MSU And Golf Community Rally Around Smith Family
October 28, 2021 | Athletics, Men's Golf, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs and others wearing ribbons in support of MSU head coach Dusty Smith’s daughter Scottie, who’s battling neuroblastoma.
STARKVILLE – "Do you think it could be cancer?"
The question came out of Mississippi State men's golf coach Dusty Smith's mouth more out of desperation for an answer than actually thinking it was the case.
It was last month. Since March, Smith's two-and-a-half year old daughter, Scottie, just hadn't been herself. There'd been repeated digestive issues and visits to specialists and doctors. There were a series of elimination diets – trying to determine if there was an allergy issue causing Scottie's problem.
After six months, Smith and his wife, Janie, simply wanted to know why their little girl was sick. Scottie wasn't playing anymore. She constantly wanted to be on the couch under a blanket with her mom or dad holding her.
So on one of Smith's team's off days, he was determined to finally get to the bottom of the situation. He took Scottie back to the doctor down in Jackson. He was hearing more of the same stuff he'd been hearing for weeks and weeks.
But right before he left, he had that one final question.
"Do you think it could be cancer?"
The doctor didn't think so. She thought that'd be extremely unlikely.
But it was.
The Diagnosis
Before Smith and Scottie left her office, the doctor had suggested taking Scottie over to Batson Children's Hospital. There, Scottie could be pretty quickly admitted into the emergency room where a CT scan could be performed.
At Batson, it was discovered Scottie was severely dehydrated. Her potassium levels were low. And with the CT scan, it was revealed Scottie had a tumor on her adrenal gland near her kidney. It was neuroblastoma.
"That was a day I'll never forget," Smith said. "My wife is back in Starkville with our two other kids (six-month-old Caroline and five-year-old Ella). She just packed her stuff up, packed me a bag, packed up our family and they drove to Jackson. I stayed the night in the hospital with Scottie and they drove down the next day."
Since then, the Smiths have started the fight to defeat Scottie's cancer.
On To Houston
The MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, is the largest cancer center in the United States. Between that, and the fact the Smiths have family in Houston, it was an easy call to determine where Scottie would begin her battle.
Three weeks ago, Scottie underwent surgery. The tumor was removed, along with Scottie's adrenal gland, in what was a six-hour procedure.
Scottie's bone marrow came back clear. However there was some cancer found in her lymph nodes. The Smiths are currently awaiting the pathology report to determine the level of chemotherapy Scottie will require.
While all of this goes on, the Smiths are constantly trying to juggle life. Janie remains in Houston with Scottie and Caroline. Dusty and Ella are frequently in Starkville as Dusty continues his coaching responsibilities at MSU while Ella goes through her kindergarten year.
"If we have to go back to Houston, we'll do that, but just kind of working back and forth for the time being," Smith said.
Embraced By MSU And The Golfing World
The silver lining in all this is that while the Smiths walk this journey, they've had many right beside them, doing whatever they can to help carry the load.
"[The support has] been awesome," Smith said.
Multiple golf programs around the country have been wearing ribbons to honor Scottie. Vanderbilt, Georgia, Arkansas and TCU are just a few of the teams that have sported ribbons at points over the last few weeks. Each of those programs play in The Carmel Cup with MSU each year along with three other schools, and Smith considers the schools in that tournament a tight-knit bunch. It's shown during Scottie's fight.
In the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, TCU's home event, the Horned Frogs head coach had ribbons for everyone involved in the event. Additionally, Georgia Southern's whole team wrote Scottie a letter and sent her Georgia Southern merchandise.
Obviously Mississippi State has ribbons of its own.
"The [MSU] women's team made ribbons for Scottie," Smith said. "Our team is wearing ribbons. It's been unbelievable…The support has been absolutely amazing. The golf coaching world is like a fraternity. I've had coaches from the West Coast all the way to the East Coast reach out to me and say, 'Hey, we're thinking about you. We're praying for you. We're going to wear these ribbons.'"
Closer to home, Smith's coworkers at State have truly been a rock-solid support system, he says.
"The coaches in here have been beyond unbelievable," Smith said. "They've given money for Ella and I to go eat when I'm by myself. They've gone above and beyond to make sure our family is taken care of. You don't think about it at the time, but that stuff really matters, just not having to worry about dinner or, when my wife and Scottie and Caroline got to come home [for a few days a couple of weeks ago], not having to worry about, 'Hey, what's for dinner tonight?' We can just use a gift card and just focus on each other and being together right now, which has been really cool."
In what could be a lonely time, the Smiths haven't felt that at all.
"We're not alone," Smith said. "We're really not. The coolest part is people coming in here and just joining us in the struggle. They're not necessarily like, 'Hey, everything is going to be OK', because we don't know that. We're obviously praying for that and we're hopeful for that, but people just come in here and are like, 'Whatever you need. It doesn't matter how small or how big, we're going to be here for you.' That's been the coolest thing."
What's Next?
It's not certain what's around the corner for the Smiths. When the pathology report comes in, there'll be a better idea of the treatment plan for Scottie.
"If the tumor comes back low risk or intermediate risk, it's just a low dose of chemo," Smith said. "No chemo is good, but it shouldn't be too bad if it's a low dose. If [the tumor] comes back high risk, then it's obviously going to be really aggressive. They say that right now, it doesn't look like that. But you can never be 100 percent certain."
So the battle continues. It's been a challenging road for Scottie, but there have certainly been positive signs.
"She's been able to play and run around," Smith said. "It's amazing how resilient kids are. We were five days in the hospital after surgery and she had the scar and tube down her throat and things like that, but when that came out, she started walking around. Next thing you know, she's running. She's trying to hang out with her big sister and keep up with her. Honestly, if you saw her right now, you probably wouldn't know anything was wrong with her. That's been really encouraging to see. The digestive issues have gotten a lot better, which is awesome to see."
Hopefully for Scottie, victory isn't too far ahead. In the meantime, the Smiths are incredibly grateful for the many that are standing with them in their corner.
"This past month has not been normal," Smith said. "It's been tough, but it's been really cool to see the family come together. When I refer to family, I mean the golf community and really the Mississippi State family…A lot of universities talk about it – and it's probably an overused word with family – but I believe Mississippi State, it is different. It just goes to show you there's a lot of good people in this world and people that are willing to stop everything they're doing and just help us out and be there with us."