Grapefruit-Sized Tumors and Bagpiping Dreams
- Davie Quinn was shocked when doctors discovered he had a grapefruit sized tumor just months after moving to a new city. He underwent two surgeries and nine weeks of chemotherapy to successfully rid his body of the tumor. Doctors even had to break his ribs and remove his intestines to reach it.
- After recovering from his surgery, he quickly realized that he needed to pursue his passions. Today, he’s made music a full-time job and has even started a bagpiping agency.
- In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Marecya Burton explained how ovarian cancer changed the course of her life. Now she’s a high school social studies teacher.
The London-based Scotsman developed a tumor right next to his heart just eight months after moving to London. The first step of treatment meant going right to the operating table. That was when surgeons broke his rib cage and moved his insides all around to try to fully get all of the tumor. Unfortunately, their initial efforts were only partially successful.
Read More"They had cardiovascular surgeons on standby in case they nicked my heart arteries, [if you do that] then it’s game over," he said.
Thankfully, the operation was successful. Fast forward two and a half years, and Quinn is on the other side of his intense treatment making the most of the life he’s been given.
He got a job in recruitment as soon as he was well enough to start working again, but he soon realized that that was not the life he wanted.
"That just crystalized how much I hated it; the 9-5, having to spend all day in an office with people you don't really like,” Quinn said.
Quinn used to be a DJ before falling into the world of music management prior to his tumor. After surgery, he eventually got back in DJ work and starting busking with his bagpipes: that’s when he quit his nine-to-five.
“I just said I have to get back to creativity and doing something in music,” he said.
Since then, he’s started a bagpiping agency. He’s even performed for celebrities like Rod Stewart and Bryan Cranston, and we can’t wait to see where his music career takes him next.
Thriving as a Survivor
A cancer diagnosis can change the trajectory of your life. But as we’ve seen in the case of Davie Quinn, that change is not always bad.
Marecya Burton also had her life thrown off course when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at just 20 years old. At the time she was a college student-athlete looking forward to graduation, but all that had to change when she had to move home to start treatment.
Former College Cheerleader Reinvents Herself After Surviving Ovarian Cancer
"That was definitely challenging for me," Burton said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. "I was looking forward to graduating."
She also had planned on pursuing a law degree after graduation another dream she had to give up.
"I really had to, in a sense, put my life on hold," she said. "Sometimes I look at where I am, and I can't help but wonder, would I be further had I not had my diagnosis?"
But instead of law school, Burton found a new passion: teaching. She became a high school teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, and she’s since made peace with her new direction in life.
"I wouldn't change my career for the world," she says. "It's so fulfilling."
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