October 31, 2019

Bryce Wisdom hoists an orange flag emblazoned with the white letters that have come to define the Judson football season and his life.

Bryce Strong.

The schools drum line taps out an upbeat rhythm, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat.

Holding orange balloons, Bryces classmates some he knows well, others hes never met watch from the second floor, waiting to drop them once Bryce starts his march down the red and white hallway at Judson High School.

Nick Talbot is the sports editor of the San Antonio Express-News. He graduated from the University of Florida with a masters degree in sports management and a bachelors in journalism. He was previously the sports editor of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. He is a kidney cancer survivor.

Even though Judson was set to play at New Braunfels later that night, this isnt a pep rally. Its a sendoff for a friend, a classmate and a teammate.

Its Oct. 11, the last day Bryce will probably be able to attend during his junior year. As he prepares to fight a battle he thought hed already won, hes defiant. Cancer isnt going to beat him no matter how many times he is forced to go through chemotherapy.

Hes already lost too much.

A kidney. Part of his liver. His chance at playing college football like his brother Rashad Wisdom, a starting freshman safety for University of Texas at San Antonio.

Bryce is determined not to lose anymore.

As he begins walking down the hallway, his mother, Diana Wisdom, wipes away tears. Teachers and classmates reach out to hug him. The gathered crowd, dressed in orange to raise awareness for kidney cancer, drops the balloons and erupts in cheers and applause. More than 30 Judson High School students follow Bryce as he make the more than two-minute walk to the schools double doors.

Bryce plants the flag in the grass outside and the students begin to chant, Bryce Strong, Bryce Strong, Bryce Strong.

Bryce Wisdom, a student athlete at Judson High School who is fighting cancer, is embraced during a rally to encourage him on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. He is leaving school to undergo 25 weeks of chemotherapy.

Bryce Wisdom, a Judson High School student athlete who is fighting cancer, walks with his parents, Rich and Diana Wisdom, during a rally to encourage him on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. He is leaving school to undergo 25 weeks of chemotherapy.

Round 1

At first, Bryce thought nothing of it. He was an athlete. A cornerback for Judson, he had taken and given his fair share of hits on the football field during his sophomore year.

The pain in his lower back would pass. And with some ibuprofen, it eventually did.

Then came the blood.

When it first happened, I was like Oh, I was working out hard. That must be why. Ive heard that can happen. Then it happened again, and I was like I dont think this is normal, Bryce said.

When it happened a third time, he texted his mother, Mom I have blood in my urine.

She took him out of school and to the emergency room. The hospital ran an MRI. Thirty minutes later, the doctors returned.

When they came back, we could tell something was wrong, Diana said.

Her intuition was right. Bryce had a tumor in his right kidney.

There are days you sit in the shower, cry and wonder, Why?

Diana Wisdom, Bryce's mother

As soon as she heard the word oncologist, Diana couldnt stay in the room any longer. She went to the hallway and broke down. She didnt want Bryce to see her overcome with grief.

You go through so many emotions in like one second; you are angry, mad, sad, Diana said. It was just horrible.

Bryce didnt cry until he got home later that day. When he did, Sean, the eldest of the four Wisdom brothers, put the challenge ahead into a perspective Bryce understood football.

He told him, You know its like football. We are going to have our opponent, and we are going to know how to kick their butt, and this is what we are going to do, Diana said. He did some research and told Bryce that there was a 99 percent survival rate and it is going to be OK. Dont pay attention to mom, she cries when you get a splinter.

Diana Wisdom wipes a tear as she stands by her husband, Rich Wisdom, during a gathering at Judson High School for their son, Bryce.

This was no splinter. It was a Wilms tumor. About 500 new cases of Wilms tumors are found each year in the United States, affecting about 1 in every 10,000 children.

Wilms tumor, a solid cancerous growth of the kidney that arises from immature kidney cells, most often affects children who are 3 to 4 years old. Its much less common after age 5 making Bryces case even more unusual.

Wilms tumors also dont usually spread.

She (the doctor) just said Wilms tumor, and we had no idea what that was, Diana said.

The Wisdoms got up to speed fast.

The MRI was Wednesday. The family visited the oncologist Friday. On the following Tuesday, March 26, doctors removed Bryces right kidney.

At first, I was freaking out because I didnt know you could just take an organ out, a kidney out, and nothing would happen, Bryce said. But then they told me, You can live with just one kidney. But I was still scared for the surgery because it is a big one, and I knew it was going to be dangerous. So I was worried.

Nineteen weeks of treatment, including 11 of chemotherapy, followed. Some weeks were better than others. Often Bryce would come home from his treatments and go straight to sleep. Other times he woke up in the middle of the night and vomited.

He lost 25 pounds, got used to wearing a do-rag as his hair fell out and accepted he would never play football again.

It was a long five months.

Watching him suffer, the sores in his mouth, the nausea. Those are the sides of cancer not everyone sees, Diana said. We clean the vomit and we put him back in the bed. Sometimes the nights are hard, and we are crying, too. There are days you sit in the shower, cry and wonder, Why?

Still, there was plenty of reason to be optimistic. Over the years, advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of Wilms tumors have improved the prognosis for children with the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. The survival rate for a Stage 2 Wilms tumor is between 95 and 100 percent.

On Aug. 23, Bryce believed his battle with cancer was over. He walked into Methodist Children's Hospitals Childrens Cancer and Blood Center with family and friends behind him, waving streamers and carrying congratulatory balloons.

As they cheered him on, he rang the bell on the wall to celebrate the end of his treatment.

We were thrilled, Diana said. I thought we would be able to slow down on all the appointments. There was just one more scan to do.

The scan, taken only 19 days after he rang that bell, showed another tumor.

This time on his liver.

Cancer patient Bryce and his mother, Diana Wisdom, watch as nurse Gloria Muniz prepares to administer chemotherapy drugs.

Never alone

In early September, Diana needed to add lunch money to Bryces school account.

It hit me do I do it for the week, a few days, a month? You dont know, she said. Everything is really just out of your control.

It was one more little thing to consider as the family learned to live from diagnosis to diagnosis.

On Sept. 17, Bryce had surgery to remove a portion of his liver. More scans followed and the Wisdoms were left with more questions than answers as they waited for the pathology report to determine if Bryce would require further treatment.

You go to the hospital and you see 6- and 7-year-old kids going through the same thing, and you wonder what happened, said Bryces father, Richard Wisdom. How did this happen? You expect people my age or older because you have been through a lot of things.

He is a football player and is athletic and it is like, why him? So much goes through your mind.

When Bryce got out of his liver surgery, the first thing he did was ask for his brothers, Rashad, Myles and Sean. Rashad, who was in the middle of class at UTSA, left and went to the hospital. Sean arrived shortly after.

Their main question was, Is he going to die? And we told them that was not the plan. And they said, Then we are good, Diana said. Then when they got there, they had their own conversation and the next thing I knew, Bryce was good.

Myles, 11, is mostly upset he cant wrestle with Bryce anymore. Rashad focuses on his studies and football.

Rashad Wisdom, who plays defense for UTSA, looks into the stands during a game attended by his younger brother Bryce, who is battling cancer.

What Rashad deals with on a daily basis of being a student-athlete, a big brother, a great teammate, I could not even justly put in words, UTSA coach Frank Wilson said. I just commend him and love what he and his family stand for; both Richard and Diana, his parents, and how theyve raised their sons. Its a beautiful thing.

When he visited Bryce in the hospital, Judson assistant coach Quinton Green could see the pain on his face after the medicine would wear off. Green, who was one of Seans teammates with the Rockets and would hang out after practices at the Wisdoms house, was almost like another older brother to Bryce.

I know I am his coach and all; but at the end of the day I feel like his brother, and it was just like seeing one of my family members going through it, Green said. I have never seen him in that light. He is usually a kid who is smiling all the time.

Now, I just dont want him to think he is ever going through this alone.

Judson junior Bryce speaks with friends before leaving school to undergo 25 weeks of chemotherapy.

Becoming Bryce Strong

There are four bracelets on Dianas right wrist: a black one with an orange kidney cancer awareness ribbon in its center, an orange one that has Bryce Strong stamped into it, a silver and orange beaded bracelet with two charms on it both in support of her son and a yellow hospital band.

The collection is a small fraction of what she has done to rally community awareness.

Pediatric cancer is here, and it doesnt discriminate, Diana said. This is just starting a conversation. Bryces story lets these kids know if they see something that doesnt seem right to say something, to tell their parents.

We were lucky. We caught it early. It was only Stage 2, and we caught it because he said something, and that is the message we want to put out there.

That message began with a gift from an outgoing coach.

Before Sean McAuliffe left in April for Cypress Ranch after leading the Rockets to two state semifinals, he ordered orange T-shirts with the words, Bryce Strong printed across the front.

Bryce Wisdom's mother, Diane, wears jewelry and assorted bracelets showing her support for him. The color orange is worn to raise awareness for kidney cancer. (Photo: Billy Calzada)

Jason Wagner, the outside linebackers coach over there, is notorious for slogans and stuff we could put on shirts, and he was like We need to get shirts made up. I was like, Thats a hell of an idea, and it went from there, McAuliffe said. It is a unique story that I believe is going to have a good ending.

When the community learned Bryces cancer had spread to his liver, it rallied around the Wisdoms, raising more than $14,000 for their GoFundMe account, set up to help with the medical bills. Diana said anything left over will go to help pediatric cancer research.

Even other teams showed their support for Bryce. When Steele Judsons biggest rival hosted the Rockets, its cheerleaders lined up and held a sign that read #BryceStrong. Knights fans in attendance did the same. And when the Steele football team broke through its banner onto the field it read, No one fights alone. United we stand.

They cant know how much it means to us, Diana said. It is hard enough to go to the games knowing Bryce cant play. But to see the other teams wearing orange bands and to see their cheerleaders with orange on and the signs up it is amazing and appreciated.

Before UTSA footballs season opener against Incarnate Word, Bryce stood at midfield for the coin toss. And despite the diagnosis that followed a month later, he watched from the stands as his brother played against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

It was a beautiful sight to see him as we came through the spirit walk, Wilson said. He waited at the end and (we) got a big hug for him and had a few words with him. And now as he gets ready to combat (the disease) with his treatment, certainly our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Talk show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Kelly Clarkson have taken notice of the #BryceStrong movement, too.

DeGeneres tweeted at Diana after seeing a clip of Bryces sendoff at Judson, I am marching with you in my living room.

And in November, the Kelly Clarkson Show is expected to broadcast an interview with Judson ISD Superintendent Jeanette Ball and Judson High School Principal Jesus Hernandez.

Bryce has tried his best to shy away from the attention.

He loves it, but he doesnt want to be known as the cancer kid, Green said. He wants to be known as Bryce Wisdom, the football player and student athlete. I just tell him, You are getting a lot of love from people because they know the type of kid you are. Just embrace it and enjoy the fact that people care for you.

Thats the reason why Bryce was insistent on making the trip to New Braunfels with the Rockets after his sendoff.

No, he cant play anymore. The chemotherapy treatments sapped his strength, whittling 25 pounds off his already small frame.

Still, he pleaded with his mother, Diana, and his coaches to let him watch from the sideline. They countered by making sure he had a spot in the press box.

A cold front eventually put an end to even those plans. The trip was deemed too strenuous for a 16-year-old who was less than a week away from, once again, battling cancer.

It was just like getting punched in the stomach when he got this latest diagnosis. He is a great kid and comes from good, supportive family, Judson coach Rodney Williams said. He is one of those kids where you see his size and you think, There isnt any way. And then you get him on the field, and he will bite your leg off.

Judson Rockets represent their teammate Bryce Wisdom, who is battling Wilms Tumor, an aggressive form of kidney cancer

The Converse community shows their support with #BryceStrong placards for 16-year-old Bryce Wisdom during a Sept. 20 football game against Cibolo Steele. Bryce Wisdom, who is a member of the Judson Rockets, is battling kidney cancer.

Round 2

On the table in front of Bryce is an empty bag of SunChips, a wooden plaque he painted with the message BryceStrong #39 and three needles.

Soon, a respirator mask that looks like it was ripped from the pages of a comic book will cover the bottom half of his face as a bright red liquid, nicknamed the Red Devil, enters his veins through an IV.

He reaches for a piece of spearmint gum in preparation. It helps reduce the taste of metal in his mouth once the chemotherapy drugs start flowing into his body.

The first time around, Bryce was given two of the less intensive chemotherapy drugs. This round, though, will require three to four separate drugs, each with a higher toxicity profile than prior treatments, said Bryces oncologist, Dr. Jose Esquilin.

They have much higher side effects, and the impact on him is going to be much greater, Esquilin said. He is going to be tired. He is probably going to need transfusions, and he is going to lose his hair, his eyelashes, eyebrows and some more weight.

I am going to be watching and trying to minimize that, but we are definitely in a different situation.

Diana Wisdom cheers her son, Bryce, as he receives a chemotherapy treatment from nurse Gloria Muniz.

Diana Wisdom cheers her son, Bryce, as he receives a chemotherapy treatment from nurse Gloria Muniz.

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'Bryce Strong': Judson community rallies as football player heads for round two with cancer - San Antonio Express-News