You might not expect to hear that coming from Rick Crump of Olney, Maryland—who learned, on his 66th birthday, that a suspicious lump in his upper jaw was non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Rick got this news hours after hearing that his best friend, a fellow musician, had terminal colon cancer. They’d played together in the rock duo Crumpled Hat—one of many bands Rick has performed within his nearly 50-year career in the DC music scene.
While May 27, 2021, was not a happy birthday, Rick still found something positive in it. This was the exact day he’d hoped to hear results. “I had it in my head, based on something silly I once read, that between the ages of 50 and 65, most people get diagnosed with the disease that’s ultimately going to end their life. So I wanted to wait till I turned 66 to get diagnosed.” Today, Rick is a cancer survivor. “Call me crazy,” he laughs, “but it worked!”
There is, of course, no scientific evidence to support Rick’s superstition about age of diagnosis. What did “work” was the treatment he received at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. Paul Bannen, MD, a medical oncologist, and Luther Ampey, MD, radiation oncologist and director of the Cancer Center at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. Together, they managed a combined modality treatment plan that was purposefully designed to limit toxicity. As Dr. Ampey describes it, ”Lymphoma is exquisitely sensitive to radiation, as it is to chemotherapy. So we use a little bit of chemo, and a little bit of radiation, to exact a nice result.” The combination of treatments they employed limited the adverse side effects that some patients can experience with cancer treatments.
What made Rick’s case unique was the location of his tumor, which was not in the lymphatic system per se, but in the maxillary sinus in his cheek. It presented as a lump in his mouth, which had grown through the canal of a former tooth. What’s more, the tumor was pressing against an optic nerve. “We used Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT),” explains Dr. Ampey. “This allowed us to protect a very critical organ, his eye.” IMRT is an advanced radiotherapy that delivers highly precise radiation doses to the tumor, while minimizing damage to surrounding tissue.
There was another critical concern: Rick is a singer-songwriter, and having a tumor in his maxillary sinus could permanently change the resonance of his voice. ‘Resonant’ is actually a word people use to describe my voice,” says Rick. “It was important to get that back.”
Rick did get his booming voice back. His song “It’ll Be Alright” was recorded with the non-profit organization Cancer Can Rock. Founded by multi-platinum record producer Paul Ebert, the group brings musicians who are battling cancer into a studio with seasoned producers, session players, vocalists, and videographers to produce a professional-quality recording and video. The experience instills a sense of purpose and pride for the patients during an otherwise unsettling time. For friends, family, and fans who survive them, the musical legacy offers great solace. Rick described his Cancer Can Rock experience as “an amazing gift. It was a huge part of my recovery.” But not the only part.
“Dr. Bannen is off-the-scale phenomenal, as is Dr. Ampey and really, the entire Medstar Montgomery oncology team,” says Rick. He refers to the chemotherapy they administered as “the elixir that saves your life,” and went on to praise many individual members of his treatment team—from the receptionists to the nurses, infusion therapists, radiology technicians, and beyond.
“It doesn’t feel so overwhelming when you have the right people to help you,” says Rick. “Between my wife and the MedStar Montgomery team, it was a light speed cruise thru chemo and radiation. I’m one of the luckiest people on the planet, between being married to her and still being alive.” As the song says, “Remember I’m alive. . . . And it’ll be alright.”