health
Football practice was leaving a teen athlete out of breath. A rare cancer was to blame.
Cameron Rider had always been an athlete and loved hockey and baseball. The summer before his junior year of high school, he decided to join the football team. Pre-season practices in August left him fatigued and out of breath, but Rider, 16 at the time, just thought he was getting used to the new sport.
TL;DR
- Cameron Rider experienced persistent fatigue and breathlessness while playing football, initially mistaking it for a normal adjustment to the sport.
- His symptoms worsened, leading to repeated pneumonia diagnoses and hospitalizations, prompting a specialist referral.
- A bronchoscopy uncovered a mass, which was diagnosed as mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a rare form of lung cancer.
- Rider underwent an eight-hour surgery at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute to remove the tumor and part of his left lung (a left upper lobectomy).
- Despite a challenging recovery, Rider was able to return to athletic activities and is now applying to colleges while continuing to play sports.