Friday Night Highlight: Doug Buckmaster credits faith and positivity in beating cancer

Oct. 14—Early in February of 2021, Doug Buckmaster was diagnosed with throat cancer.

The head coach of the Carl Junction football team never once considered the worst.

"It never crossed my mind one time that I would die," said Buckmaster. "It goes back to having faith in God and the Lord Jesus, and I knew that they would take care of me."

Buckmaster recalls knowing something was wrong following his team's district championship loss to West Plains in 2020.

"I noticed in the days after (the game) I stayed hoarse," Buckmaster said. "My voice was hoarse for about a week and I'd never been that way before.

"And then one day, I was looking in the bathroom mirror — I think brushing my teeth — and I noticed that it looked like I had a lump in the side of my neck."

Why did it take approximately three months before he was diagnosed with throat cancer?

"I let it ride. I didn't say anything about it," Buckmaster said. "I never mentioned it to my wife."

Buckmaster added that his wife, Teresa, obviously recognized he was hoarse but didn't think anything of it since it was a common occurrence for him after football games.

He also thought the lump in his neck may have been hidden by the pullover and quarter-zip jackets he often wears that have collars and hide part of his neck.

Difficult to swallow

Another thing that made Buckmaster realize something wasn't right was when it became difficult to swallow his food.

So, why didn't he go to the doctor sooner?

Buckmaster had been told by doctors that his mother would pass away later that month or in December. Not knowing it was cancer, he didn't want to "burden" anyone by bringing his situation up during his mother's final days.

"I was worried about my mother at the time and I wasn't worried about me," Buckmaster said.

His mom passed away Christmas night of 2020. Three days after her funeral, Buckmaster went to see his doctor.

"He (the doctor) called me back on the phone after I had taken a CT scan that day," Buckmaster said. "He got the report back from the radiologist and they said I had cancer.

"My first question to him was, 'What do I need to do?' and I never asked, 'Why me?'"

Add to it that his father was put into a nursing home a month prior to his mother's death. So, when Buckmaster learned of his throat cancer in February, he didn't tell his father. Instead, for four months, before his father passed away in the middle of June, he never once told him he was battling cancer.

Buckmaster's father passed away not knowing his son had cancer. To the 62-year-old, he was doing his father a favor.

"I never told him because I did not want to burden him," Buckmaster said. "In that six-month period, my dad knew I had lost a lot of weight. I told him that I had my wisdom teeth cut out. Which, I had. I had to have my wisdom teeth cut out before I could start radiation treatments. My dad thought I was just losing weight and probably thought I had decided to start working out again."

Buckmaster noted that his father already didn't like being in the nursing home, so he didn't want to add the worry of his son having cancer onto his stress.

"It would have made it much harder on him," Buckmaster said. "Number one, he wasn't thrilled about being in the nursing home. Then you have all of the COVID stuff going on. ... If my dad would have known that I had cancer, then he would have wanted out of there to help."

Tough battle

As for the battle itself, Buckmaster mentioned learning a lot about cancer. He learned just how difficult it can be and just how much admiration he gained for those who've dealt with cancer or are still going through the battle.

"I found out that throat cancer is the most intense cancer treatment that there is," Buckmaster said. "It's very, very tough. It's the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life."

His battle in particular included 35 radiation treatments as well as two rounds of chemotherapy.

"For five days a week for seven weeks, I had to get up in the morning and be at Mercy Hospital (Joplin) at 9 o'clock. That's when my radiation treatment took place," Buckmaster said.

Another difficulty Buckmaster mentioned was his change in diet. There was so much pain in his throat while receiving the radiation treatments that for a six-week stretch all he could eat or drink comfortably was an Ensure nutritional drink. He swore he'd never have another Ensure, but has since broken that promise and has had a couple.

Buckmaster added that this was the first time in his life he's ever dealt with a serious illness. He was 61 years old before he really faced severe sickness.

As for the help he received throughout the treatment process, he wanted to thank many members of his family — his wife, especially, as well as friends and Carl Junction public schools colleagues.

From February to May, Buckmaster mentioned wanting to focus on himself, God, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. He noted that CJ was instrumental in allowing him to be able to do that. Without the school district allowing him take that time away from work, it wouldn't have been possible.

Staying focused

"I didn't focus on the outside world," Buckmaster said. "It was me and them (God and Jesus) for three months. ... Carl Junction public schools allowed all of that to happen. I'll always be grateful and thankful for what this school district did for me during that time."

He mentioned how much help the effort his wife gave during those months was for him. From the daily assistance to a book she offered him to help him get through the tough days ahead.

"What my wife did for me was unbelievable," Buckmaster said. "My wife gave me a book to read and reading that book really helped me."

The name of the book was titled "I Believe In Visions" by Kenneth Hagin, founder of the Rhema Bible College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What stood out to Buckmaster in the book was that Hagin mentioned always going to church but finding out he wasn't really a "believer." Once Hagin became a true believer, he started seeing miracles happen in his life. That positivity and power of believing stuck with Buckmaster.

Buckmaster also mentioned specific routines with his wife, including prayer and scriptures while also mentioning some of his "great" friends and family sending along positive messages, including Biblical verses.

Teresa had also experienced cancer of her own when she was in her 20s. Battling with cervical cancer as a young adult, she was aware of what some of the struggles can be like.

He said he also wanted to thank everyone in the oncology and radiology departments who worked with him for being "great" throughout the process.

Telling players

Throughout the battle, Buckmaster and his family still remained pretty quiet about the whole situation, not telling many people. He added he had told the players about his situation but that he was happy that they respected it by not sharing it with a lot of people. He thinks some may have told their parents and some may not have, but he knows not a lot of people didn't know what was going on from February to May of 2021.

"People were really respectful in not talking about it with other people. So, I really appreciated that," Buckmaster said. "They were very, very respectful to what was going on with me. So, basically, the whole world didn't know."

Buckmaster's final treatment was on May 4 of last year. Six weeks later, he went in to get a scope done to see if there was any more cancer in his throat.

"I have faith in God and the Lord Jesus and I knew before my treatments were up that I was cancer free," Buckmaster said. "After I finished my treatments, I believed 100% that I was cancer free without even looking at what a scope had to say or what a CT scan had to say."

He was, in fact, cancer free.

After learning he was "clean", as Buckmaster refers to it, it was time to start up football again in the summer. He mentioned it being difficult to get up and do his job every day.

"It was much, much harder than I ever imagined," he said. "Football is all I've ever done. I beat cancer and I wasn't going to let cancer take away the things that I loved and enjoyed doing. ... When I would leave here every day I was extremely tired and it was tough."

Buckmaster added that he is an "avid golfer" and that he didn't play golf that summer other than a few times saying he "didn't have the strength" and "didn't have the energy".

Since learning he was cancer free, he still has to do daily treatments for his teeth. He mentioned that radiation is not good for teeth so that requires specific treatments to help the teeth stay healthy.

Recovery

Buckmaster was given timelines on when to expect some things to improve or return to "normal". He says some things were accurate and some were not. He said it took "seven or eight months" for his pain in his throat when swallowing food to go away rather than the "two or three weeks" doctors expected it to take.

He added that some food he used to like he doesn't like anymore due to some of his taste buds being gone and things not tasting the same. He's also still dealing with dry mouth to an extent today.

"I've learned to live with it. When things like this happen, you have to find a way to overcome that adversity and deal with it," Buckmaster said. "It's part of my life now."

To keep an eye on everything, Buckmaster still goes to the doctor every three months for a scope of his throat and every six months for CT and PET scans.

Throughout the 2021 season, Buckmaster only coached from a press box or on top of a press box. He never went down to the field. He felt that helped make the night much easier on him not walking back and forth and pacing the sidelines.

"I thought I needed to do it for the kids and for the other coaches," he said. "I wasn't going to let cancer win."

As a football coach, Buckmaster believes he can pass some of that positivity he's had since being diagnosed with throat cancer down to his players on the football field.

Back to football

"I really believe our kids have played some good football in the past couple years but our record doesn't show it. We're a Class 4 school ... and we're playing three Class 6 schools and six Class 5 schools," Buckmaster said. "We can finish in the middle of the pack and I believe we're winners, because we play in probably the toughest conference in the state of Missouri. We may have the toughest schedule in the state of Missouri. But I believe something great is going to happen to this football program and these kids."

Buckmaster added that he's just glad to be right where he wants to be doing what he loves.

"I love all these kids, love my coaches and I'm so thankful that God has blessed me the way that he has," Buckmaster said. "You hear that God is good. He's not just good, he's awesome. This may be it, I may have another couple years in me, I may have 10 years left in me, who knows. That decision hasn't been made yet."

Buckmaster added that he has talked with cancer patients since learning he was cancer free. Since speaking with patients, he has retained that faith and positivity were key in his recovery. He hopes that by sharing his story, hopefully, he can help someone else in their fight with cancer.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Carl Junction is 2-5 heading into Week 8 of the 2022 season. They have two road wins — Week 1 at Ozark and Week 5 at Branson. They rolled past the Tigers to open the season 42-21. Then they had no trouble in a 32-7 victory over the Pirates.

The Bulldogs face Willard on Friday night at home. Willard enters play at 0-7. Their closest contest was a 21-19 loss at Branson.