Covering the Wolves: From Bike Rides to Sidelines With JC Cox

A stage four cancer diagnosis is hard enough. Now stack it with respiratory failure, a flooded house, and saying goodbye to a beloved dog, all inside a few days. That’s the real-life backdrop JC Cox brings to Saturdays in Jonesboro, and he tells it with the same blunt honesty Red Wolves fans have heard from him on the sideline for years.

We talk about how Arkansas State athletics became JC’s safe space as a kid in Jonesboro, riding his bike to practices and games because it was the one place life felt steady. That personal connection turns into a career in Arkansas State sports media, from early print and sports radio to betting on himself when coverage could have faded. If you care about the story behind the games, you’ll hear how local media, broadcasters, and loyal supporters helped grow A-State coverage into what it is today.

Then we get into Saturdays: what it’s like to work the sideline, why road trips build real friendships, and how memories of Coach Bill Keaty still shape the broadcast family. We also dig into college football right now, including NIL, the transfer portal, and the pressure for instant results, plus why Butch Jones’ detail and long-term approach feel different up close.

JC also shares the medical details he usually keeps private: the diagnosis, the fight to start treatment, the insurance delays, the targeted medication for a genetic mutation, the MD Anderson second opinion, and the moment his doctor called with scan results that changed everything. If this story hits you, subscribe, share it with a Red Wolves fan, and leave a review so more people can find it.

@Arkansasstatemedianetwork.com.

00:00 - The Hardest Week: Cancer, Floods, and Heartbreak

01:45 - A-State as a Childhood Safe Space

03:50 - The Rise of Red Wolves Sports Media

06:15 - Betting on Yourself in Local Broadcasting

08:30 - Life on the Sideline and Road Trip Bonds

10:45 - Remembering Coach Bill Keaty

12:55 - The Modern Game: NIL and the Transfer Portal

15:20 - Up Close with Coach Butch Jones

17:40 - The Diagnosis and Insurance Battles

20:15 - Targeted Treatments and MD Anderson

22:30 - The Scan Results That Changed Everything

Transcript

Welcome And Meet JC Cox

SPEAKER_00 0:10

And we welcome you in to Saturdays in Jonesboro. This is episode four of our brand new podcast. And our focus has been everything that's happening, not only on the field, but off the field as well, everything that happens around the world of A-State athletics. We've already talked we've already talked to former players, we've talked to broadcasters, to fans, donors. And one thing I wanted to do today was hit a different angle. And our guest today is somebody that has been around A-State athletics for many years now, somebody that's been in the radio world. He's had his own show, RWRC Radio. He's had his own podcast before. And for the last several years now, he's been our sideline analyst on the EAB Red Wolf Sports Network from Learfield. So you talk about Saturdays in Jonesboro. This is a guy that I work very closely with every Saturday in Jonesboro. Turned into a great friend of mine as well. It's JC Cox. What's up, Matt? That's uh it's good to be here, my man.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

It's uh it's it's hard to believe when you talk about sideline analysts and how long I've been doing it. It's time flies, and you know, it's just such a different perspective on game day the way we get to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

It's a lot of fun. And I want to get into all that, but you're one of those guys that you bleed scarlet and black, you love Arkansas State athletics as much as anybody that I know. So tell everybody where that comes

A-State As A Childhood Escape

SPEAKER_00 1:53

from.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Wow. So ironically, you know, this goes back to me riding my bike to football practices as a kid. Um, my mom, you know, I I moved to to Jonesboro, late 80s with my mom. Um, and you know, my mom was a single mom, so she was constantly working and whatnot. And, you know, I didn't have the easiest upbringing in life. Um, I had a very tough home life. And, you know, I'll try not to get wispy when I talk about this uh because it is so much more than sports for me. Um, you know, Arkansas State athletics and the campus. Um, my mom was a student um at that point, and so I had access to the hypus, you know, as a kid, I would go to the hypus and I was hooping with college kids, you know, and I was in junior high school, you know, and so I'd find myself riding my bike to football practices, riding my bike to games, uh, you know, whether it was basketball or football or whatever it may be, baseball, um, it was my escape. Um, Arkansas State Athletics was my escape. I was always hugely into sports and uh just loved it. And it was right down the road. At that time, I lived off Aggie, and so it was a very easy, very easy bike ride, if you will. And um, yeah, man, and just kind of fell in love when I moved to Arkansas. I moved to Arkansas from Florida, and so when I first moved to uh to Arkansas, I lived in Fort City for a couple years, and that's where my mom's side of my family was, and so of course I had an uncle that was a diehard fan of that other team on the other side of the state, and so I didn't really know anything, and so on Saturdays in Fort City, we'd we'd watch games, college games, and he was obviously watching Arkansas, and I just kind of paid attention to it. But then when I got to Jonesboro, you know, I kind of just gravitated, you know. All my family was, you know, they would they would buy me that other team's gear, you know, they'd give me that stuff, and I'm like, I don't have any tie to them, you know what I mean? And it was just kind of one of those things where it's not like it is now, right, with Arkansas State, where you had tons, you have tons of merchandise, tons of things to choose from. It was very hard to find Arkansas State stuff back then, and I'd keep telling my family, like, I don't have any tie to that, to that school. And and I would keep telling them, I'm an Arkansas State person, you know, and um anyway, uh, but that's that's really the root of it. Um, so I would just go to practice, go to games, and I would do this all on my own. Like it wasn't, I didn't, I would love to tell people that I had this storybook childhood and I was going to games with my dad or my mom or my aunts or uncles, but uh that's just not true. The truth is I was escaping a tough home life by coming on this campus and going to games and going to practices and finding a way to do it. They used to do $5 tickets at Sonic for games. I'd go ride my bike, I'd go get a ticket, and I'd go to the game. I mean, that's just the truth. Um, so it was really it's so much more than just sports for me. It was kind of my escape from something that was extremely tough.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So this campus, the athletic events, it was like your oasis. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

No doubt. No, it was it was it was kind of what you would reference as a safe space, yeah, you know, for me. Um, just because it was. You know, I had a extremely tough life. All right.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

So

From Fan To Covering The Team

SPEAKER_00 5:37

you grow up a fan, but when did you start covering A State Athletics?

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Oh gosh. Um man, so it goes it goes way back. I would say I started um with a print product, um, with you know, with a a magazine slash radio type situation. Um there was I was a part of a couple different print products, and really that's where I kind of started to get into the covering aspect, you know. And then, you know, um uh a radio station, formerly the game, um, one of the owners there reached out to me because he had a tie to me to a formal print uh former print product, and he said, Hey man, I want you to come in and I want you to jump in on a show, you know, I want to see how it goes. And I was like, Okay, you know, and and so I did, you know, but it goes back, it goes back, I would say mid 2000s, late 2000, you know, um, and that's when it began. And uh, of course, for me, um when that particular uh radio station was sold, um, I made the decision then to kind of go off on my own. You wanted to keep doing it? I I did. I wanted to keep doing what we were doing, and I wanted to, you know, I wanted to do it on my own terms, and um, I bet on myself, basically. And um, you know, at that time, I could see the trajectory of media coverage for Arkansas State starting to increase. And I was so passionate about it that I wanted to make sure that I could still do my part to get A-State coverage out to the masses because I didn't want it to be one of those things where you have uh you basically lose one whole outlet that was covering A-State Athletics, was gone, disbanded, gone. And so I thought, man, I want to I want to keep doing this thing, you know, I want to do my part and and uh continue.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

That was a good era because there were some media outlets that were getting involved with A-State Athletics that weren't b before, and this is around that stretch of that incredible run, the start of that incredible run beginning in 2011, yes, sir, where the football program had those nine straight years where they accomplished so many things and went to nine straight bowl games and won five conference championships. But there were outlets getting involved that hadn't been around before. And it's good because a lot of them have continued to do that, and the interest around the area of the state has grown significantly.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Oh, it's so different. Um, you know, the diehard Arkansas State people be the first to tell you it used to be like pulling teeth to get anything, um, Arkansas State coverage-wise. You know, I mean, it was just very hard, you know. Aside from getting games, you weren't getting just a ton of coverage when you think back. I mean, you think, I mean, Matt, you've been doing this a long time, and you think back to that pre-2011, it was very hard to get anything from a coverage standpoint, you know. Like if you really wanted to lock in and hear about Arkansas State and you know, uh get recruiting news, you know, get behind-the-scenes interviews, get those type things, it just really wasn't to the level that it is now.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Well, a lot of people that covered it did it because they felt a sense of loyalty to the university. And Bobby Caldwell's right there at the top of the because this is a guy that that's doing very well owning radio stations and continues to grow those stations across the state. But back when he purchased the rights to Arkansas State, it was a losing venture. It was not something that was going to make him money. Now, that's changed speaking on betting on yourself, but you know, he did it out of love for Arkansas State.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

No, and I agree 100%, you know, with what Bobby did, because it was. I mean, it was it was a heck of a gamble. Like, you know, that when I talked about betting on myself, you know, Bobby bet on himself, you know. I mean, because coming out of the gate, you're you're looking at it as a businessman and you're like, we're gonna take some licks, you know, like we're we're gonna take it on the chin to try to get this thing going. And so to see where it is now, man, it makes my heart so happy to to see it. And there's there's so much more coverage and so much more access to this fan base. And um, you know, just to be a small little part of that um makes me feel good because I think that it's so important in the growth, and you think about where it is now, say with Dr. Shields at the helm here on this Jonesboro campus. I mean, there there are bigger and brighter days even ahead now. Well, we're sitting in here in this brand new studio. It's pretty nice in here, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

It's very nice. And to have an Arkansas State Media Network with all these different podcasts are out now. I mean, who would have ever thought something like this would be happening? But here it is, and really Arkansas State's at the forefront of something like this, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

No, and it's great, and it and it my goodness, this is an RTV school, you know. Like when you think about it, I mean, this is this it's nice to see, you know, actually leading the charge rather than being, you know, reactive, being very proactive and doing something like this that I think I think fans and supporters and alumni and all of the above are gonna

Media Growth And Broadcast Chemistry

SPEAKER_01 11:39

love.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Before the 2022 season, we had an opening on the sideline, and my first call was to you on that, and it's been so fun, and you've turned into an invaluable part of our broadcast. And it's a broadcast that I know we're very proud of. I'll put it up against any broadcast around the country, but it it's so much fun. I mean, we just the the time that we have with me and you and Darien Griswold and Carol Ritchie, and it's something that I know we look forward to during the course of the week, but it's a big part of of uh of what we do. And those Saturdays, I know there's just 12 of them that are on the schedule every day. It feels like two. But it's yes, they fly by.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

It really does. And and I'll tell you, Matt, um, the broadcast that we do is is amazing and it's fun, and you lead the charge and you do such a phenomenal job being so prepared that you know for us it makes what we do even easier. But what I would say too is like as much as I love our game day broadcast, uh I love our trips. Oh you know, you know, our trips together and the memories that we've been able to make and the things that we've been able to do and having those stories. And to me, that those trips and our travels and you know the things that we've been able to do together has only made us closer, and which I think kind of transfers over to the broadcast itself because we kind of we we all know each other very well, and and I think it just kind of makes that mix go pretty smoothly.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Well, what got me and this goes way back, this goes to 2005, and I remember taking my very first Arkansas State trip. My the first game I called was that game at Arrowhead Stadium when A-State played Missouri. And I really had not been able to spend any time with Bill Keaty up until then. And he was my new partner. I was coming in, he had been on the broadcast for several years before then. But that whole experience being around Coach Keaty for 10 years was some of the best times in my life. And yes, I remember the broadcast, but I remember those trips every bit as much, and that's what made it so great. And when he passed in 2015, there were a couple of years, it just didn't feel right on the road. It was really tough to just go on those trips because you knew he wasn't going to be there. And I say that because it's such a family, and you throw in people like Jerry Scott and Mark Taylor that we work with, that we're able to be with on these trips, it's it's something that we look forward to as much as the games themselves. There's no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

And and speaking about Coach Keaty, um, you know, such a legendary high school coach in Newport, but just such a such a great and knowledgeable guy. And I I will never, I mean, obviously you feel the same, but I will never forget where I was when I got that phone call. And I can tell you exactly what it was. I mean, I you know, you you have um playing Toledo. Yeah. And uh at the time, my radio partner, Uncle Walls, uh, who I miss every day, um, he and I were in Toledo, and we were on our way from Toledo to ironically the big house, because it worked out that we were gonna go see Michigan play BYU. And um, we were on our way there when we figured that out because we were gonna do the Michigan BYU game and then come back for Arkansas State and Toledo that night. And I'll I I always I mean, I remember he and I talking so much about Coach Keady and and uh you know what he had accomplished and just him as a person. And when you talk about love and passion for Arkansas State, uh it was contagious, it and it was, and and and it and it exuded on the broadcast, like you knew, like you knew, and it was all genuine, and that's something I can say about now. There's there's no doubt that between myself and you and Grizz and Kara and everybody that's associated with what we do on Saturdays, there's no doubt where the passion and love is. We all love Arkansas State.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yeah, just that day in Toledo, Brad Bobo knocked on my door and told me the news, and then you're trying to figure out how am I gonna go on air tonight? So I remember Brad and I got together, and the first 15-20 minutes of the broadcast, we just talked about Coach. Yeah, and it was a very it was a very tough broadcast to get through. But when I think about him, it's just those great memories.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, and and it's it's like us, you know, having having these road trips and these memories that we have and the funny stuff. And you know, I always joke with people, I'm like, you know, a lot of people will say, hey man, I love listening to you guys on game day. The stuff you guys do, you make us laugh, you make us whatever. And I was like, if you could only hear what we're saying during commercial breaks, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

The during the commercial breaks is where it's at, but it's uh it's good times, yeah, it's good stuff. Um, all right, so kind of changing gears a little bit.

Coaching, Culture, And Butch Jones

SPEAKER_00 17:24

With the broadcast, we've been able to work with a lot of different coaches over the years. Oh, yeah. And the guy we work with now, I know you feel very similar to the way I do about Butch Jones. I've never been around anybody that has as much attention to detail as he does. And I think we respect in this day and age with NIL and everything else that's going on in college athletics, the way he's built this thing his way from the ground up, it's been a blast working with this guy. But there's just a a level of respect there for not only the job he does, but the way he's done it here at Arkansas State.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

No, there's no doubt. And and you know this, Matt, as as well as anybody that really pays attention, that in today's world of college athletics, it is it's a world we've never been in, you know, the the pay-for-play type situation and the transfer portal and all of that. And and also, too, you know, we all function day to day with a cell phone in our hand. So we're a right now type society. You know, we're so used to being spoiled and getting what we want instantly. You want some food, order it. You know, you you need an answer, Google it. You know, whatever it may be, you get it instantaneously. And I think that that's the way that it also has really become from a fan's perspective, like you want everything right now, like you want the turnaround today, not yesterday, not not three, four, five recruiting cycles. You want it now. And um one thing that I will say about Coach Jones is he's never wavered. You know, when you when you look at how it went, you know, two wins, three wins, etc., and all the way up through where we were last year, he he would never waver on how he wanted to build this program. You know, he still was gonna go the high school route. He still was gonna have a foundational piece of high school athletes, student athletes. And, you know, obviously the natives were getting restless, you know, at times early on. And he just stayed the course and you know, constantly adapted to the change that we're seeing, uh, the ever-changing um landscape of college athletics. He did not change, he he kept the same course, and you're starting to see that pay off. And you think about last season, I mean, we're 10 yards or less away from playing for a championship, and who knows, you know, from that point. A yard, you you know, one yard, you know. But I'm just thinking about all of the close games that we lost that you you flip the script, and we're talking about a completely different end to the season, but you can see that it's working, like you can see it, and it's sometimes you're not gonna see it in wins and losses per se. Um, but I know for you and I, as close as we are to it, and we see it on the day-to-day, and we see the behind the scenes that most people don't see. Um, it makes you extremely grateful to Coach Jones for the way that he is trying to build it. He could have came in here, he could have hit the portal, they could have sunk some money in and tried to have that one that one big season, and then boom, he's out of here and on the road to another school. But he didn't want to do that. That was not ever his mentality, that was never um his plan. And you know, to see him still here building a steady, consistent program, that's that truly is what I think you want. You want something that's that's gonna be sustainable.

Why A-State Feels Like A Golden Run

SPEAKER_00 21:11

We talk so much about that run from 2011 to 2019, it feels like we're getting back to another I don't know if it's a golden age yet, but just across the board in A-State Athletics, we're in a really, really good spot as we record this. Number one in the Bubas Cup standings. You look at all the conference championships across this past year with volleyball and uh men's golf is is in a really good spot right now. Baseball's in a better spot than ever. The basketball programs each winning 20 games this past year. And then you look at football now. Three straight bowl appearances and two straight bowl wins, just across the board, as good of a spot as. We've been in in a long time.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

There, I I'm not sure that it's ever been. You know, when I think back just my time around this this university and this program, I'm not sure that it's ever been this across the board. You know, I mean, really, you you're hard pressed to to find a weak spot, if you will. Um, everything is trending in the right direction. Um, you think about Chris Pesman and his leadership as vice chancellor of intercollegiate athletics. What a great dude, what a passionate dude, dude, what a high energy guy. Um, you know, and I think also it helps when you got guys like Dr. Shields, you know, kind of at the helm of things, and you gotta have that cohesion, Matt. If you don't have that cohesion between academics and athletics, it's you you're gonna you're gonna have a hard time. Doesn't happen in a lot of places. And it doesn't. It doesn't. There's typically, and I mean we can say it here, there's been a dividing line before in the past where it was two separate entities and you just could not get that cohesion that you need. And I think right now you've got a pretty good fusion between uh academics and athletics, and um you're starting to see that come out as far as championships go, wins and losses, things like that. You're starting to see that.

The Stage Four Cancer Diagnosis

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Over the past year, you've gone through a battle of your own, and this is part of the reason obviously we can sit here and talk athletics all day long. Sure. But your journey is one that I know you've put out people that follow the program and know about you, have listened to you, know your story a little bit. You you put things on social media giving updates over the last year, but I don't think anybody really fully understands the battle that you've gone through going through stage four cancer. So if you would share kind of what you had to battle through over the the course of the last year.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Man, uh an hour's not enough. Um, you know, I I I have tried to do my best to just put out some updates from time to time. Um, I've never really put the full um body of what I've been dealing with out, um, just simply because I've never been one of those people that um want pity or want somebody to feel sorry for me or anything like that, because I'm a firm believer that everybody's going through something. I don't believe it's a contest. I don't believe that my problem is worse than somebody else's problem because whether it's life, love, relationships, work, whatever it may be, everybody's dealing with something, and life is just purely hard. Um, for me, uh, you know, I was hit with, you know, the the biggest curveball in my life. And I I have no problem saying that my life since seven years old has never been easy. Um, it just hasn't. Um, I've definitely, you know, I have a relationship with the big man, and I always say, you know, God is humorous. Um, and I've definitely asked questions because sometimes you say, hey, when is enough enough? You know, and um, but for me, I I've known no other way but to fight. Um, I've fought my whole life. Um, it's never been easy for me. So you just kind of flash back to March of last year, and uh it would really start in February. In February, I I started feeling sick, um, cough cold, just feeling run down. Um, went to urgent care a few different times, uh, was getting different medications and things like that. They thought I had a cold, thought I might have the flu, thought I might have COVID again, you know, all these things. And, you know, I'm very hard-headed. Most people know that. But but I I don't like to necessarily go to the doctor per se. I just want to get it done and keep working, keep going on with my day. But I did give in, did go to try to get, you know, some medical treatment, and I did. And, you know, finally it just got to the point where I'd been a few times and things weren't getting better. And so I go back to urgent care, ironically, on this campus, and um, they were doing x-rays for the first time that in in my previous trips, there were no x-rays. Um, and they did an x-ray, and I was standing up and I could barely stand. They had to wheelchair me. That's how bad I was at this point. And um I could see through the window, I was standing up, hanging on to a bar while they were doing my chest x-ray, and I was standing to the side, and I could see through the window, and I looked at the doctor's face, and her face was like in shock. And then two or three other people came running up and they looked at it, and I'm like, Well, this ain't good. You know, I'm thinking to myself, this isn't this isn't good, but still at this point, we don't know. So, anyway, they put me back in the wheelchair. The doctor tells um the nurse, draws blood, get labs immediately, and then bring him in the room. And so they immediately draw blood, give me the room, they put up, they put up the x-ray, and you know, I'm not a doctor, I don't know what I'm looking at. And she's like, This is not good. Well, even then, they thought it was pneumonia. So you you see your lungs, and when you're looking at an x-ray, your lungs should be black. Well, mine was all white, except for one about one-third of my left lung had a little bit of black in it. And and she looked at me and she said, You're in respiratory failure. And I'm like, What? And so immediately it's you're going to the emergency room. And so I go to the emergency room. Um, and I'll try to do a cliff notes version of this. Um, they put me in a in a in a room when I get there. I'm in that room for 16 hours uh until I finally get uh put in my actual room and I am septic at this juncture. I'm in really bad shape. Uh they're basically communicating to me that you're, you know, basically intensive care. Right. And so I have no idea. And they're wanting to do other things, they're wanting to do CT scans and things like that. And I can't lay down because I can't breathe. And so fast forward to the next day, and they're gonna do what's called a thorough synthesis, and that's where they take a needle about this long and they stick it in between my ribs and my back and they drain fluid. And so they tell me we can only take two liters off at a time because um, if not, could collapse my lung, whatever. So they do it and they take two liters off. 24 hours later, and the next day, two more liters off the other side. So four liters of fluid in a 24-hour period are removed from my body. Man, and so from there I'm able to get a CT scan, and I'm gonna kind of fast forward to this. Um, but so the when I first got to the hospital, uh, and I got to my room that same night, and I got notified from uh one of my best friends' wives who was staying at my house because my daughter had been having feigning spells, and she let us know that my house had flooded. So the same night I get put in the hospital, my house floods. And I'm like, wonderful. Okay, so uh thank goodness to my bandmates and stuff like that. They went and found the source of the of the water, got it shut off and shot backed and did my house as much as they could, but that's a whole other story for another day. Um, and then so you go, and the next day after I got that drain, they did a CT scan finally. They're needing to see what they need to see. Well, then I got woke up um on March 7th at about 7:30 in the morning by my pulmonologist coming in and sitting on my bed, and he puts his hand on my leg and he says, You have stage four lung cancer. And I'm just like last thing in the world you'd expect. Never smoked that. I've never smoked. I pride myself on taking care of myself. I never had any idea that that would be the words that I would hear. And, you know, you can only imagine. And for those who have been through it, you you know how that feels. It's like an iron skillet to the face. Uh, I'm in shock. I don't know what to say. Um, you know, I don't know how to comprehend it. Um, and it was kind of followed up by someone else in the room saying, JC, it's about quality of life now. And that didn't sit real well with me. Um, just because I I felt like there was so much unknown at that point, and um had not met with an oncologist, had not really had my second biopsy back. There were so many questions that still didn't have answers, and I didn't really appreciate that at the moment, you know, because I'm already having to deal with the fact that I'm being told this, and then here I am hearing somebody telling me basically I'm gonna die. So um, anyway, uh later that day, uh, also too, um, you know, I had one of my dogs that had been diagnosed with cancer as well. And she uh we got to call my youngest daughter, had taken her to the vet, and they called that same day that I was diagnosed and said it was time to say goodbye. So in a 72-hour window, I get hospitalized, my house floods, uh, get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and my dog dies. Thinking, how much more can I take? For sure. And um, people still ask me to this day, like, how do you stay so positive? Like, how do you and for me, I'm just I'm so grateful for every day. Um, it changes your perspective on everything in life. I have a very tight inner circle. I could not do it without my my circle. Um, you know, I'm I'm blessed to have um family and friends that have seen me through this, whether they're near or far, whether they're with me every day, or just simply with a phone call or a text or whatever it may be. But I was not my prognosis that day was not good. They did not think I was going to make it really even out of the hospital. Um, they felt like it was kind of like a three-month window. And so um, once I got out the first time, I spent 17 days in the hospital the first time and um went to MD Anderson and Houston just to get a, you know, to get a second opinion,

Treatment Battles And A Turning Point

SPEAKER_01 33:19

if you will, you know, they're world renowned and cancer research and whatnot. And so my oncologist told me, do it, you know, see what they have to say. We'll come back, we'll compare notes, and we'll go from there. And so I went and um I listened to what they had to say and they talked about a clinical trial, which I was not a fan of. When I come back and I met with my oncologist, Dr. Karim, he said, he said, I got good news for you. And I was like, Doc, at this point, could use some, I can use some good news because you know me very well, Matt. I'm a very transparent and blunt individual. Um, you're always gonna know where I stand on things. And I was very from the from the very beginning with him, I was very blunt with him. I just told him, don't don't pull any punches. As hard as it may be to hear things, I would rather know. You know, I want to know what I'm up against. I want to know what I'm fighting, you know? And uh he he basically told me that the second biopsy results were back and it was considered a genetic mutation. And so that kind of changed the game. And the way that it changed the game was there was a medication on the market that was specifically designed for this rare form of cancer that I have. And he he basically said, Hey, look, we don't we don't know. He like it's whether or not your body's gonna respond to it. And these are gonna be the side effects. They lay out this list of side effects, and I'm like, wow, that sounds like a party. You know, this is gonna be fun. And so, anyway, he said, This is what I recommend. I want you to do four IV chemo treatments three weeks apart. I want you to start on this uh oral chemo pill. I want you to start on it same time immediately, and you'll take it every day. And I said, I said, Doc, I trust you. You're the oncologist. I'm I'm in no way an expert, or and I've never once Googled or done any of that stuff because that it'll scare you to death, you know, sure. And you don't want to go down that road. And so we agreed on that. And so I was diagnosed March 7th, and unfortunately, with my insurance, um, they were fighting my treatment. And I'm, you know, obviously self-employed and spend a pretty penny every single month in insurance, and they fought my treatment. Um, I want to obviously shout out to my oncology nurses who are behind the scenes trying to fight for me. And so they they um they said, hey, you know, you got to get denied by your insurance three times. And then we can take it to a nonprofit board and see if they'll pick up your medication. The medication is $14,000 a month. Not too many human beings are gonna be able to pay that and live. And so anyway, during that time of the back and forth, I am I am at home and I'm on six liters of oxygen at all time. I can barely walk, I can barely get around. Again, my circle was so great. Um and it comes May 4th, and May 4th of 2025, and I can't breathe. And um I'm I'm struggling, I'm on oxygen, and I I just said, I've gotta go. Uh, I've got to go to the hospital. And so immediately, ambulance gets called, and um they rush me to the hospital, but before they take off, they you know, they come in my house, they put me on this stretcher in my living room and take me out the door, and they're they're trying to get an IV in me, can't get an IV in me. And the paramedic looks me in the face and he said, Mr. Cox, I'm not sure if you're gonna make this ride. He said, We probably need to take you somewhere as close as possible. And I said, No, I need to go back to St. Bernard's, and that's where my doctors are, that's where every all my records are, that's where I need to go. And he said, I just need you to understand, you may not make this ride. And I said, Let's go. You know, and they get me there. Ironically, I get put back in the same emergency room, room, and I'm there for quite some time. We go through a lot of the same procedures, and I'm worse this time than the last time.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

And they're not sure if I'm gonna make it. My oncologist uh has told me since when he got the call and they told him my my stats. He he told me that he didn't think I was gonna make it. And um so anyway, during that time, I have another nine-day stay uh in St. Bernard's, and you know, shout out to a lot of my nurses and stuff that were really good to me. Um when you spend 26 days in a hospital, Matt, you get to know people on a first name basis, and uh everybody in the hospital knows who I am because I was constantly getting wheeled for procedures and surgeries and scans and and all of that. So you get to kind of know people, not not the way you want to get to know them, but uh, but anyway, long story short, I had a procedure while I was in the hospital uh that I woke up during, uh felt and heard and seen everything during the procedure. Um that was not a great experience. It was extremely painful and um it was it was hard to get through. But during this time, it gets to about I think it was more it was May 13th, and finally they had gotten everything straightened out with my uh the nonprofit picked up my chemo pill for a year, and we were able to start my treatment that day that I was getting out of the hospital. And so I got my very first IV treatment that day, and I took my first pill that day. And uh my very first PET scan I got, I got it back in March, and my doctor said it's one of the worst he had ever seen. And um ironically, so I I start my treatment on May 13th, and I get my very next PET scan in June. So it's pretty quick, not even really, wasn't even a month since my treatment has started. And it was closer to the end of June. It was right before my birthday, and I'm sitting in my chair at home and my phone rings and I answer, and it's my doctor. And of course, my heart sinks, you know. Um, and he tells me it's him, and I said yes. And he said, Hey, I just wanted to call you. I know your birthday's coming up. I know 4th of July is coming up. And he said, I didn't want you to have to think about, you know, how your scan results are. Sure. And uh he said, he said, you are having an amazing response to treatment. He said, I can't wait until you can see what your scan looks like compared to the one in March. And he said, he said, it's an amazing treatment. Like he's like, the scan looks great. He said your body's responding to treatment. He said, he said, I want you to know. And and I immediately just started crying. Of course, you know, and how can you not be emotional? And uh he said, he said, I thought that might be what you, you know, he said, I thought you might do this. And I'm like, yeah, you know, because I didn't know, you know, I didn't know what was going on. Um and I I can't I I can't tell people what it's like, um, even to this day. Um, I'm doing obviously pretty well, all things considered, for somebody who has um stage four cancer and they've deemed me not curable. Um I will not the the chances of me being cured or remission are slim to none. Um I know I have to live with that. I know that I'm gonna live with this for the rest of my life, however long that is. Um, I'm extremely grateful uh for every day, even the even the bad ones, and I tell people this all the time. You know, things, uh a lot of things that we get worked up over and get upset about or stressed out about in the grand scheme of things really aren't that big of a deal. You know, and it's just human nature. We give you a whole new perspective. It has changed my whole perspective on everything. Um, my family has been so good to me. Um my friends, I don't have just a ton of family, and so I have so many friends that are like family to me um that I I couldn't be here without. I have so many great people in my corner um that uh are here for me. And um if you would have told me I'd be sitting here with it with you right now doing this um a year ago, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Um and to be able to hit the sideline last year for game one in the extreme heat with my oxygen on the sideline uh was kind of surreal, you know. Right. Um, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, you guys always made sure I was okay and taken care of and and all of that. Eric Innis was always looking at me like, hey, if you need something, head trainer, you know, he's like, you let me know. And Coach Jones, you know, always making sure I'm okay too. And so um it's kind of surreal.

Returning To Game One With Purpose

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Well, I want to go back and check your battle and just your motivation. Obviously, you're fighting because you want to keep living, you've got so much to live for, your family being there at the top of the list, your girls. But I remember you telling me last summer, it's my goal. I plan to be back on the sidelines game one. And when you told me that, I know you well enough, and I heard the conviction in your voice that he's gonna be there. And even though I had seen you and and you had lost a lot of weight through everything you had gone through, I knew it was a battle for you, but I knew you were going to be there. I never had a plan B. Yeah. And it was emotional for me. I know it was for you too, but when you were there that first game last year, it it was emotional just going on the air that day. And it it made me really happy. Now you did make us nervous a few times last year when you were climbing stairs at Appalachian State or wherever we were. But it was it was so good to have you there after knowing what you had gone through just to get to that point.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

You know, man, I have a lot of whys. You know, you mentioned my family. My family is first and foremost, and my friends that um are like family to me. I have I have so many whys. Um, you know, the the first thing when I was when I heard those words, you know, JC, I don't, you know, he's kind of like, I don't know how to tell you this, but you know, you have stage four lung cancer. You know, the first thing I, the the very first thought that came to my mind at that time, um, my oldest daughter, Kennedy, was pregnant with my first grandchild. Um, and she was not due until September. And so my very first thought out of everything you could be thinking when you're just told you're diagnosed with stage four cancer, was will I be here to meet my grandson? Like that was the very first thing in my mind, right? Um he was born September 9th, and I was there and I got to see him. And, you know, here he is, seven months old, and uh he's one of my huge wives. I mean, I, you know, on my phone, my home screen is a rotating album of his pictures. And, you know, that was the first thing I thought. But when I got through the initial emotions of everything and thinking about my family and everybody that relies on me and, you know, my my brokerage, you know, Dustin White Realty and my business partners and my agents, and like everything that I I know that I'm an integral part of was all going through my head, thinking about our broadcasts and thinking about football and what that means to me and what Arkansas State means to me. And when I'm when I got through that initial wave of trying to let this digest, and even still to this day, I'm still there's days that I'm like, oh yeah, by the way, you still have cancer, you know, because you try to just I try to have as much normalcy as I can have. But I think I think back when I got through the initial wave of all of this and hearing this, thinking about, oh, I'm gonna be there. Like one way or another, I'm I'm gonna fight uh tooth and nail. And I'm I'm gonna be there. Like I had people asking me, you know, obviously, when are you coming back on air? Are you gonna be able to do the games? You know, all these things. And of course they were asking me early on, and and of course, my response would be like, let me let me get this under control first. Like, let me take care of this health situation, but I'm gonna do everything I can to be there. And yes, that that first game was incredibly emotional. Like it was to me. Um, seeing everybody, everybody seeing me, yes, I had lost. I dropped down to 145 pounds. I was in a wheelchair at one point uh for quite some time. Um I didn't, you know, I didn't fully put everything on social media. I didn't, I just didn't go into the deepest, darkest parts of what I've been through. Um, obviously I was communicating with you and just saying, hey, I'm I'm gonna be there. Like one way or another, I'm gonna be there. And I know Coach Jones was obviously worried about me. And, you know, I'm sure people had their doubts whether or not I would make it, but if anybody knows me, I don't, I don't, I don't give up.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

Absolutely not. I don't give up. An inspiration in that regard, you've been an inspiration

Coach Support, Gratitude, And Goodbye

SPEAKER_00 47:58

to me. And I I think so many others are going to be inspired when they hear your story and how you fought. And I know Arkansas State, as we kind of come full circle here. I mean, we started talking about your passion for Arkansas State, and I know that's a a big part of the motivation as well. You want to be around this, and I'll kind of wrap it up with this. I remember, and I think it was right before the season last year, you and I are sitting in the bleachers and kind of at the top of the bleachers, we're watching practice together. Yeah. And at one point, Coach Jones notices that you're up there and he walks up and he just sits with us. And he wanted to see you and check on you, and just it that's something that I don't think too many other coaches, too many other people would do, but he cared enough to do that in that moment as he's getting ready for a football season to come up and just sit for a while. And it uh it's a moment that kind of stuck with me, and I'm sure it did for you too. Of course.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

Yeah, no, um, coach and I have a great relationship, and um he's he's been good with this throughout. Um, a lot of the coaches on the campus have checked on me. And um, but yeah, you know, if anybody knows how coach is during practice, you know, he's an intense individual. And again, he's very detailed, he's very on point with everything. And then for me to be sitting there and him to see me and come up and sit with me in the middle of that time and you and just talk to us was, you know, that it shows a lot. I mean, um, I'll say this about Coach Jones. Um, you know, I know a lot of people see him on game days, and he's an intense dude. He typically goes from red to purple, and you know, he's he's definitely an intense guy on game day for sure. But I will tell you this. Um, this is what I know to be true. He is one of the most genuine individuals I have ever met. Like you always know where you stand with him, he's always gonna be straight up with you. Um, and I think for me, that's perfect because I'm the same way. Um, I'm always gonna be very honest. I may not always say what you want to hear. Um, I'm just gonna be genuine. I'm gonna be authentic. I'm just gonna be who I am. And coach is like that. Um, I know a lot of people don't know that. If you don't know him, you may not know that side of him. But him and Miss Barb have been great to me. Um, they they check on me. She always, when she sees me, hugs me. First thing she asks, how are you doing? Do you need anything? You know, and um I'm I'm so grateful to have the amount of support that I have. You know, I've gotten so many DMs, messages, calls, uh posts on social media, etc. And I'm I'm beyond grateful.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

Thank you again for coming in and sharing your story. Love you, brother.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Love you and you know, I Matt, like what you do is is incredible. I am so grateful to be just uh a small part of what we do on Saturdays. And, you know, a lot of people who may not truly know you, you're one of the most detail-oriented people I know as well. And um, you know, you you've always been there for me, checking on me. And um I'm thankful for that because going back to how we started this, you know, yeah, we we put on a broadcast and put on a show and do that, but it's the relationship that's bigger than anything for me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Hey, we appreciate everybody for tuning in. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast and check out all the new podcasts as well at Arkansas State Media Network.com. And join us again next time for Saturdays in Jonesboro.