Daniel Ellis lives each day to the fullest.
On Dec. 3, 2015, Ellis bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend of four years. The next day, doctors told him his chest pains were actually stage three bulky Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks his lymph nodes.
The main lump in the 22-year-old’s chest was the size of a softball. At stage three, the cancer had spread from his chest to his diaphragm.
Now, UF’s Heavener Leadership Challenge is trying to raise $10,000 for the UF business alumnus’ medical bills. The group, of which Ellis was a member, is holding events throughout the semester, with the next on March 23 at Texas Roadhouse on Archer Road.
“We’re a family, we’re a community,” said Dave Sullivan, a program advisor. “If something’s wrong with a member of your community, you do whatever you can to support them.”
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In Spring 2014, Ellis joined the first Heavener Leadership Challenge, a nine-week program that builds student’s leadership skills, Sullivan said. After completing the program, he remained involved with HLC’s alumni council.
With insurance, the family’s expenses have climbed to about $5,000, said Rhonda Ellis, Daniel’s mother. After he finishes the six months of chemotherapy this summer, Ellis will have 22 proton therapy treatments, which cost $160,000 without insurance.
The proton treatments use radiation to kill cancerous cells the chemotherapy might miss, she said.
Daniel Ellis said when visiting Gainesville, he found thousands of dollars in hospital bills that were sent to the scholarship house he lived in during college. The bills came from UF Health Shands Hospital from when he was diagnosed.
“Having to go to the doctor so many times, it adds up quickly,” he said.
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Rhonda Ellis uses her faith to come to terms with Ellis’ cancer.
She said she attends every chemotherapy treatment and chronicles the experience on her blog. A needle pumps drugs into her son’s heart’s main artery. As Ellis sits for hours, fighting nausea, Rhonda talks with other cancer patients who are alone.
“On the chemo floor, most people were alone,” she said.
She said she gives donated Chick-fil-A biscuits to patients while Ellis gets treatment. She said cancer has taught her compassion.
“I see so many gifts that’s been in this whole process,” she said.
Through her blog, she encourages people to talk about cancer.
“We’ve been intentional to let people into our lives,” she said. “We’ve created an environment here where he’s comfortable, he’s safe.”
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Gabi Willis has liked Daniel Ellis since eighth grade.
The two grew up attending the same church. At 17, Daniel took her, her mom and his mom, Rhonda, to breakfast to ask Willis on a date. The next day, he got her dad’s blessing.
A week after his first chemotherapy treatment, Ellis took Willis, 22, to their favorite restaurant, P.F. Chang’s. He made up a fake doctor’s appointment, said it was canceled and asked her to go on a walk.
His two sisters hid in the bushes to capture the moment he knelt down on one knee.
Rhonda Ellis said her son was adamant about marrying Willis, despite his cancer.
“He said, ‘Mom, if I’m going to die, I’m going to ask her to marry me,’” she said.
Ellis’ mom and fiancée remain optimistic. Daniel said he’s halfway through chemotherapy and is 80 to 90 percent cancer-free.
He said although his cancer is disappearing, the treatments are getting harder. Ellis said cancer has kept him from working and playing soccer with his friends.
“I’d like it just to all be over,” he said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @k_newberg.
Daniel Ellis, a 22-year-old UF alumnus who graduated with a degree in business administration, waits as a nurse sterilizes an IV port during his fifth round of chemotherapy. In early December, Ellis was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
