TACKLING ANOTHER FOE HART WR ARNDT BATTLING A BRAIN TUMOR.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. LOCAL VALENCIA - They were taking too long. He could feel it. If everything was normal, they would've come back into the room right after the CT scan CT scan: see CAT scan. See CAT scan. and led him back to his room. But the window for normal had passed about five minutes ago and didn't seem to be coming back. What were they saying? What did they see on the CTscan? Did I do something wrong? Did I talk on my cell phone too long?! Why is this happening? His hand started shaking a bit. His heart was pounding out of his chest. His thoughts raced so fast he couldn't keep up. For the past few months, Brandon Arndt had a feeling it was more than just sinus pain causing the constant ache in his head. He'd had headaches before, but this just felt different. He'd wake up in the morning and the pain was there. He'd take Advil and it didn't make a dent. The only time it stopped was on the football field, when the adrenaline adrenaline (ədrĕn`əlĭn, –lēn): see epinephrine. started pumping and he played the role of go-to receiver for Hart High in Newhall. That was the thing that made him think everything might be OK. Other than the headaches, he had no physical limitations. In fact, he had his finest season this year, catching a team-high 46 passes for 651 yards and six touchdowns to help lead Hart to the Southern Section Northern Division semifinals. He also had four interceptions as a defensive back and was named first-team all Foothill League. ``He was our go-to guy,'' Hart senior wide receiver Michael Vairo said. ``Big man on campus and everything.'' He's the kind of guy who just knows how to talk to people. The kind of guy everyone votes for in the senior class poll but has no idea anyone even considered him popular. A few hours ago, that was Brandon Arndt's life. The football banquet A banquet is a large public meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose, such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration. Sometimes a banquet consists of only desserts, but it is advisable to include main courses as well. was next week, college applications were due by New Year's and winter formal was in February. Earlier in the day, he was mad because he'd forgotten to buy tickets to the formal and the price would go up $10 on Monday. Now, there was only whatever the doctors were taking too long to come around the corner and tell him. Everything that happened over the next week is still a little hazy haz·y adj. haz·i·er, haz·i·est 1. Marked by the presence of haze; misty: hazy sunshine. 2. to him. He went in for surgery two days after Christmas to remove the baseball- sized tumor tumor: see neoplasm. pressing on his brain. The next few days he spent in a dark room, heavily sedated, with his parents, Bryan and Cindy, holding his hand. The first day Brandon remembers clearly was Saturday. ``That's when I woke up and realized I was still alive,'' he said. Later that day, doctors helped him relearn Verb 1. relearn - learn something again, as after having forgotten or neglected it; "After the accident, he could not walk for months and had to relearn how to walk down stairs" how to walk. There are a lot of people who would've stayed in that dark room long after the morphine morphine, principal derivative of opium, which is the juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. It was first isolated from opium in 1803 by the German pharmacist F. W. A. drip was necessary. Eighteen-year-old high school seniors aren't supposed to go through things like this. They're not supposed to wait, all alone, on a cold table under a CT scan machine, waiting for a doctor to come around the corner and tell them there is a malignant tumor malignant tumor n. A tumor that invades surrounding tissues, is usually capable of producing metastases, may recur after attempted removal, and is likely to cause death unless adequately treated. the size of a baseball pressing on their brain. ``These are not lessons I want my son to have to learn at this point in his life,'' his father, Bryan, said. ``As a parent, you'd do anything to trade places with him so he doesn't have to go through this.'' Eighteen-year-old high school seniors are supposed to worry about getting letters of recommendation for college and when they're going to meet their friends at the park to play touch football. The thing is, Brandon Arndt is no ordinary 18-year-old high school senior. ``He's just really tough,'' Vairo said. ``I remember a few years ago, he broke his wrist and after a little while, it felt better so he was like, `forget this, I'm playing.' And he just cut the cast off himself. That's how he is. He's never been afraid of anything or worried about playing in pain. As long as he's helping us win, nothing hurts him.'' Ask Arndt how he's feeling and he smiles and tells you he feels great today, despite the gnarly (jargon) gnarly - /nar'lee/ Both obscure and hairy. "Yow! - the tuned assembler implementation of BitBlt is really gnarly!" From a similar but less specific usage in surfer slang. scar scar, fibrous connective tissue that forms at the site of injury or disease in any tissue of the body. Scar tissue may replace injured skin and underlying muscle, damaged heart muscle, or diseased areas of internal organs such as the liver. that runs across the top of his head. Ask him if he's mad this has happened to him and he shrugs his shoulders. ``I was at first. But I realized that being mad about it wasn't going to do any good. I just have to keep my head up and focus on getting better.'' You look at him when he says this in disbelief Disbelief See also Skepticism. Capys Trojan who mistrusted Trojan Horse; cautioned against bringing it into the city. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 50] Cassandra no one gave credence to her accurate prophecies of doom. [Gk. Myth. . How can he be so mature? Why isn't he mad at the world? You're mad for him. This shouldn't be happening to him. This isn't right. Arndt's ahead of you. He's been to this place already. This place where you try to make sense of something that's so cruelly irrational ir·ra·tion·al adj. Not rational; marked by a lack of accord with reason or sound judgment. irrational adjective Unreasonable, illogical . This place where you're mad at the world, at God at everything for letting something like this happen. He didn't stay long in this place though. He's too tough to get sucked into a pit like that. And even if he'd wanted to, there's no way his friends and family would've let him. Everyday in the hospital, Arndt received 30 or more visitors. Teammates, family, coaches, community members, friends. He was so popular, the hospital had to move him to a private room. At night, his girlfriend Taylor and her mom (1) (Messaging-Oriented Middleware) See messaging middleware. (2) (Microsoft Operations Manager) Software that monitors and captures system and application events throughout the network. Kathi would bring dinner for 20. Another friend's dad called his old high school buddy, Philadelphia Eagles' coach Andy Reid
Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He has led the Eagles to four NFC championship game appearances, from 2001-2004. , and asked if he could call Arndt and chat for a while. The day before he went in for surgery, Reid called his cell and asked how he was and how Hart's season had gone. He promised to call back after the surgery. True to his word, Reid called back on Saturday to see how Arndt was doing. ``I couldn't believe it. They had a big game against the Cowboys cowboys, in American history. 1 Tory marauders, adherents to the British cause in the American Revolution, who fought in the contested area of Westchester co., N.Y. that week and he's taking time out of his day to call me,'' Arndt said. While he was in the hospital, Hart had its season-ending team banquet. Arndt's older brother Brock brock n. Chiefly British A badger. [Middle English brok, from Old English broc, of Celtic origin.] went in his place. Normally, the Hart coaching staff says something about each player on the team. After they finished talking about Arndt, the whole room stood up and clapped. He may not have been there to hear it, but Arndt has sure felt it. ``We're a pretty independent family,'' Arndt's mother Cindy said. ``But this has taught us that it's OK to reach out and accept help. And someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. , when this is all over and Brandon is better, we're going to pay it forward. ``It's just been amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. to see just how big your extended family is and to realize how important and special all those relationships are.'' Arndt came home from the hospital on Tuesday and has had so many visitors, he hasn't even had time to turn on his computer and check his e-mail. His buddies See buddy list. , Vairo, Alex Petee and George Diaz come over every afternoon to play video games See video game console. or watch DVDs. Sure, he'd rather be out playing football at the park or basketball at the gym. If none of this had ever happened, that's where he'd be this winter break. That, or just about anywhere but on the couch On the Couch is an Australian television program formally broadcast on the Fox Footy Channel and it focuses on the current issues in the AFL. This is now broadcast on Fox Sports after the closure of Fox Footy Channel. The show airs on Monday night and is hosted by Gerard Healy. in his living room. ``I just hate siting still,'' he said. ``But I try not to think about that because it'll make me miss being able to do all that stuff. I just have to wait until this is over to do that stuff.'' The next part of all this is going to be tough. Arndt and his parents will leave soon to begin radiation treatment at St. Jude's Hospital in Tennessee. Bryan will stay as long as he can, but eventually, will have to return home to keep the household running and to work. Cindy will stay with Brandon. The Hart Quarterback Club is taking donations of money, restaurant gift cards and other items to help. It is also organizing a letter-writing drive so that Brandon has mail from back home to open everyday. Still, there will be days when it's just him, lying on a cold, hard table after a test and waiting for a doctor to come around the corner with important news. This time though, Arndt will be ready. He's approaching it as he would a football game. The ball's up in the air, floating across the middle and up for grabs. Whoever gets it is going to take a mean hit. ``He always goes across the middle and gets the ball,'' Vairo said. ``He doesn't care about getting hit or feeling pain as long as he gets the catch and it's helping us win. He's just a tough, hard-nosed kid.'' Let's hope cancer is no match. ramona.shelburne@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 YOU CAN HELP If you would like to help Brandon Arndt, donations of cash, restaurant gift cards and other items can be sent to: Hart Football Quarterback Club c/o Brandon Arndt P.O. Box 220512 Newhall, CA 91322 Please write Brandon on the memo line. Also, letters to Brandon and his family can be mailed to the same address. For more information, please visit hartindiansfootball.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) no caption (Brandon Arndt) David Crane/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) no caption (Brandon Arndt) Box: YOU CAN HELP (see text) |
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