Iowa State’s Meyers trying to work through cancer with a level head

AMES - Mitchell Meyers wasn't faced with much of a decision, despite the initial suggestion from his parents.

The Iowa State defensive lineman was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in February, and his parents wanted him to come back to his home in Houston for treatments. Meyers, a junior, squashed that idea in favor of staying around his teammates.

'The chemo is the same whether I'm here or at MD Anderson. It's just a recipe. Anybody can do it,” Meyers said. 'I want to stay in school here and be with the team. If I went home, I'd just be sitting around on my couch with my mom all day. I'm glad I'm here.”

Meyers has completed five out of 12 rounds of chemotherapy with his mom - who flies up from Houston - at his side. Chemo treatments are administered every two weeks and he'll start radiation treatment after the 12th round. He plans on being back in Ames for classes during the first week of fall semester.

ISU team physician Dr. Marc Shulman hasn't noticed a personality change in Meyers since his diagnosis, and Meyers has approached the situation with a level head.

'I spoke with the oncologist this morning and we are anticipating a full and complete recovery, which is not unusual with Hodgkins Lymphoma,” Shulman said.

Crawling into a shell and sulking about the diagnosis was never in Meyers' cards. The word cancer was certainly a shock to his system, but he snapped himself into the reality of the situation pretty quickly.

'When you get that shock out of the way, a few days later, it really sets in and you say, ‘OK, what's the treatment plan and how do I fix this?'” Meyers said. 'So there's never a time when you're going to crawl away and hide from it.”

'He remains upbeat and positive in his daily approach, which should surprise nobody who has ever come in contact with Mitchell,” Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads said in a statement. 'He recognizes that he has a long road ahead. A journey that he is not traveling alone.”

Working out with teammates has kept Meyers in respectable shape physically, but one of his biggest appreciations since his diagnosis has been the letters he's received. Social media and emails have been a conduit for people to reach out, but he said the letters in the mail have caught him by surprise the most.

Meyers said letters have come from opposing coaches like Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and Texas' Charlie Strong, as well as people in Lubbock, Texas, and Georgia who read or heard about his diagnosis.

Those small gestures are magnified in Meyers' eyes.

'They don't have to do that,” Meyers said. 'So to take time out of their day to come in contact with me, I really appreciate it.”