Quincey’s toddler son battling brain cancer
A day after his 14-month-old son Axl completed a successful 22½-hour brain surgery in Philadelphia, former Avalanche defenseman and Colorado resident Kyle Quincey had a message for friends and fans Friday: Thank you.
“In this time, the one positive is that you realize your support system — the love you have from the guys, the hockey world, your buddies, and even guys I never met,” Quincey said in a phone interview from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). “And I can’t give enough thanks to Children’s Hospital in Colorado and where we’re at now.”
Axl was diagnosed with brain cancer March 30, two days before his first birthday, at Children’s Hospital Colorado — first in Highlands Ranch and later confirmed in Aurora. He underwent his first brain surgery April 2 in Aurora with a half-eaten birthday cake in the refrigerator. The doctors removed two-thirds of the tumor.
Three weeks later, Axl began two rounds of chemotherapy, which took about two months. Ten days later, on Tuesday, the family flew to Philly for a second brain surgery that dealt with tumors around the brain stem and nerves.
The second surgery began Wednesday, where an intraoperative MRI was available to Dr. Jay Storm. An intraoperative MRI allows doctors to use MRI results during surgery.
“Ax-Man,” as he is nicknamed, was heavily sedated Friday but doing well, according to doctors, Kyle said.
“He’s hooked up — lots of cords coming from him right now. But he’s pretty sedated. They have him strapped down to the bed. His eyes aren’t open,
swollen shut, but they’re keeping him comfortable,” Kyle said. “A bunch of stuff going on but, he’s chilling, just kind of there.”
Kyle’s 25-minute interview with The Post was followed by a similarly long one from his wife, Rachel. The couple is overwhelmed with what they believe is healing love and prayers from all across the world.
The list of thank yous is endless. There’s one for Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott, who offered up his home for the Quinceys, including eldest son Stone, 2, and Kyle’s mother, Debbie, for the next two months. And countless other to all the fans — even those who criticized him during his 14year professional career that included six NHL stops.
Even opponents the 34-year-old competed against but never met have come out of the woodwork to offer support.
“(Elliott) offered up his house, which is amazing,” Kyle said of his former Avs teammate in 2010-11. “Guys are reaching out that I’ve never met in the hockey world, guys who I played against. Way too many guys to mention. So it’s pretty amazing, the hockey world. It’s hard to put into words. The love and compassion guys have for a guy they’ve never met — guys who I’ve battled with on the ice but they’re willing to do anything for us to help us out.”
Kyle recently met first-year Avs forward Nazem Kadri on the golf course. It wasn’t long before Kadri’s wife, Ashley, was checking with Flyers players if the Quinceys could stay at their homes. The girlfriend of Flyers defenseman
Shayne Gostisbehere is a nurse at CHOP and has taken special interest in Axl and his family.
“When you first hear of the diagnoses of Axl, it’s devastating news,” Rachel said. “But at the same time there has been so much research and so many people dedicated to finding a cure for these kinds of cancers in adults and children, and all these amazing doctors performing these miracle surgeries. You start focusing on all the positives and become very hopeful. Our little guy is extremely resilient. He’s been a fighter from the very beginning.”
She added: “We were fortunate that there is a treatment plan. It’s always a long road, and everything has to go according to plan, and you never know, but this is a type of tumor that has a treatment plan. You instantly have hope. You just kind of live on that hope. I surely didn’t understand how important it was when I would send my prayers or positive thoughts to someone that was going through a hard time, but when you’re on this side of it and see all that support coming at you … you start to feel that energy, that healing energy, and it truly makes a difference.”
Playing hockey made Kyle No. 1 on the Quincey family depth chart. He’s a distant fifth now.
“I was thinking the other day of how — I don’t know if the word is selfish — but hockey, my career, my thought process was all about getting myself ready for practice or the next game, or in the summer, training, or thinking about how to win a game,” Kyle said. “Rachel would take care of me while I was doing my career and I would take care of her for whatever she needs for her real estate career. Now, everything is on the back-burner with Axl. Nothing else matters. It’s just him.”