Justin Bishop is a strong man. He’s a man’s man. He’s a man who has stared directly in the face of cancer and offered it an open-handed slap.

 

That’s what Bishop has done – what he’s had to do – when he found out in October of last year he had cancer. What he believed to be a pulled muscle in September was diagnosed Oct. 9 as Ewing Sarcoma, which according to WebMD.com is a very rare type of cancerous tumor that grows in your bones or soft tissue around your bones.

 

It’s a cancer typically impacting about 200 children and adults each year in the United States – usually more males than females. Bishop, in his mid-30s, further tackled bad odds as the disease is almost exclusively found in individuals between 10 and 20 years of age.

 

Statistics aside, from that point forward the battle began. On Wednesday, despite the courage he’s shown to his family, his friends and the community at large, Justin Bishop was admittedly nervous as he sat in a doctor’s waiting room at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.

 

Bishop was in Monongalia Count for a follow-up appointment from surgery he had on March 22 to have a tumor removed. One of the items was to check the incision where the removal took place. The other, the one that left him anxious, was to hear the pathology report.

 

“It’s tough because when you find out you have cancer, no matter how brave you are or how you handle you struggle to see any good or figure you’re going to hear good news because you just don’t think there’s going to be any,” said Bishop. “Sitting there waiting was a very difficult moment.”

 

The news, as it turned out, was good. Justin Bishop was told surgeons successfully removed all of the tumor. He was told that the margins around the tumor were all negative.

 

“The weight of the world felt as if it was lifted. It was a wonderful feeling, but one I wouldn’t want anyone to have to endure,” said Bishop. “I immediately was ready to tackle the next step of this battle.”

 

The next step will involve more chemotherapy. Bishop said it will involve either four more rounds or perhaps eight more rounds, which will either be done in-patient or at home.

 

“When I heard the good news, I was ready to get the rest of this over,” he said.

 

Understand, the next rounds of chemotherapy won’t be his first. He had his first chemotherapy, long before surgery, on Oct. 30. Prior to surgery, Bishop had six in-patient treatments before taking three weeks off to get his body prepped to have the tumor removed.

 

“Ever since that appointment, it’s been a lot easier to get up and move,” he said. “I am confident everything will be good once I have those treatments.”

 

The chemotherapy after the surgery is to better the odds of complete remission and to be considered cancer free at the five-year mark. Bishop said the old chemotherapy and radiation combo to kill the Ewing Sarcoma was replaced with chemo, followed by surgery, followed by more chemo.

 

“The success rate is much better so that’s the route you have to take,” said Bishop. “The goal is to get through this and be clean at the five-year mark. I’ve got a lot of things going to do everything I can to make sure I get there and well beyond.”

 

When you’re a family man like Bishop you have plenty to look forward to. He counts his wife Rebecca and his children Xavier, Zayla and Nyah as his life’s biggest blessings and knows they have been with him “through every step” of the battle.

 

Of course, when Justin Bishop says he has things to do, those in Bridgeport and plenty of others know he’s talking a good bit about baseball. Even as he battled in the last few months, Bishop was able to get to be involved in a few baseball practices in the area.

 

“I actually was involved in a couple of practices and able to run them. To see a lot of the kids that know me with their Coach Bishop Strong bracelets on and the new kids just looking at me wanting to learn baseball, let me tell you, that was a wonderful feeling,” he said. “The next two days after those practices I was down and couldn’t really do anything, but I would do it again because for those two practices it gave me a few hours of being me again and not thinking about cancer.”

 

Pretty soon, he’ll be much more involved in baseball. He’s one of the head coaches of A-Ball in Little League. And in the event he has to miss a game or practice due to in-patient chemotherapy treatments, friends coaching with him will take over duties he would usually handle.

 

Some may think resting and easing back into things is the best way for Bishop to recover. He knows family and baseball is what will get him healthiest the quickest.

 

“I choke so many pills down every day to get myself better and I tell my wife that if I ever have a headache in the future I’ll just deal with it so I don’t have to take any pills. All of that medicine I took, and I know it helped, didn’t compare to seeing those kids’ faces when I got out to practice with them,” said Bishop. “That’s some of the best medicine in the world.”

 

Bishop said he’ll be out on the field, probably not swinging as hard, but giving it his all. He’s also ready to grow back his trademark beard once his final chemotherapy is over.

 

“I’m definitely ready for it, even though they told me the texture and color may be different,” he said. “As long as it doesn’t come back red, I want to keep it.”

 

There’s one other thing Bishop plans to keep. And that’s his appreciation for the Bridgeport community and beyond for their kindness

 

“I can’t tell you how much that has helped. To know you have people in your corner who are thinking and praying for you, including many you don’t know, and to have others who have been where I’ve been telling you they’re pulling for you or that you’re inspiring them, it’s more important than most imagine,” he said. “The emotional support and the financial support to help us out is tremendous as well because you don’t want to be in debt when you come out of this and pay bills until the day you die. The donations, on every front is another thing that helped me fight because it lifted a huge burden off of my back and my family’s back.

 

“The thing is, I’m not done fighting yet. We’re two-thirds of the way done,” Bishop said. “I’m ready for it to be over.”

 

The community help continues. On April 28 at 6 p.m., an elimination dinner will be held at the Nathan Goff Armory in Clarksburg. Along with the cash prize to the winning ticket(s), there will be a raffle of gift baskets, diamond necklaces, a 50-50 drawing, tip boards and plenty of food and drink. Visit the Justin Bishop Strong Facebook page and send them a private message or leave a comment on the page if you would like to purchase a ticket or even help in selling tickets.

 

Editor’s Note: The top photo shows Justin Bishop during one of the two sessions with baseball players he was able to take part in recently, while the second photo shows Bishop with his wife and three children. Bottom photo is a sign you'll see throughout Bridgeport and the region.