At 31 years old, Scott Burchett was in the best shape of his life.
Helping families make memories as the Chief Operating Officer at the Frisco Roughriders, and looking forward to starting a family with his wife. Cancer was the furthest thing from his mind.
In the course of one week, Scott was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and learned that he was going to be the father of twins. This life-changing news took Scott and his family on an emotional roller coaster. Scott says, “I knew I was going to be a father, I knew I had to get healthy so I could be the best father I could be.” That’s when Scott decided cancer wasn’t going to win.
He called the Dallas ThyCa association looking for support. They led him to the experts at UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center where he began working with endocrine surgeon, Dr. Shelby Holt. During a six-and-a-half-hour surgery, she removed his thyroid, the main tumor in his neck and around 80 lymph nodes. From there, Scott underwent radiation treatment and began working with his endocrinologist, Dr. Ildiko Lingvay to monitor his thyroid.
"Cancer doesn't define who you are; cancer's just something that's going on with your body."
“The challenge is this is a cancer that likes to come back quite frequently and it's not one that's necessarily in remission. It can come back 10, 15, 20, 25 years down the line, so it's something that you've certainly got to keep an eye on.”
Eventually, Scott’s cancer did come back, but he put his trust in Dr. Lingvay’s expert opinion and decided to closely monitor the cancer rather than go through another round of treatment.
Seven years after his diagnosis, Scott and his team of experts continue to monitor his thyroid, but the word “cancer” doesn’t define him. Instead, he’s living out his dream; thankful to have his health, to be married to his best friend of 15 years, to watch the twins, Bennet and Clara, run around the yard with their little sister Lucy, and to go to the job he loves every day.
