Novy , a gregarious sports fan , die - hard cable car enthusiast and full - on foodie , is often described by Friend as a “ teddy bear ” – infinitely outgoing , originative , confident , thoughtful , and enthusiastic . Still , Novy was no stranger to adversity . His older brother , David , had been born with severe cerebral paralysis . From the time he was a nipper , Novy had watch over his female parent consecrate herself indefatigably to his comrade ’s upkeep . Then at sixteen , he ’d lost his father , who ’d been on a wait tilt for a heart and lung transplant , to cardiac failure . “ Becoming a doctor became a way to fill the emptiness left by my Church Father because it was n’t like he died of a rarefied unwellness , ” Novy read . “ He died of cardiovascular disease – the leading drive of expiry in the United States . ”
urge by his father , Novy steadily pursued a future in healthcare . After his 2d year at Nassau community college , he transplant to Cornell and obtained a Master ’s in Physiology at New York Medical College before receive his hard - gain toleration into the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami . A school which , as a part of its matriculation process , ask vaccination screenings .
That summer , Novy take the vaccination asking as an chance to see his Dr. for a full physical exam . line exam during that examination indicate signs argue that he might ’ve contract , of all thing , syphilis , although he was advise that further testing would in all likelihood reveal that upshot as a false positive , replacing it with an autoimmune disorder such as lupus . pass his unflagging medical curiosity and the noesis he ’d gained during his master ’s programme , Novy get ahold of the research laboratory account himself . When he pick up his white line reckoning numbers , he call for to see an oncologist . Based on his long time and other contextual factors , his doctor insisted that lupus made more sense .
Emanuel Couloumy
At the meter , his mother , Yvonne Novy - Cutler , a cheerfully sarcastic , British - born advocate for families with particular needs children , articulate she endeavor to season her Word ’s reaction .
“ He enjoin , ‘ Mum , they retrieve I have syphilis . ’ I said , ‘ Ok … . What have you been doing ? ! ’ ” Novy ’s mom hark back . “ He said , ‘ No , they ’re improper . I have cancer of the blood . ’ I tell him , ‘ Hold on , Josh . You ’re not a doctor yet . rent ’s not get ahead of ourselves , here . ' ”
Novy was right . The next phone call he suffer was his oncologist requesting a bone sum biopsy . A week later he was diagnosed with the early stage of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia , a whitened blood cell cancer that arises from an error in cell reproduction , essentially leading to the formation of a newfangled , destructive chromosome known as the Philadelphia Chromosome , which spawn profound bone nitty-gritty knottiness . Over the trend of the past X , scientific breakthroughs had led to a new oral drug - found therapy with significantly reduced side outcome as fight back to the former combination of invasive systemic chemotherapy and a bone gist transplant . It was a find that led Novy ’s oncologist to agree that he could potentially still see medical shoal , while undergo treatment at the university hospital .
Emanuel Couloumy
day later , Novy was unpacking his railroad car in Miami . “ It was emotionally dizzying . No matter how civilise you are , when you hear the word ' Crab ' your judgement immediately jump out to the defective scenario potential . I ’d pass a decade trying to get into medical school day and suddenly it seemed like all of my hard oeuvre might be of dead no import , ” Novy says . “ I was moving over a thousand miles aside from home . Despite my doctor telling me that this was very treatable , I was still frightened . I knew no one in Miami . Starting aesculapian school in and of itself from an academic standpoint alone is a very trying time . Compounding that , the first few months , everyone is getting to know each other . Do I really want the first thing people to acknowledge about me is that I ’m sick and I might be dying and I ’ve got Crab ? Did I really want to take the air around for four years with that label as the crazy kid ? ”
Having exit his support system behind in New York , Novy was loth , base on the horror history and urban legends he ’d heard about the competitiveness of aesculapian school , to alert anyone in his program .
“ Josh was the kidskin who friended everybody on Facebook beforehand , ” recalls his fellow Miller School of Medicine scholarly person , Leah [ who asked we not use her last name for privacy ] . “ I had no theme anything was proceed on with him . He ’s also one of the most altruistic hoi polloi I know . He would dribble everything to do a favor for anyone . ” Case in point : right off the squash racquet , soon after the two moved to Miami , Leah went to township furnishing her flat and Novy offered to drive her to a local furniture storage to plunk up a coffee table , and then helped her lug “ this 100 - pound bit of glass tabletop ” indoors .
Emanuel Couloumy
Slowly , in vitrine he missed division and postulate to deal notes , Novy began to colligate his diagnosing with a tight set of friends , including Leah and another medical pupil , Josh Jue . “ He was having flare - ups , ” Jue says . “ vomit , fatigue , and gastrointestinal infection . He was really struggling , physically , and it begin to show , but he always had the books in his hands . He ’d nap on his desk if he had to . ”
Meanwhile , Yvonne Novy - Cutler was calling her son to tally in . “ Ca n’t babble . I ’m meddlesome . Studying , ” he ’d tell her , not desire her to bonk that he was wincing in pain , or hunched over the toilet every night . “ It was n’t until afterwards that I found he was sick as a dog and had lose thirty dog pound , ” she says .
“ The first few months were very difficult , ” Novy explains . “ I was surrounded by these people whom I shared a common struggle with – the struggle to master the human body through medical school – but at the same time I felt very quarantined because I did n’t feel I could evidence people what was really croak on with me , and I start up to fight academically . That was a very dark point . At the onrush , I prove to keep my billet under wraps , but basically , in the first few months of treatment , I commence to look like sh * * and people started come up to me to take me what was conk out on . eventually , I realized – sitting around feel sorry for myself was n’t going to help me accomplish my goals . I say to myself , ' You got ta battle through this . ' ”
Partner Content From
Thrillist partnered with Modelo ® to get hold someone who really incarnate the fighting spirit . So we looked to our readers to nominate someone who has overcome a hardship or who selflessly gives back to their residential area for a chance for their story to be told on Thrillist . That is how we discover Joshua Novy . He not only struggle with sickness and rigorousness , but he use it to his advantage to help others while always staying positive . So raise a glass of Modelo ® to Josh and others like him making the earthly concern a better place .
Aware that his diagnosis was no longer potential to enshroud , in October Novy posted a note to his medical school class on Facebook . The news diffuse like wildfire . To this day , Novy is still caught off guard by how many Friend and colleagues manage enough to agree in and ask him how he ’s doing despite their busy hospital round and socio-economic class loads . If the low point of his experience with leukemia impinge on during October 2014 , Novy says the high tip came during December of that year when he receive news that his first rhythm of treatment was working . This time , he post a positivist update on Facebook and call for his fellow students to a party at Fado , an Irish pothouse in business district Miami . The bulk of his course showed up to celebrate . And now , there is even more cause for celebration . Novy is answer well to treatment . His symptoms have largely stabilized , with the elision of the occasional flair - up , and his prognosis is beneficial . And by 2018 , he should be a full - fledge MD , having harness cancer and med school at the same time .
And his mama ? This yr in July , Yvonne Novy - Cutler fly to Miami to travel to him . “ It ’s reasonably unbelievable , ” she enunciate , of the visit and of her son ’s acquirement since he drive off for Miami three days ago . Novy , a self - taught cook , prepared an eight - course meal to honor her . The computer menu include salmon en croute , fry calamari ( from cacography ) , a vegan cauliflower alimentary paste , and two lobsters . Pooja Utamsingh , a Miller classmate and one of the dinner node that nighttime , say the food was so preposterously delicious that she could n’t think Novy had n’t “ drop out of medical school to adjudicate out forTop Chef . ”
Emanuel Couloumy
“ Because I ’m going through it myself , that ’s help oneself me to be more patient , a little more tolerant when someone ’s feeling foiled or distressing . ”
In the interim , Novy intentionally mined his ongoing experience with leukemia to inform his training as a doctor . “ Through the course of my illness , four days I was not a medical student . The rest of my experience with this sickness , I have been a aesculapian student . One day I ’ll be sitting around for two hour hold back to see my oncologist . The next day I ’m in the clinic seeing patient role myself and they ’re petulant or cross about the wait time . I recognize – ' Hey , they ’re having a s***ty day , they ’re sick . ’ In my white coat , I do a use and embody the ability to assist another soul but very intimately I recognize what it ’s like on the polar side of the examination mesa , because I ’m going through it myself and that ’s help me to be more patient , a little more liberal when someone ’s feeling frustrated or sorry . It keep me humble to actualise that there ’s a limit to how much I can really appreciate what this other person is going through and that ’s always at the forefront of my idea . ”
“ It ’s not that I know in a incessant fear of dying , ” he keep on . “ But a few years ago , four days out , I was like : I ca n’t conceive I ’m moving to Miami . I ’m going to party . I ’m moving to one of the most fantastic metropolis in the res publica and I ’m going to a majuscule medical school . When I got that phone call saying , ‘ Hey , you have leukaemia , ’ it turned my world upside down . I realized I ’m not this invincible guy . Despite my very carefully - laid architectural plan , the universe is befuddle a twist into all of it . I used to procrastinate a wad . I used to put things off and retrieve , oh , there will be time subsequently . So I attempt to organize relationships with as many people as I can . I attempt to halt for five minutes if I see someone and chaffer with them , even if I ’m in a hastiness to get somewhere because I used to recall I could get to get it on them another time . Now I make out – there might not be clip later . ”
