Freshman defeated rare cancer to join sisters at Baylor

In February, the Dallas Morning News profiled high school senior Cody Novak as his basketball team prepared for the state semifinals. Novak, however, was sidelined in the midst of fighting a rare, aggressive form of cancer that developed into a grapefruit-sized tumor on his thigh and threatened to take not only his basketball career, but his life.

Nine months later, Cody — now a freshman business major at Baylor — is, amazingly, cancer-free. Multiple rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation, coupled with the Novak family’s faith and sense of humor, helped Cody regain his health in time to join his sisters (senior Casey and sophomore Courtney) at Baylor this fall.

Cody’s mother Kristi, BS ’81, says the goal of following his sisters to Baylor was an incentive for Cody throughout the nasty treatments. Now he’s got bigger plans: “When I first got diagnosed, I got this huge realm of peace. I realized there’s a reason for this, and you need to use this as a platform. My dad always told me a smile could make a difference in someone’s day.”

Sic ’em, Cody and the Novak family!