Defying the Odds: PGA Golfer’s Dad Was Told He Had Only a Year to Live After Leukemia Diagnosis — Today, He’s Thriving Alongside Teen Protégé Son

In a video posted on X, Parke Brown expressed his pride in his son, who was ranked number five overall by the American Junior Golf Association.

“I’m as big as the ocean out there. I’m so happy. So proud of him,” Parke said.

“He’s worked so hard, and I’m lucky to be here,” Parke continued.

Parke noted his gratitude to be able to experience this magical time with his son following his diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). According to the National Cancer Institute, HCL is a rare type of cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow. This type of leukemia is called “hairy” because it looks hairy under a microscope.

Leukemia impacts the normal function of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, which can interfere with vital oxygen being transported throughout the body to tissues. It can also disrupt the functioning of white blood cells, which help fight infections, and platelets, which help the body form blood clots when bleeding occurs.

“A year and a half ago, I had a year left to live. I’ve been diagnosed with leukemia, and we’ve been through a lot as a family,” Parke said.

Relying on his faith, Parke asked, “Lord, give me some more time” as he relishes his son’s success.

Essentially Sports reports that Parke underwent several rounds of chemotherapy for treatment.

Blades told the sports outlet, “I just use it [his father’s diagnosis] as fuel. Having him here is just awesome. Like he could not be here right now; that’s crazy to think about.”

Health Challenges Can Bring Families Closer

Blades noted that he used his father’s diagnosis to motivate his golfing pursuits. Undoubtedly, Blade’s mom and Parke’s wife, Rhonda Blades Brown, a former WNBA athlete, was also impacted by her husband’s cancer diagnosis. When someone in the home is severely ill or diagnosed with a disease like cancer, it often affects the entire family.

Research published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine studied the impact of disease on family members. It found that most chronic diseases have similar psychological effects on family members including emotional functioning, disruption of leisure activities, effect on interpersonal relationships, and financial resources.

Feelings of “helplessness, lack of control, anger, embarrassment” are some common emotions parents, siblings, and other relatives within the household of someone battling a health condition may experience, according to researchers.

Other ways a disease, for example, may impact the lives of family members include:

• Affecting sleep
• Concerns about medical treatment
• Altered food choices
• Using religion, spiritual, and cultural beliefs to cope
• Concerns about understanding the disease or illness
• Needing support from others
• Limited freedom
• Worrying about the death of a loved one

When a child is battling cancer, parents or adult caregivers often bear the brunt of the diagnosis, according to a study published in Health Expectations, an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy.

“Parents have substantial responsibilities advocating for their child,” researchers in the study said.

“[Parents] responsibilities have an enormous impact on the family: going out of the home becomes a challenge, there are constant constraints on time, parents are sleep-deprived, and there are wider impacts on siblings,” researchers added.

Jayne Wexler, whose son is a childhood cancer survivor, explained to SurvivorNet the impact cancer can have on parents.

“When we were in the hospital, we met a lot of couples, and a lot of people don’t stay together because they can’t handle this,” Jayne told SurvivorNet. “Fortunately, we [she and her husband] were very strong, and we stayed together.”

Experts agree that forming a strong support system can help everyone cope with the challenges. These situations can be opportunities to strengthen families and bring them closer together.

Coping With a Leukemia Diagnosis

Hairy cell leukemia is a rare form of the disease. However, it shares some characteristics with more common forms of leukemia, such as acute and chronic and myeloid or lymphocytic leukemias.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a fast-growing blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, the factory that makes white and red blood cells and platelets.

Stem cells within the bone marrow eventually develop into white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), and platelets, which help blood clot.

Stem cells can copy themselves to make progenitor cells or precursor cells. Myeloid progenitor cells turn into red blood cells, granulocytes (a type of white blood cell), and platelets. AML affects the myeloid progenitor cells during a stage of development when they are called myeloblasts.

With AML, myeloblasts fail to turn into fully developed blood cells, leaving them to build up in the bone marrow and blood.

WATCH: After An AML Diagnosis, What are the Next Steps?

AML is diagnosed by extracting samples of liquid bone marrow and a chip of bone from the back of the hip. The samples are then tested to determine whether blood cells in the bone marrow are abnormal.

Dr. Gail Roboz, an AML expert and medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, says, “The majority of patients have this sporadically out of the clear blue sky.”

Symptoms for acute myeloid leukemia can include:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Loss of appetite

AML causes certain symptoms, but having these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have AML. Your doctor will do diagnostic tests to confirm whether you have AML before recommending a treatment.

Your doctor will then perform tests to diagnose you, and those tests may include:

• Blood tests. In people with AML, white blood cell counts may be high, and red blood cell and platelet counts may be low. These tests can also show immature cells in the blood that should only be found in the bone marrow.
• Bone marrow biopsy. Removing and testing a bone marrow sample helps confirm AML after an abnormal blood test result.
• Lumbar puncture. This test uses a sample of spinal fluid to diagnose AML.
• Molecular and genetic testing. Your doctor can do tests to determine whether you have certain genes related to AML and if your cancer might respond better to specific treatments.

WATCH: Diagnosing CML

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myelogenous leukemia, is a type of cancer of the white blood cells. As the disease progresses, CML cells crowd out healthy cells and eventually build up and spill over into the blood. Although CML usually grows slowly, it can also turn into a faster-growing acute leukemia, which is more challenging to treat.

Symptoms for CML are often vague, as many other ailments can cause them. However, common symptoms include:

• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Night sweats
• Weight loss
• Fever
• Bone pain
• An enlarged spleen (which may be felt as a mass under the left side of the ribcage)
• Pain or a sense of fullness in the stomach
• Feeling full after a small amount of food

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a slow-growing chronic cancer. Many people diagnosed with this disease won’t need treatment at diagnosis. Instead, patients are monitored, and their blood count is tracked to determine if treatment is necessary down the road.

“Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a cancer of a white blood cell called a B lymphocyte,” explains Dr. Matthew Davids, director of the Center For Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia at the Dana Farber Cancer.

WATCH: When should you begin treatment for CLL

“These are cells that are normally there to help you fight off infections, and for reasons that we don’t often understand, these cells can gradually accumulate over time and become a tumor that we call CLL,” Dr. Davids said.

Treating a Leukemia Diagnosis

Treatment for leukemia depends on several factors, including your age, overall health, and if the cancer has spread or metastasized to other parts of the body.

However, standard treatment methods may include chemotherapy, which uses drugs designed to kill cancer cells. Since chemotherapy drugs travel through the bloodstream, chemo is a valuable treatment for leukemia, according to the American Cancer Society.

Common chemo drugs created to help treat CLL may include fludarabine (brand name Fludara), pentostatin (brand name Nipent), cladribine (brand name Leustatin), chlorambucil (brand name Leukeran), bendamustine (brand name Treanda), and cyclophosphamide (brand name Cytoxan).

“A bone marrow transplant is a therapy where your bone marrow and your blood cells are completely replaced by someone else’s bone marrow cells and blood cells,” says Dr. Jun Choi, a hematologist-oncologist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Targeted therapy is another treatment method in which cancer drugs specifically target cancer cells, limiting their growth.

Radiation therapy involves using high-energy rays, such as X-rays, aimed at cancer cells to kill them.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you’ve been diagnosed with leukemia, or it has returned, here are some questions you may consider asking your doctor to help understand your situation:

• What kind of leukemia do I have?
• What treatment options are available for my type of leukemia?
• Are there any side effects from treatment? How can they be managed?
• Will I be able to continue working through treatment?
• If my leukemia has relapsed, would a clinical trial make sense for me?
• What resources are available for me to find emotional support through my journey?

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