[Wrestling] Bad news: Adam Frey has cancer

Adam Frey
Hello, my name is Adam Frey and I am a wrestler at Cornell University.

On the Tuesday after Easter (March 25, 2008), I decided to get up a little earlier to make a nice stop at McDonald’s and get some food before heading off to a full day of classes. On my way to class on a winding part of the road that I drive on every day, I saw a car coming straight at me. I veered right to miss it and then swerved left, causing my car to fishtail on gravel, roll and hit a tree at about 55 MPH.

After finding myself in the bed of my vehicle and still in the front seat, I started to pray. My whole body was numb except for an incredible pain in my neck. After realizing I was not paralyzed, I exited the car and called my roommate to come pick me up. My stuff was scattered as far as 50 feet out the back of the car from the roll and my car is totaled.

Upon arriving to the hospital, I waited for what seemed like forever to finally get seen. Before undergoing a routine CAT scan to check for internal bleeding and head trauma, the doctor told me that I must be one tough SOB to walk away from something like that and I should be dead. As soon as I felt everything would be over and I would just have a story to tell and maybe a job to pick up to get another car, I received my results.

The head and neck were fine except for whiplash, but another problem loomed. Here I was informed of three tumors on my lung, liver and between my kidneys. At the age of 22, and with never smoking, chewing, doing drugs, and being as healthy as anyone in wrestling shape, I have cancer.

It is obviously a hard pill to swallow, but as my coach always tells me, “It is what it is.” There is no hiding, no running, nothing. I have to do something that I have done all my life: fight.

With the help of the big man upstairs and my family and friends, I feel like I have the best support group out there. Those in the wrestling community have really come through and everyone has blessed me with their love and support even as this task looms. I hope to one day wrestle again, I hope to beat this disease, and I hope that you all can be a part of this piece of my life. I can promise to never give up and to be as tough as I can be.

With that said, thank you for reading my story and I hope to keep you guys updated with my blog and my treatment. I will keep all of you in my prayers and let us all hope for the best.

God Bless,
Adam Frey

Adam Frey
The doctor came in and really broke the news. I am not in an early stage. In fact, I am in the most advanced stage testicular cancer comes in, Stage III. If this had ept growing for two more months, it would not be life as much as quality of life. My odds got cut back 10-20%, and the real kick was being told that, if I had smoked, shot heroine, and basically treated my body like a warzone and not a temple, the odds of survival would be about the same. It is still between 60-70, but it irks me knowing that this thing could not have been prevented, and because I am so young, is not affected by diet, exercise, good living habits, ect. I was told I would be less prone to infection, but the news about healthy livings affect now, it just bugged me. I was told that later down the road it does matter, so for everyone who lives right, continue, hopefully it will pay off in the end.

Adam Frey
The other thing that is amazing is how large my tumor actually was. It is about 10-12 pounds which means this year instead of making 141, I was making 129-131 and sometimes wrestling 149. I guess the mystery of why it was so hard for me to make weight was finally revealed. I was carrying an extra 1.5 weight classes in my gut, literally.