Student wins battle against testicular cancer
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 01/25/2007
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David Ingalls picked up the multicolored Super Ball from his desk and tossed it in the air.
It reminds him of his battle with testicular cancer.
"After the first surgery, my friends came over with a sort of care package and in it they got me a Super Ball as a present," said Ingalls, with a slight laugh. "It was like, 'Thanks guys, you're the greatest.'"
On Jan. 1, 2004, the junior in the School of Electrical Engineering from Oolitic, Ind., found a lump on his testicle spurring a year of question before eventually being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had major surgery and a month and a half of chemotherapy. And through it all he had the support of his parents, who were going through a divorce, and his youth pastor.
Now, three years later and following a clean test result this past Monday, Ingalls can look back and joke once again.
"Because it's testicular cancer you're either going to be really embarrassed or totally open about it," said Ingalls. "Sometimes I'll get to talking about it with maybe someone I work with and I'm like, 'Yeah, I had a testicle removed,' and they're like, 'Gosh!'"
Yet, it wasn't always this light-hearted.
Testicular cancer wasn't the only change in Ingalls life. The relationship between his parents led to their eventual divorce around the time he was being treated for cancer. But this, he said, didn't affect his mood during the treatment.
Trying to pay back his student loan, however, still "agitates him to this day."
Due to surgery and treatment, he withdrew from Purdue his second semester.
"If I had to pull out again I would have to pay this month until I got back into the University then I would have to deal with my loans again," said Ingalls, shaking his head.
Steve Akers, executive associate dean of students, said situations such as this are case specific, but the University tries to be considerate to students who experience a withdrawal for medical reasons.
"We look at the date they were last able to attend class and that dictates the amount of reimbursement," said Akers.
Ingalls' main trouble was with his loan company, not the University, but it was an added inconvenience to already dealing with cancer and being away from the school he loves.
"The doctors said I had to pull out of school and take the semester off and it was like, �Oh man,' because it was a challenge enough to get to Purdue to begin with," he said.
He feared this recent test would make him have to withdraw once again. But his levels have returned to normal after being evaluated over Winter Break.
Throughout his entire bout with cancer, Ingalls cited one person other than his parents as an important person during his recovery: his youth pastor, Scott Salm.
Salm drove to Indianapolis from Bloomington, Ind., near Oolitic, Ind., in the early morning hours on the day of Ingalls' surgery, which involved removing one of his testicles. Salm arrived around 5 a.m. and looking back on Ingalls' recovery, Salm looked inward.
"What I thought is that this is a remarkable young man to be facing it with this much courage and strength and then you reflect on yourself and think how would I do that," said Salm.
Ingalls will undergo more tests in the future, but he has accepted that this is a part of his life and it is something he will continue to remember and deal with every time he tosses his Super Ball in the air.