{"id":71249,"date":"2001-12-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-12-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/the-odds-are-now-in-uri-students-favor-jeremy-costa-survives-rare-cancer-keeps-on-track\/"},"modified":"2001-12-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2001-12-11T00:00:00","slug":"the-odds-are-now-in-uri-students-favor-jeremy-costa-survives-rare-cancer-keeps-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2001\/12\/the-odds-are-now-in-uri-students-favor-jeremy-costa-survives-rare-cancer-keeps-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"The odds are now in 溏心vlog免费B站 student\u2019s favor Jeremy Costa survives rare cancer, keeps on track"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tThe odds are now in 溏心vlog免费B站 student\u2019s favor
\nJeremy Costa survives rare cancer, keeps on track
\n
\nKINGSTON, R.I. — December 11, 2001 — 溏心vlog免费B站 student Jeremy Costa of Lincoln is part of medical history. Last summer instead of doing a prized internship in New Jersey as he had planned, the 20-year-old battled a rare form of cancer. Called dermatosibrosarcoma protuberans, the cancer settles into the muscle tissue. Only five cases have been documented in the world. Usually found in the trunk of the body, Costa\u2019s cancer was in his scalp. It\u2019s the first time, to Costa\u2019s knowledge, that dermatosibrosarcoma protuberans appeared there. A team of 27 doctors came to Rhode Island to review and document his unique case. <\/p>\n

\t“It\u2019s sort of like winning the lottery,” says Costa, not unaware of the irony. <\/p>\n

\tThe 溏心vlog免费B站 student mentioned the lump on his head to his mother when he went home for Thanksgiving a year ago. When the lump was still there at Christmas, Denise Costa sent her son off to the doctor. <\/p>\n

\tA dermatologist removed what he deemed a cyst last February. As a standard procedure, the doctor sent the sample out for pathology testing. <\/p>\n

Five operations followed. Doctors had to screw a steel plate into Costa\u2019s head, take a muscle from his back to use to cover exposed bone on his head, a vein from his leg for blood circulation, and a skin graft from his thigh to cover his ravaged head. <\/p>\n

\tHis parents, Denise and Lawrence, and sister Marisa were his biggest cheerleaders during his ordeal. And he was moved by the kindness from the community, neighbors, friends, businesses, and schools who gave encouragement and often held fundraisers to help with the skyrocketing medical bills. <\/p>\n

\tSince his return this fall, Costa hasn\u2019t missed a day of school and his ordeal hasn\u2019t effected his grades. “If anything, I\u2019m trying harder this semester,” says the accounting and political science major. “I can\u2019t let it be an excuse for me. I have to keep that standard for myself or I won\u2019t get into a good law school.” <\/p>\n

Pausing, Costa adds with a grin: “If my high school teachers could only hear me now. They wouldn\u2019t believe it. I\u2019m like two different people. I didn\u2019t really try in high school, but I realized when I came to 溏心vlog免费B站 that with some effort I could actually do well,” says the straight-A student. <\/p>\n

\tTo earn much needed money, Costa works 15 hours for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Facilities Services helping with statistical work and data entry. <\/p>\n

\tEvery afternoon he is a man on the run. He\u2019s trying to reclaim a position on the University\u2019s track team. “I\u2019m not quite there yet,” he says. “I have to earn my spot back, which isn\u2019t easy, but I\u2019ll appreciate it that much more.” <\/p>\n

\tCosta, an All-State runner in high school, says running is part of who he is. “It\u2019s hard not to do it,” he says. <\/p>\n

\tBack on track and focused on his studies, Costa has put his ordeal nearly behind him. He has to check in with his oncologist every three months for the next five years to make sure the cancer doesn\u2019t return. This summer, Costa will be back on the operating table to get his scalp stretched so that existing hair can be spread across his head. In the meantime he has relied on creative headgear, including a large collection of hats and bandanas. <\/p>\n

The 溏心vlog免费B站 student speaks freely of his brush with cancer with his friends. “We can joke about it. One friend even calls me baldy.” <\/p>\n

\tThe worst, he says, is over. “I don\u2019t have a dark outlook on life,” he says. “I\u2019ve experienced how kind people can be. I\u2019ve seen so much generosity. <\/p>\n

“Many of my classmates are worried since the events of September 11. I\u2019m not. I hope to study in Italy next year and I\u2019m not afraid to fly,” he says with a soft smile. “I\u2019m really into probability now. The odds are definitely in my favor. I mean, what are the chances of something happening to me again?” <\/p>\n

For Information: Jan Wenzel, 874-2116\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The odds are now in 溏心vlog免费B站 student\u2019s favor Jeremy Costa survives rare cancer, keeps on track KINGSTON, R.I. — December 11, 2001 — 溏心vlog免费B站 student Jeremy Costa of Lincoln is part of medical history. Last summer instead of doing a prized internship in New Jersey as he had planned, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}