he felt succesful, he discovered means to be lively, from lifting to biking to kayaking. To Kylie, Joe’s willingness to maneuver, even amid therapies, didn’t come as a shock.
“We love to be outside. We love to be active,” Kylie mentioned. “He did know it would give him energy and a breath of fresh air to get back in the gym, do things that he loves and get his mind off things.”
Following his last spherical of chemotherapy, Joe remained in a little bit of limbo as he’d have to attend 4 to 6 weeks after his last infusion to find out if he was actually cancer-free. He saved himself occupied to the perfect of his capability, however his standing continued to hover over him and his household.
On July 20, 2020, they’d have to fret not: Joe was cancer-free.
“It was pure joy, excitement, relief — so much relief,” Kylie mentioned. “I was so proud of him. He conquered so much in a short period of time. So much emotional stress. So much physical stress. He had to do all the key milestones by himself because it was COVID and we couldn’t be with him. It was so much alone time during a hard time. I’m so proud of him for overcoming all of that.”
It’s frequent for Joe to put on clothes with a optimistic message, together with a yellow T-shirt that reads, “Good Vibes Only” across the Pirates’ clubhouse previous to video games. Given what he’s been via, what his household has been via, it’s onerous to kill Joe’s vibe.
The expertise served as a actuality test; he by no means feared for his life, however the journey supplied him with an understanding of life’s frailty. Joe was reminded of what’s most essential. For him, that’s his household, his mates, his relationships. His relationship with Kylie is stronger. His relationship along with his mom, Mee-Sun, and father, Peter, is stronger, one thing that he didn’t know was potential. Baseball is a big a part of his identification, however Joe has discovered he’s not outlined as a person by his ardour. Rather, he’s outlined by his relationships, how he interacts with and treats others.
Joe isn’t proof against unhealthy days — he’s solely human. In having the sport taken away from him, Joe has fallen in love with the sport, and the whole lot that comes with it, another time.
He enjoys the video games, the competitors, however he enjoys the little issues, the monotonous issues, the unglamorous issues, too. The stretches, the lifting, the defensive work. When Joe finds himself caught up within the grind of a season, he remembers when he was bodily incapable of stretching, of lifting, of defending, of the whole lot.
“It refreshed my perspective. It reminded me that this is a game,” Joe mentioned. “We get to play a sport for a residing. You’re working round with 25 different dudes making an attempt to win a baseball sport. It introduced me again to the times of Little League and taking part in with your pals and nothing issues however profitable … whether or not you are 0-for-4, however made some cool performs on the sphere otherwise you’re 4-for-4 and drove in six.
“It allowed me to see the joy of baseball again. I’m not sure how it would’ve turned out if I was never diagnosed with cancer, so that’s another reason why I’m grateful for that journey, not only because of my relationships with my family and how that strengthened us, but my perspective on baseball and the joy that I find in it now.”
Content Source: www.mlb.com