Oklahoma football: Austin Woods battling through chemotherapy treatments

The junior center — who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma during the spring — only missed two practices during summer workouts. He didn't miss because he was tired or sick. He missed because he had to go for another treatment.

“Some days are definitely harder than others,” Woods said Tuesday as he stood in his socks while talking to media for the first time since his diagnosis, “but I just wanted to keep the right mindset and attack every day.”

Woods first realized something was wrong when the glands in his neck were constantly swollen during spring practice. He went to OU's athletic trainer, Scott Anderson, and asked if it was normal. Anderson told him no.

Woods went through tests. It wasn't mononucleosis. It wasn't strep throat. He got poked with the needle so many times it no longer bothered him. Then he saw an oncologist.

By then, the thought had crossed his mind that it may be cancer.

When he found out, Woods' first thought was, “When can I play football again?”

Now only four treatments remain. One is on Friday. Woods will be injected with an inch-long needle and sit in a chair at the Stephenson Cancer Center in Oklahoma City for four hours while toxins get pumped through his body. He will do this every two weeks and should be done around Oct. 1. He said he will travel with the team when they go to El Paso for the Sept. 1 opener against UTEP.

He hasn't gone through this alone. Woods' mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 5. She or Woods' father have been at every treatment with him. His first treatment, his mom and Woods' best friend, offensive lineman Bronson Irwin, sat through the entire treatment with him.