As college hockey players around the country are working out and training for next season, there's no player in college hockey working harder this summer than Providence's Drew Brown as he battles a rare type of bone cancer called Ewing's sarcoma(save perhaps Alaska's Justin Woods, who is dealing with the same afflication.)
The online newspaper MLive, provided an update on Brown that shed some further light on what Brown is going through as he battles bone cancer. Brown is expected to start a fourth round of chemotherapy on Monday, and his chemotherapy treatments will continue until early August of this summer. According to an update from his family, Brown's last round of chemotherapy left him with a low white blood cell count that left him extremely susceptible to illness and infection. At the end of August, Brown will undergo surgery that will remove four to six inches of his left femur, which will be replaced by a cadaver bone. It's a good reminder that even though Brown's cancer was caught early enough to be treatable, Brown will still face a long, difficult road to recovery.
Meanwhile, fundraising efforts are ongoing to help aid the Brown family in covering the expenses associated with Brown's long hospital stay. Brown's GoFundMe page is still about $6,000 shy of reaching their goal of $18,000. The local community in his hometown of Chelsea, Michigan will also be hosting a pig roast dinner to help raise money for the Brown family that will include a 50/50 raffle and silent auction on July 13th from 12pm-7pm at the Chelsea Fairgrounds.