The battle that started for James Conner with a phone call Thanksgiving morning ended with one he received Monday afternoon.
The person on the other end was the same — Dr. Stanley Marks, chairman of UPMC’s CancerCenter — but the news was drastically different.
The cancer that plagued Conner’s body for the past six months was gone.
“He called and said ‘James, everything looks normal,’ ” Conner recalled Tuesday. “At that point, there was so much relief off my shoulders.”
Conner, Pitt’s star running back, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma just before the Panthers’ 2015 season ended, a season he missed virtually all of with a knee injury.
He spent the next six months receiving 12 rounds of chemotherapy at the Hillman Cancer Center, one treatment every two weeks, with the last one coming May 9.
He went in for a follow-up scan Monday afternoon to see what, if anything, remained of the two tumors -— one in his chest, one in his neck — doctors discovered in November. About 20 minutes later, Conner was with his mother and some family friends when Dr. Marks called with the good news.
“We were all very hopeful that his scan would look good,” Dr. Marks said. “I reviewed it with our radiology team and we all concurred that it was completely normal, which was our goal.”
Dr. Marks described Conner’s status as a “complete remission.” He did not use the term “cured,” because there is still a small chance of a recurrence.
“Certainly the negative scan is a very positive sign, but we will be monitoring him between examinations, lab work and then periodic scans,” Dr. Marks said. “The window’s really this two-year period. After two years, it’s very unusual to have a recurrence.”
The more immediate date on Conner’s mind is Sept. 3 — the date of Pitt’s season opener against Villanova.
Even during his chemotherapy regimen, Conner maintained that he planned to play for the Panthers in 2016. He even participated in non-contact portions of Pitt’s spring practices. Later this week, he’ll have his medical port removed and, according to Dr. Marks, have no restrictions on his physical activity.
It’s no surprise Conner says he plans to be ready to go when Pitt opens training camp in early August.
“Our strength and conditioning staff, they’ve got a great plan, just like Dr. Marks had for me, with the weightlifting side of things,” Conner said. “We’re going to take it smart. That’s the plan, but nothing is guaranteed in this.”
If he is able to play this season, it will complete a long road back for Conner, who tore his MCL in the Panthers’ 2015 season opener and missed the rest of the year.
Just as his knee was getting close to 100 percent, Conner found out he had a much more serious fight on his hands.
“For someone that young, his age, he had incredible fight, spirit, handled things remarkably well, never complained,” Dr. Marks said.
When Conner first started chemotherapy, Dr. Marks said he offered him a private room for his sessions. Conner declined, preferring to be among the other patients receiving their treatments.
“The days that he came in, there was just a lot more excitement and chatter,” Dr. Marks said. “Like I said, he really served as an inspiration to a lot of patients, those that were doing well and those that weren’t.”
That was just Conner’s way of paying it forward. He started his media session Tuesday morning by thanking all of those who reached out to wish him well over the past six months. He received messages from Pittsburgh icons such as Mike Tomlin and Mario Lemieux — who beat Hodgkin lymphoma during his NHL career — as well as fellow college football players such as Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The Pirates honored Conner when he threw out the first pitch for their home opener at PNC Park, and Conner was a guest on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” last month, where he was surprised by another Hodgkin survivor, Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry.
“With all the support from everywhere, I knew one day I was going to be able to say I was a cancer survivor,” Conner said.
Some of Conner’s biggest supporters have been his teammates, who wore “Conner Strong” bracelets and made sure he remained an integral part of the Pitt team. Conner said he thinks about the upcoming season and getting back on the field “every day.”
“Those guys, the support they gave me was tremendous,” Conner said. “Every day, helping me take my mind off things.”
Conner was among several Pitt players who attended wide receiver Tyler Boyd’s party for the NFL draft last month. On Monday afternoon, when his phone rang, Conner flashed back to that moment.
“I was with Tyler on draft night and watched him wait for a call,” Conner said. “I felt the same, just waiting for a phone call. This one was better.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter SWernerPG
First Published: May 24, 2016, 3:40 p.m.
Updated: May 24, 2016, 8:13 p.m.
