Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Never taking a day for granted, two-time cancer survivor Dylan Provenzano, 20, has been giving back to the community that helped him through a fundraising drive for pediatric cancer patients.
“I always try to remember what my life was like seven, eight years ago, and how ‘little me’ would be wishing to be in the spot I am right now,” says Provenzano, a Dean’s List baseball player at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “That always helps me to keep going and keep getting stronger in any category of my life. Whether it be baseball, school or with people, I’ll always keep going.”
Provenzano’s D’fense Holiday Drive benefits pediatric patients at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago, where Provenzano was treated after being diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at age 12.
The name D’fense comes from Provenzano’s nickname, “D,” and his defensive role in baseball.
The holiday drive is also the fundraising cause taken up this year by Society Burgio for Women. Provenzano’s great-grandfather was from Burgio, Sicily; his grandmother is a member; and his cousin Annmarie Parisi is the club’s president.
The society will raise money for D’Fense Holiday Drive at events throughout the year, including a fundraising picnic on July 19 and a cocktail social in September. For more on the July fundraiser, turn to Page 72.
Provenzano mostly grew up in Park Ridge and Barrington, spending two years at Maine South High School and graduating from Barrington High School. In high school, he was on the Barrington team that won the American Legion Baseball state title in 2023.
Last summer, Provenzano was named 2023 All-Academic Team Captain at the American Legion’s 105th National Convention in New Orleans. He also was the recipient of the Chicago Bears’ 2023 Collin Wehr Scholarship, awarded to young cancer survivors or siblings of children who succumbed to cancer.
His multiyear battle against Ewing Sarcoma started in January 2017, when the bone cancer had taken over his left fibula.
“It was hard to comprehend what was going to happen with my day-to-day life of being a middle schooler,” he recalls. “I had to realize and accept that I had to give up baseball and any regular activities that I enjoyed, for not only were they dangerous to my health, I couldn’t muster up the energy and strength to do it.”
His treatment included nine months of intense inpatient chemotherapy, which required staying in the hospital three weeks out of every month. Halfway through, he underwent surgery to remove the tumor and majority of his left fibula.
He finished treatment right before his 13th birthday, but in July 2020, the tumor relapsed to his lungs. He underwent three lung surgeries, whole lung radiation, and nearly a year of chemotherapy.
He ended treatment just shy of his 18th birthday and now undergoes a hospital check-up twice a year.
“I feel absolutely fantastic now. I feel the strongest, healthiest, fastest and most mentally strong I have ever been in my life,” says Provenzano, who is majoring in allied health and plans to attend graduate school to become a physical therapist. “I can do whatever I want. There are no physical barriers anymore.”
Throughout his cancer journey, Provenzano had the support of his family and friends, whose frequent visits were uplifting and reassuring, he says.
“My parents would switch off staying at the hospital with me while the other one stayed at home and took care of my sisters. I will forever be grateful for how much time and effort they put in to keep not only me happy, but my sisters as well, in such a hard time in all of our lives.
In its first two years, the D’Fense Holiday Drive consisted of a toy drive. This year, Provenzano decided to change course and come up with a list of specific wants and needs for the young cancer patients. “As a patient, you can only have so many stuffed animals,” he explains. “I know that many of the children who were on the same floors as me could use so much more.”
The drive’s wish list includes electronics and gift cards, as well as money and grocery store gift cards to help with holiday dinners. “Most of the families in treatment cannot afford, or put off, these things because they are more focused on paying medical bills and surviving,” Provenzano says.
The D’Fense Holiday Drive works with the help of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, which has an endowment to Lurie Children’s Hospital and helps distribute the gifts.
To contribute, click here.
