Timothy Casey's Story
Detective Tim Casey of the Dallas Police Department is many things: a father, a friend, a son, and a brother.
Most importantly, Tim is a fighter. As a 21-year veteran with the Dallas Police Department, he is used to fighting every day for the safety of Dallas residents. In August 2012 however, Tim found himself in a fight he never saw coming—Stage II metastatic colon cancer. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to shrink his tumor and subsequent surgery to remove it, Tim’s cancer was officially in remission by December 2012.
Less than a year later, August 2013, Tim’s cancer returned. His oncologist found a metastatic lesion on his liver, which was removed laparoscopically after chemotherapy failed to shrink it. He was now fighting stage IV cancer. Over the next two years, doctors would find more tumors in his liver and lungs. They were able to eradicate most of these tumors, but two lesions in his right lung persisted. Consequently, Tim’s oncologist referred him to Mary Crowley Cancer Research to participate in a clinical trial for a personalized combination targeted and immunotherapy in August 2016. As a result of his therapies, Tim’s cancer has now been progression-free for over a year.
Tim realizes however, that the fight is not over yet. He is proud to participate in clinical trials at Mary Crowley. Not only does he benefit personally, he also provides invaluable research data for developing therapies, which may one day become FDA-approved treatments for future cancer patients. Tim also enjoys visiting with the nurses and staff at Mary Crowley who think he is amazing. Tim feels the same way and says he is appreciative of their attentiveness to patients. In between visits to Mary Crowley, Tim continues to go fly fishing, coach his son Lochlain’s baseball team, and work as a full-time detective. As he says, after his cancer diagnosis, “Every day is a bonus day. And I want bonus days until I’m 80”.
