A STORY OF LIFE
was. Before that moment, I had the mindset that
I was sick, the doctor would fix me and then it
would be business as usual. Boy, was I way off.
THE NIGHT BEFORE SURGERY, I became
more nauseous than I had ever been. The doctors
thought I was anxious, but if you know me, then
you know I don’t get anxious. I have always felt
like I could handle anything. I was wrong.
Shortly after receiving an injection of anti-
nausea medication, I had a feeling that somebody
was stepping on my throat and it became hard to
breathe. I was choking and trying to call for help.
Sirens, bells and whistles started going off, and
people were frantically running around trying
to figure out what to do. It was complete chaos
as I gasped for air.
My mom yelled, “He’s allergic to the anti-nausea
medicine and needs some Benadryl!” But a nurse
kept saying I was getting 98-percent oxygen and
would be fine. She was wrong.
Moments later, the anesthesiologist injected
Benadryl into my IV and within seconds, the
swelling went down, my throat opened up and I
was able to breathe. I was allergic to the medicine
28 EXTOL SPORTS / MAY 2017
“ SUDDENLY, I REALIZED LIFE
WAS WORTH FIGHTING FOR,
AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT
I WAS GOING TO DO – FIGHT
WITH EVERYTHING I HAD. I HAD
SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR AND SO
MUCH MORE THAT GOD
WANTED ME TO DO.”
–Jeff Nunn
causing my throat to swell. (Moral of that story:
Mom knew best.)
Surgery day finally arrived and as the nurses
came to take me down to prep, it seemed the
stroll from ICU to surgery was about 25 miles.
My parents walked next to my bed the whole
way until we got to the doors. As they swung
shut, I looked back through them to get one last
look, unsure if that would be the last time I ever
saw my parents or experience all of things I’d
dreamed of doing.
I underwent about eight and a half hours of
surgery, after which the doctor came out and
told my parents they had removed 96 percent of
the tumor, but it was too dangerous to remove
any more. The tumor, officially called pilocytic
astrocytoma, was a slow-growing, typically non-
cancerous tumor that usually doesn’t spread.
However, mine had every characteristic of a
cancerous tumor and the removed tissue would
be sent to Johns Hopkins Hospital to be tested.
I REMEMBER WAKING UP in complete
darkness. Time was a blur, and as the hours
passed, I started seeing the outlines of friends