With his cancer in remission, Villarreal embracing life, soccer

10:51 PM CST on Sunday, February 26, 2006

Before every game last season, the Mesquite boys soccer team gathered in the shape of a "J" and prayed for Jeremiah Villarreal. They prayed that their teammate, who was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, would be back with them soon.

Villarreal was praying for the same thing. And as he received chemotherapy treatments at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, he thought about the future.

"All you can do is think about the future," Villarreal said. "You're living in the future, because that's what you have to look forward to."

Now that future is here. After spending nearly seven months in and out of the hospital and missing his junior season, Villarreal is a starting midfielder for Mesquite.

He hasn't fully recovered his stamina or strength, but the senior is trying to soak up every moment of the season.

"I want to play and experience everything," he said. "A lot of the guys can say, 'There's always next year,' but I never had that."

Well, he had it for one game. Villarreal was promoted to the varsity in the last game of his sophomore year. That allowed him to be on the same team as longtime friend Eddie Carpio, and they talked about playing the next two seasons together.

But in the fall of 2004, Villarreal started feeling weak. He thought he had strep throat, but two days later, he was told he had cancer. The diagnosis came on Nov. 7, a day Carpio remembers almost as well as Villarreal.

"It was heartbreaking to see him there at the hospital," said Carpio, a senior midfielder and stopper. "I could see in his eyes how scared he was."

Villarreal was scared, but he was also stoic. He said he never thought he was going to die, even after his doctor told him the chance for survival was 50-50.

He was more worried about everything he would miss. "Not just soccer," he said. "Just life."

But soccer has been a big part of his life since grade school. So between chemotherapy treatments, Villarreal would try to get out and play it a little. He couldn't do much, however. His stomach cramped, and his chest hurt.

Villarreal left the hospital for good in May and has been in remission since then. He was scanned for the cancer every month until January, and the scans are now every two months. He will be scanned less frequently as his remission continues.

Villarreal started running and lifting weights when he got out of the hospital, but getting back in shape was frustrating. He tired easily, and he said all of his muscle was gone from months of lying in bed, doing nothing but watching television.

Villarreal said he feels good now, but he's still not the same player as before the cancer. He's not the same person, either.

"He doesn't take things for granted," said coach Alex Figert.

And neither does the team.

"Tomorrow isn't guaranteed – our team definitely understands that," Villarreal said. "I think we embrace every chance we get to play."

And Villarreal embraces the chance to repay what people have done for him, including the teammates who held fundraisers for him after the diagnosis. Earlier this season, he led prayers for a teammate who had a blood clot in his leg. The player recovered, and Villarreal said he expects to recover as well.

And then, perhaps, work in the medical field so he can help people. Or become a preacher.

"As a way to pay back God," he said. "Because I really feel that prayer is going to do it."

E-mail mwixon@dallasnews.com