Marcus Robinson, a former Chicago Bears wide receiver, uses the words “gut wrenching” to describe his reaction when his son, Marcus Jr., was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia eight years ago.
“Any time you hear ‘cancer,’ the first thing you think about is death,” the elder Robinson, now retired, says of his son’s prognosis at age 10. ‘[You think] he only has so much time.'”
Robinson’s helplessness was palpable when the doctor delivered the news to Robinson and his wife, Keyomi, on April 19, 2015. He went to the hospital’s garage, sat in his car and cried.
“You want to be strong,” said Robinson, whose Bears team record of 1,400 receiving yards in 1999 stood until 2012, when wide receiver Brandon Marshall broke it. “So I got myself together [before telling my son the diagnosis.]”
The Robinsons were stunned because Marcus Jr. had had no symptoms. Out of the blue, the younger Robinson complained that his hamstring hurt one Sunday when the family was getting ready to go to church.
The family had just returned from a vacation in Mexico, so when Robinson saw a white bump with redness around it on the back of Marcus Jr.’s leg, he thought it might be a spider bite.
They went to Sherman Hospital in northwest suburban Elgin to get the bump drained. A nurse took two blood tests and told the Robinsons that Marcus Jr. would have to travel by ambulance to Advocate Children’s Hospital, further worrying the family. Then came the doctor’s sitdown with the Robinson parents.
“Those first couple of days, your whole life has changed,” the elder Robinson says. “You don’t know what to expect. You never think it would be you.”
Since Marcus Jr.’s condition was caught early, his prospects were good. He had to undergo chemotherapy and wear an implanted port from age 10 to 14 to provide IV access for the chemo, medications and blood draws. He lost his hair at one point and couldn’t participate in organized sports.
Yet Marcus Jr. proved to be a trooper.
He insisted on continuing to do pushups each morning with his dad and would leave the hospital after getting chemo in his spine and pretend to play basketball.
And now, Marcus Jr., 18, is thriving. The younger Robinson stands “a little taller” than his 6-foot, 4-inch tall dad, just started school at Elgin Community College, and is working at Home Depot.
“Trials happen,” the elder Robinson says. “I learned that, no matter what age, it depends on your outlook on things. Just like I’d do before a game, you have to envision yourself making the play, going out and dominating, and having a positive image about yourself.”
Robinson advised other families facing a similar situation to rally around the cancer patient and make listening the top priority.
“Get in touch with everybody in the family–cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and in-laws–and rotate through sitting with [the cancer patient],” he says. “They need to know that they’re not alone, that there’s someone for them to cry on, play with, talk to.”
“Don’t try to give your take on it,” he says. “Let [the cancer patient] talk it out however he wants to process it. If he feels down that day…he’s tired of taking the medicine…you just listen. You don’t need to fix it. You’ll learn a lot.”
He also believes that the family’s steadfast prayers made a difference. “God was definitely in it,” he says.
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