Oklahoma City drummer hopes to beat brain cancer
BY ROBERT MEDLEY
Comments 
1
Published: November 2, 2009
Modified: November 9, 2009 at 3:39 pm
When Derek Dugger found out he had brain cancer, he decided he’d respond just as he does when he sets up his drums on a stage. Dugger says he will "beat it.”
Multimedia
More Info
To donate go to any MidFirst Bank or make checks payable to:
Derek Dugger Support Trust
MidFirst Bank
P.O. Box 76149
Oklahoma City, Ok 73147
Dugger, 46, has kept the beat as a drummer in
Oklahoma City area bands for more than 20 years. Now he’s facing a grim diagnosis of an aggressive form of brain cancer. But he’s not ready to stop drumming.
On Sept. 16, neurosurgeon
Dr. Michael Martin removed a malignant tumor from Dugger’s brain at
OU Medical Center.
Martin was a drummer in the
University of Oklahoma Pride of
Oklahoma marching band from 1993-96. After the surgery, Martin urged Dugger to keep drumming for as long as he can. He said it will help him fight depression and anxiety.
"As long as he’s healthy enough to keep doing it, then his mental health will be better if he keeps doing what he loves,” Martin said.
Musicians from 13 bands are planning "Drumming for Derek,” an all-day fundraiser starting at noon on Saturday at 66 Bowl, 3810 NW 39 Expressway in Oklahoma City. The music is scheduled to continue until 1 a.m. the next day.
Dugger plans to be there.
The cancer was diagnosed just two months after Dugger switched day jobs driving customers around for a local car dealership. He was not eligible for health insurance when he was hospitalized. His bills for chemotherapy treatment are mounting.
Radiation and chemotherapy treatments will increase in the coming months, he said.
Dugger, a
Sapulpa native, studied music performance and education at the University of Oklahoma and
University of Central Oklahoma.
"Drums have always been my main instrument,” Dugger said. "When I was a little kid I always had toy drum sets from TG&Y and OTASCO.”
His father, the late Bobby Ray Dugger, was a drummer and had a swing band in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a big
Gene Krupa fan.
"I guess I have it in my genes,”
Derek Dugger said.
Dugger joined the alternative punk outfit Fear of Rejection in the mid-1980s, playing local haunts such as the Blue Note and now-closed venues in The Paseo District.
"Musically I have a really wide background, lots of different kinds of music,” Dugger said.
He’s drummed for The Poison Okies,
Jimmy Richardson,
Brian Dunning and the Rock-n-Roll Trio and the R.I.P Tides.
In July, the night after playing a show in
Fort Smith, Ark., he suffered a seizure. He had a second one in September after a show in
Tulsa. Back home in Oklahoma City doctors found the tumor.
Dugger said he is adjusting to life without his hair, which he wore in a 1950s style that had become part of his rockabilly drummer lifestyle.
"I keep reaching for my comb,” he said.
He’s stayed upbeat, and has had lots of support from his wife,
Buffy Dugger, family and friends.
"I’m humbled by how many well-wishers I’ve heard from,” Dugger said. "I’m planning on beating it, which I am. Right now I am doing really good. I’m going to beat this cancer like I beat my drums.”
Leave a Comment
News Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).