The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

GERY WOELFEL

ST. FRANCIS – Jim Boylan is in the market for a new haberdasher.

After losing almost 23 pounds in the last four months, the Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach virtually needs a whole new wardrobe.

“My suits are a little loose now,’’ Boylan said smiling.

While Boylan is thrilled being a svelte 182 pounds now, he is hardly thrilled by the way he lost it.

The 54-year-old Boylan was told back in May that he had tongue cancer.

“I had a sore throat for almost a year; it just kept bothering me,’’ Boylan said. “I went to a couple of different doctors and they weren’t sure what it was.

“Finally, after a real frustrating time of not knowing exactly what was causing the problem, I had a MRI done and they discovered it.’’

Doctors found a tumor at the base of Boylan’s tongue, but were baffled at its origin. Boylan doesn’t smoke and his family doesn’t have any history of cancer.

“It’s kind of a freaky thing because they didn’t know what caused it,’’ said Boylan, who gained local notoriety when he started at point guard on Marquette University’s NCAA championship team in 1977.

“The doctor said it was kind of a perfect storm.’’

Once Boylan’s illness was determined, he immediately underwent chemo and radiation treatments.

They lasted seven weeks until July 15 and, while Boylan tried his best to keep working, he eventually couldn’t anymore.

He couldn’t travel with the team to the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas and didn’t get back into the gym until recently.

For Boylan, who had always been a model of health, the cancer not only took a physical toll on him but a mental one as well.

He credits his medical team at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, friends, members of the Bucks organization and especially his wife, Jane, for helping him cope with the biggest crisis in his life.

“My wife, Jane, really took care of me,’’ Boylan said. “There’s a lot that goes into this: the doctor appointments, the treatments, the medications ...

“If you have to handle it on your own, it’s pretty difficult. It could be pretty devastating. But if you have somebody to help relieve the pressure on you, it makes a huge difference.

“She really got me through this.’’

Boylan had a CT scan two weeks ago and was understandably relieved to learn he is cancer free. Boylan said he feels great and is excited about the upcoming season.

Suffice to say, Boylan is ecstatic his “bad dream’’ is over.

“It’s very shocking when the words are said to you that you have cancer,’’ Boylan said. “You go into some kind of unbelievable mode of not understanding why this was happening.

“It’s not an easy journey; it’s a tough journey.’’

But it’s a journey, Boylan concedes, that has given him a better perspective of life.

“You start to look at things a little differently,’’ Boylan said. “You don’t take things for granted as much as you had in the past. You appreciate the simpler things in life.

“When people say ‘as long as you have your health,’ it flies over you. It goes in one ear and out the other.

“Sometimes you don’t appreciate your health until it is actually an issue. From that perspective, I do cherish things more now.’’