This is the continuation of a series of Body, Mind & Soul stories that highlights member student-athletes, coaches and administrators of Conference Carolinas.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - As Commissioner of Conference Carolinas, Chris Colvin had become accustomed to working along with others in the conference to control the day-to-day accordingly.

Then the year 2020 happened. For Colvin, who was charged with overseeing the operation of a strong NCAA Division II athletic conference, trying to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic was only the beginning of a nightmarish year.

In August of that same year, Colvin began to experience daily headaches. One could not blame him if his first thoughts were that he had contracted COVID or merely felt the weighty stress of being the league’s decision-maker with the member schools dealing with the deadly virus.

“I was in the thick of trying to figure out if we could return to competition during COVID,” the 43-year-old Colvin recalled. “What was strange about the headaches was they were positional. If I bent over a certain way, it became worse.”

Initially, his family doctor thought it might just be a sinus infection. However, his headaches did not dissipate after taking antibiotics.

Making matters worse, the headaches became more severe by late September.

“It was really starting to affect me on a regular basis; both at home and at work,” he said. “Then after eating something that was sticky, I realized I couldn’t move my tongue to the left side of my mouth to clean my teeth. And my wife (Megan) noticed that my speech was a tiny bit off.”

Clearly, something was wrong. After spending a weekend out of town, Colvin and his wife returned home on that Sunday and headed straight to the emergency room at the Simpsonville hospital.

“I had a CT scan that showed a mass at the base of my skull,” he shared. “The doctor on duty said it was a tumor and it looked like cancer.”

Understandably, Colvin’s heart sank.

The next day, a neurosurgeon confirmed the horrible news. It was Chondrosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor located next to his brain.

In a nanosecond, a man accustomed to being able to control his day-to-day realized he now had no control whatsoever in the battle for his life. And that wasn’t all the bad news. This form of cancer was extremely rare and would be difficult to remove because of the close proximity of nerves and arteries in his skull. In addition, this malignancy was very aggressive locally.

Yet, there was one silver lining: Chondrosarcoma in this location does not typically spread to other areas of the body. This meant that surgery, if successful in removing the entire tumor, could make Colvin cancer-free for perhaps the rest of his life.

The first challenge at hand for Colvin was finding a highly-experienced surgeon who specialized in his rare condition. While he sought doctors at some of the leading medical centers in the country, his initial efforts fell unfulfilled.

“I just couldn’t find the right fit,” admitted the Commissioner. “There just weren’t that many specialists for what I had.”

Placed on steroids, Colvin’s headaches got better. But his search for the right surgeon continued to be futile. That is, until his wife received a phone call from a relative of their neighbors, Rina and Sunil Thaddaeus. This individual, whom the Colvins had never met, heard of Chris’ situation from the Thaddaeus family and reached out to share some kind words and that he had a relative that was a leading neurosurgeon in Boston who was very well connected in the field. Within a half hour, Megan received a second phone call from this same individual, who passed along some encouraging news.

“He told Megan to stop all that we were doing and immediately contact a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who was a specialist at removing tumors in this location. He went on to indicate that the doctors at UPMC had pioneered the exact surgical technique I needed.”

That specialist was Dr. Paul Gardner--a name that Conference Carolinas’ Commissioner will never forget.

A pioneer in developing new techniques for this type of rare surgery, Gardner earned his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh and then played a major role in the school becoming one of the foremost experts in the revolutionary procedure.

As the oldest skull-based, nasal surgical center in the country, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has performed more than 4,000 nasal operations over the past 20 years. However, the surgery required to remove Colvin’s brain tumor has only been done approximately 100 times, according to Dr. Gardner.

“First we communicated back and forth with his nurse,” Colvin recalled. “I sent my MRI results to her. Then about four days later, Dr. Gardner called.”

Gardner agreed to have a second conversation via a video chat with Chris and his family about the risky procedure before a final decision was made. The doctor went over the many steps of the surgery and acknowledged the delicate nature caused by nearby nerves and arteries. 

“This is one of the most difficult areas in the head to reach,” explained Gardner. “The reason is it sits right behind the intracranial carotid artery which runs along the base of the skull. It is buried in bone all around it.”

“When I first arrived here, this type of surgery wasn’t accepted by the medical community,” said Gardner. “Successfully developing this kind of technique has been one of the more exciting things we’ve accomplished.”

That said, Colvin had to weigh the pros and cons of undergoing such a risky operation. Dr. Gardner discussed the spectrum of options, including the choice to do nothing. He also mentioned all the studies that he and the other UPMC physicians had done, and that in the worst-case scenarios, the surgery could cause a stroke, nerve damage and even meningitis.

“As a family, we prayed about it,” said Colvin. “After the televisit, we decided to go forward. It was time to let go and trust God.”

He got on Gardner’s surgery schedule in three weeks, and Colvin and his wife drove to Pittsburgh a few days prior to his surgery on Nov. 18, 2020.

But first, Chris and Megan had the unenviable task as parents to tell their three children, ages 6 (Gracyn), 8 (David) and 10 (Lanie) at the time, that their father had a cancerous brain tumor and would need surgery.

“It was definitely tough, but we told all three at once in our home,” he said. “One of my greatest motivations for finding a solution to my problem was the responsibility I had as a father. The two youngest didn’t fully understand and reacted differently than our oldest. I took Lanie for a walk because she had more questions.”

One of the most emotional times for Colvin was when he and his wife drove out of their driveway waving goodbye to their children. While Chris was at peace with their next steps, he knew that nothing was guaranteed and that he had no idea when he would see them again. The kids stayed behind in Greenville under the care of their 20-year-old cousin, Bailey Wilson, and Megan’s parents.

“Ultimately, I realized then and now that God had a plan and protected me,” said a reflective Colvin. “He got me to the right people. While it tested me, I trusted God and knew that his protection was with me.”

The complicated operation, which would be performed by the neurosurgeon Gardner and ENT specialist Dr. Carl Snyderman, and a team of medical assistants, lasted eight-and-a-half hours.   

Snyderman and Gardner first had to enter Colvin through his nose, then drill a hole into the nasal cavity to reach the tumor. In addition, they cut an incision under Colvin’s upper lip as a second way to enter the nasal cavity and provide a different angle for the operation.

Once those procedures were done, Gardner and Snyderman performed the surgery that removed the cancerous tumor.       

“When I woke up, they told me they believed they had removed all of the tumor,” said Colvin. “Physically, it didn’t look like I even had surgery, except some minor stuff around my nose. All of the incisions were done inside and were not visible.”

Usually a patient with this type of surgery is required to remain in the area for two weeks, particularly if the lining of the brain is impacted post-operation. But in the case of Colvin, a follow-up appointment allowed him and his wife to return home to Greenville a week early--just in time to spend Thanksgiving with their children and relatives.

“It was a total surprise for our kids,” he smiled. “It was one of the best Thanksgivings we’ll ever have. We certainly counted our blessings.”

While other doctors told Colvin that he would be required to take radiation treatments after surgery, Dr. Gardner said that may not be necessary. He indicated that radiation was a decision to be made post-surgery after it was determined if all of the tumor was removed.

“That was a relief to me,” said Colvin, who knew such treatment might compromise his immune system and lead to other complications. 

While Colvin’s recovery afterwards went well, he did experience some initial difficulty as nerves in his face slowly recovered, which was expected. However, there was one other complication. Due to the length of the surgery, something had affected the sciatic nerve in his left leg. It caused nerve pain in the bottom of his left foot. It became painful to walk and throbbed all night. However, it improved measurably by February of 2021 and, while still present at times, is no longer more than a nuisance.

Even better news, Colvin passed MRI tests with flying colors both three and nine months after the surgery, and has now been placed on an annual schedule for future examinations. While there is always a risk that the cancer could return, the doctors also believe there is a good chance that it won’t given the success of the surgery. But if it does, the Commissioner takes solace in knowing this type of tumor is of the slow growing variety and will be caught early with annual scans.

Colvin, now in his third year as Conference Carolinas’ top chief, remarkably missed little time behind his desk during a time of tremendous growth in both expanding membership and number of sports. He also has successfully managed a conference that needed to make significant adjustments to continue playing sports during COVID-19 and the subsequent Delta variant challenges.

Through it all, Colvin has become quite thankful for the help he received while surviving a most unusual 13 months of epic proportions.  

“My (league office) staff was phenomenal during this time,” he stressed. “They picked up any slack from my absence in a very challenging year. I also must acknowledge the Board of Directors of Conference Carolinas, made up of member Presidents, for being very supportive from both a personal and professional standpoint. Most importantly, Megan’s love and support through the whole process was huge and I’m so grateful for the role that our extended family played, including providing childcare, praying and other assistance.”

He cited how many of these people, including the Conference Carolinas ADs and the Commissioners of other Division II conferences, sent him notes, gift cards or meals to his hotel room in Pittsburgh before and after his surgery. Family friends and church members also lent their support. In fact, one of his longtime friends even picked up the hotel tab.

Colvin, who has seen his conference readily acknowledged for its “Body, Mind & Soul” promotion of its conference tagline, also experienced first-hand the importance of being faithful to a higher being who has the final say in our lives.

“When I look back, I realized God intervened in so many ways. From bringing my family back to Greenville just a year prior so that we would have the tremendous support of family to finding the right place to have surgery, He was clearly there. When you hear that kind of news, your mind starts to really race. It was an exercise in faith and patience, and trusting God. Surprisingly, I felt at peace during that time. Looking back on it now, the fact that He walked me through a very difficult time gives me comfort that He’ll walk me through whatever is still to come in my life.”

Not just as a Commissioner but as a person, Chris Colvin has a powerful story to share with everyone he meets, including college Presidents, Athletic Directors, coaches, student-athletes, friends and, yes, even his wife and three children.

And when it comes to testifying about faith and grace, few people can now speak with more authority than the Commissioner of Conference Carolinas.

Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations. Bob works with Assistant Commissioner for External Relations Brian Hand and the entire Conference Carolinas office to help tell the stories of the tremendous student-athletes, coaches and administrators in Conference Carolinas.