Rocky's Rockstars is a team formed to honour an amazing young man, who fought a courageous battle against a terrifying disease - cancer.

Rocky's life was turned upside-down in June 2009, when he was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-Cell Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  The diagnosis came as a surprise to everyone - friends, family, doctors and to Rocky himself.  One of the first words out of Rocky's mouth after telling me what the doctor had said was "my parents deserve better."  At a time when his own life had been thrown into question and his future was uncertain, Rocky worried about our parents, who had tragically lost our brother just a few years earlier.

This concern for his family would carry on throughout the 14 month battle that Rocky fought against a cancer that showed him no mercy.

After multiple biopsies, many scans, countless consultations with doctors, Rocky began CHOP-R chemotherapy on July 2, 2009.  This regimen is designed to tackle an especially aggressive type of cancer. 

For four long months, Rocky endured chemotherapy, during which period, he also developed and fought off meningitis.  For those four months, we watched Rocky spend up to 6 hours per appointment at the BC Cancer Agency receiving powerful drugs to eradicate disease from his body, and during this time, we watched him deal with the symptoms and side effects of chemotherapy quietly.  Never once did he complain of what he was feeling.  All out of concern for his family, who he knew was already so worried about his wellbeing.  All he wanted was to get better.

On December 3, 2009, we found out that Rocky's PET results had come back positive for cancer.  The intense chemotherapy had failed to completely eradicate the disease from his body.  On the contrary, two new tumours had formed during the course of chemotherapy.  This meant that Rocky's chances of survival had decreased significantly from 60-70%, to only 20-25%.  Rocky faced extreme, high dose chemotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplant.  He still did not complain - as long as he got better, it was all okay.

Rocky had been looking forward to the Vancouver Olympics since the day they were announced.  The Olympics started on February 12, 2010.  Rocky was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital on February 15, 2010, and was not discharged until March 9, 2010.  He spent the entire duration of the Olympics in hospital, suffering from the effects of the extreme chemotherapy and the transplant, in isolation on the 16th floor of VGH.  He was not able to take in any of the events leading up to the Olympics because we could not risk his developing an infection or catching a cold ahead of the procedure due to take place at VGH.  He still did not complain.

In late April 2010, we found out that Rocky's PET results had once again returned positive for cancer.  The painful procedure at VGH had failed, and with that failure, Rocky's chances of beating the disease decreased again.  He now had a less than 3% chance of beating the disease.  Nonetheless, doctors advised him to undergo 20 rounds of radical radiotherapy, which he did.  From May 19 to June 16, Rocky underwent radiation, 5 days a week for four weeks.  Because of the location of the remaining tumour, the mass became swollen and pushed up against Rocky's diaphragm creating extreme pain each time he took a breath.  He still did not complain.  He received the medications he required, and continued to fight towards remission.

On June 27, 2010, Rocky suffered an episode of extreme back pain and was taken back to the hospital, and on June 29, 2010, Rocky was told that he had 6 months to live.  He begged the doctor to do something...anything.  He was willing to do chemotherapy for the rest of his life if it meant living longer, but unfortunately, there was nothing else to be done.  Rocky was dying.

During the next six weeks, Rocky's health took a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.  He suffered episode after episode of excruciating pain which led him to thrash about his hospital bed, screaming in pain and crying in agony.  His legs began to swell, and walking became difficult, but every day, multiple times a day, Rocky got up to go for a walk to try and stay ahead of the cancer.  Rocky "celebrated" his 25th birthday in the Palliative Care ward of SMH in July.  He also underwent test after test after test, all of which demonstrated the degree to which the cancer had spread.  His spinal column was fully infiltrated by cancer.  His spinal cord was fractured in two spots because of the pressure that tumers were creating in his bones.  His legs were swelling because his blood was not reproducing as it should have been.  His counts were dropping because his bone marrow was failing. 

By August 2, to the surprise of Rocky's doctors, he had stabilized enough to be discharged from hospital.  During the five days he got to spend at home, we had an amazing time, and we cherished every single moment we got to spend with him, but the degree of his illness was apparent.  We administered powerful painkiller injections around the clock to keep his pain under control, and Rocky began walking with a cane because he was unable to walk on his own due to the extreme swelling of his legs.

On August 7, Rocky returned to hospital for a blood transfusion.  He was supposed to be home on August 8, but on the evening of August 8, Rocky had developed an internal bleed, and his body would not be able to recover.  On the morning of August 9, doctors told us that it was time to say our goodbyes.

After we said what needed to be said, and when he started to fall asleep due to the high doses of pain medication, our mom began to pray.  Rocky tightly held my parents' hands, mom on the left, dad on the right, with my parents' foreheads on his.  All of their eyes closed.  Hanging on for dear life. 

After a week of slowly deteriorating, Rocky left us forever on August 16, 2010.  Rocky's painful journey was over.  He was finally at peace, and finally free of doctors, tests, chemotherapy, radiation, pain, and cancer.  Our painful journey of a life without him, was just beginning.

Rocky did not deserve what life gave him.  He was an amazing young man, loved by many.  He was selfless during a time when he could have been forgiven for being selfish.  A class act.  His oncologists described him as stoic.  Throughout his battle, he handled himself with class and dignity.  He deserves to be honoured with something big.  He deserves to have his battle acknowledged.  He deserves to be remembered.

This team has been formed in honour of this amazing young man.  From our devastation, we want to bring something good.  We do not want Rocky's battle to go in vain.  We want to help others so that they don't have to go through what he did, and their family and friends don't have to go through what we are.

Please help us carry on Rocky's legacy.  Help us help others.  Help Rocky's Rockstars make a difference. 

 Please, give courageously.

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