‘He never gives up’
A gritty catcher at Brother Rice, Ricky Palmer played four years as a walk-on at Notre Dame. Now, he confronts a brain tumor with the same determination
Former Brother Rice catcher confronts brain tumor with the same gritty determination he showed in his on-field career.
Up until November, Ricky Palmer was living the dream of most 29-year-old bachelors.
The Notre Dame graduate had a great job with a tech startup and lived in the South Loop.
He was physically active. In fact, Palmer looked like he could still play baseball at Brother Rice.
In his spare time, he played in softball leagues, attended Blackhawks games and hung out with family and friends.
On occasion, he would indulge in a nice glass of bourbon.
What he cherished most was spending time with his five nephews and a niece who adored him, according to Lauren Earnest, his sister.
“My brother was super healthy, an athlete and doing everything a single 29-year-old would be doing,” Earnest said. “Everything in his life was great.” That would all change. Palmer now struggles to walk and talk. He lost his job, and is dependent on others, primarily his family, to take care of him.
Back in November, things began to change. He just didn’t feel right.
“It felt like pins and needles in my right foot and hand,” Palmer said via email. “I’d experience blurred vision when I’d wake up in the morning. I didn’t feel sharp when I would speak or at work, which was extremely odd.
I felt uncoordinated at times.”
From the end of November through January, the symptoms persisted.
Palmer endured 12 MRIs, CT scans, neurological exams, a spinal tap and an endless amount of blood work.
Doctors couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
But then on Feb. 4, he suffered a seizure.
Two days later, he underwent a craniotomy, a surgical operation that temporarily removes a bone flap from the skull to access the brain. It confirmed the presence of a tumor on the right frontal lobe.
Just like that, his world turned upside down.
“Completely shocked,” Palmer said of the diagnosis. “Completely devastated.
“Immediately following my surgery, I had trouble with function in my left arm and hand, walking and speaking properly. It’s been hard.”
Palmer spent 18 days in a rehab facility, relearning basic life skills. He has completed six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.
He still receives additional infusion therapy every other week to help try and control the side effects of radiation to the brain.
“They both took a huge toll on my body,” Palmer said of the chemo and radiation. “I have extreme fatigue, loss of motor function, loss of speech and vision issues.”
On Monday, however, Palmer received some good news.
“The treatment did its job,” Earnest said. “The cancer is stable, the swelling went down, and there's been no new cell growth.”
Palmer is preparing for the next phase of treatment. In two months, he will have another follow-up visit.
I know this much for certain. Palmer will continue to battle this disease. He was scrappy and relentless as a catcher at Brother Rice.
No challenge was too big for the kid from Orland Park.
That includes walking on at Notre Dame, his dream school, and playing baseball for four years. You don't overcome those long odds without a fighter's mentality.
Or a winning spirit. “He'll fight this until he has nothing left,” Earnest said.
His parents and two sisters have been there every step of the way. His mom hasn't left his side. His friends, too, have been supportive.
Palmer could still use some more help, though. His medical bills are exorbitant. The family set up a GoFundMe.com account that has generated more than $81,000.
That gives you an indication of impact Palmer has made on others.
No one knows that better than Tim Lyons, his former coach at Brother Rice.
“When I think of Ricky, I think of determination,” Lyons said. “Determination to do everything he could for those around him, never taking any shortcuts.
“That same determination he showed at Brother Rice took him to Notre Dame and beyond. He never gives up.”