LOUISVILLE CITY FC
Grey Matter
LouCity fan Joey Cecil is in the fight of his life with much support along the way
BY KEVIN KERNEN | PHOTOS BY JONATHAN LINTNER OF LOUISVILLE CITY FC
For most 27-year-olds, life is relatively simple.
It’s no different for Joey Cecil – a financial educator
and Trinity-Bellarmine-Louisville grad – who also
has a love for sports.
He also happens to have terminal brain cancer.
Back in late March, after experiencing recurring
migraines followed by bouts of vomiting, Joey
visited three different immediate care centers.
36 EXTOL SPORTS / SEPTEMBER 2017
They were ready to chalk his symptoms up to a
simple sinus infection, but after a couple weeks
of his symptoms not diminishing, he went to the
emergency room. There, a CT scan was ordered and
after medical professionals spotted a growth that
was causing the pressure, Joey was immediately
admitted, and neurosurgeon Dr. David Sun went
to work removing the growth.
Dr. Sun was confident he removed the majority
of the tumor in question, but it’s impossible to
completely remove the affected area without
risking loss of various functions of the brain,
so there are inevitably a few cancerous cells
remaining. So, a sample of the growth was sent
for testing. Joey and his family faced a tense two-
week period before the results came back: It was a