Former Kentucky Wildcat Raising Awareness, Optimism in Fight with Cancer

Dean Wells dominated opponents in the trenches. He was a Kentucky captain in 1992 and spent nine years in the National Football League. He tallied more than 500 tackles in his NFL career and still holds the UK single-game sack record with 5.0. Battling enormous humans on the gridiron isn’t the same as battling cancer.

“Show me who to tackle and I can do that,” Wells shared with KSR. “This is in the doctors’ hands and it’s in God’s hands.”

Just before Kentucky tipped off against Providence in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Wells was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Since receiving the life-changing news, the Louisville native has gone toe-to-toe in his battle against cancer. He learned there are so many ways everyone can help in the fight against cancer. On a personal level, it starts with a heavy dose of optimism.

Fighting Uncertainty with Optimism

Many side effects occur while fighting cancer. You’re probably thinking about nausea or hair loss. Those haven’t been what troubled Dean Wells. Leukemia is a fickle blood cancer, one that has a knack for going away, then quickly returning.

The former Kentucky football standout immediately started rounds with chemotherapy at UofL’s Brown Cancer Center a little more than a year ago. After a few months of treatment, he went into remission. Things were moving in the right direction and the longtime season ticket holder was fired up to get back to Kroger Field. Just before Kentucky kicked off the 2023 season, Wells learned the cancer returned.

During this go-around doctors prescribed immunotherapy. It initially worked, until a scan right before Christmas revealed more bad news. Not only does leukemia take a physical toll on one’s body, he’s forced to play mental gymnastics while fighting this disease.

“So many teammates have reached out. ‘You’re one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met. I know you’ll beat this.’ There’s mental toughness that comes into it. You have to have a positive attitude that you can beat it. I’ve done everything that I can with that. It’s like the chemo either works or it doesn’t. You just don’t have a lot of control over it. You wish you had more control,” he said.

There is not much Wells can control, except his attitude. Rather than wasting energy and anxiety on what’s out of his hands, he’s remaining optimistic.

“Generally speaking, my mother was a very positive person and I think she kind of rubbed off on me in that regard. Not that I’m not scared and everything else you would expect with the possibility of dying, but you still gotta find a way to enjoy every day and stay positive,” he said.

His wife, Lisa, has also served as a rock throughout this process. Her first words after they heard the news were, “It’s okay. We got this.”

What’s Next for Dean Wells

Last weekend, Wells went to The Hill at Keeneland with some close high-school buddies and his son Jack, who is a freshman at UK. He’d love to be picking ponies at Churchill Downs in a couple of weeks. Instead, he’s scheduled to begin bone marrow transplant preparation on Oaks Day, the start of a roughly 30-day stay in the hospital, and that’s if things go according to plan.

Wells is grateful that he has a match. Out of the 41 million people in the bone marrow registry, his only full match is a 27-year-old female in Germany. With a little luck, his body will accept the new bone marrow, fight the leukemia cells, and help Wells get one step closer to full remission. Rather than ring a bell, he wants to celebrate his victory over cancer with the Kentucky Wildcats.

“That’s my hope,” he said. “I would love to be ready to go to Austin in the fall. If everything went smoothly, which not much of this has gone smoothly, but in a perfect world that’s my dream scenario: Watch the Cats upset Texas in Austin.”

Small Steps to Fight Cancer

Wells had the same thought you’re probably having right now. “It’s always somebody else,” who is fighting cancer. His mindset and mentality changed when cancer came knocking at his door.

He could’ve kept his leukemia fight private. Instead, he wants to do whatever he can to help the next person who deals with this deadly disease. There are three things he suggested you can do that may seem small, but can make a huge difference.

1. Donate Blood. Wells was one of those who always shied away from donating blood. Now he’s had more than 50 transfusions. “I feel guilty that I neglected to make giving blood more of a priority,” he said. Make it a priority by contributing to your local blood bank. Find more information at RedCrossBlood.org.

2. Join the Bone Marrow Registry. There are 41 million people who have pledged to BeTheMatch.org. If you’re between 18-40 you can enter this database to potentially help save the life of someone who has blood cancer. Finding matches is not easy. It’s probably more likely that you’ll never need to share some of your bone marrow with another. Consider joining this life-saving registry today.

3. Donate to Cancer Research Initiatives. If the bone marrow transplant doesn’t take for Wells, the next step is to join a clinical trial of research medicine. Even though leukemia is common, there are currently only 2-3 clinical trial options. The more money raised by organizations like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and The V Foundation, the more resources there will be in the future for someone you know who’s fighting cancer.

You can follow Dean Wells throughout his fight against cancer by setting up an account and subscribing for updates on CaringBridge.org.