Priceless gem
The Talbotts have found a comfort zone at the N.C. Cancer Hospital since Danny’s diagnosis in 2010 – a place where they can laugh.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving and Danny Talbott is resting in the Outpatient Infusion Center on the third floor of the N.C. Cancer Hospital. He’s been receiving treatment for multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. The condition is nothing to laugh at, yet Talbott is able to muster a smile and crack a joke any time someone enters the room. He even makes light of his condition.
Dr. Peter Voorhees (L) and Danny Talbott joke during a recent appointment. Photo by Hannah Crain/UNC Health Care.
“If I die, then I go to heaven,” says Talbott, a Rocky Mount, North Carolina native who starred on both the football field and baseball diamond for the Tar Heels during the 1960s. “If I beat this, then I get to stick around and give my friends a hard time. It’s a win-win.”
A few minutes pass. Then, a nurse pokes her head through the curtain in the room and looks down at Talbott.
“What are you doing?” she asks, surprised that she didn’t hear his voice in the hallway. “Behaving? Actually behaving?”
Danny and his wife, Myrlene, immediately burst into laughter. They’re used to the give-and-take with hospital staff – they enjoy the ribbing. After all, Danny is usually the one who initiates the good-natured exchanges, often from the moment he sets foot in the hospital.
UNC quarterback Danny Talbott vs. NC State at Kenan Stadium, Sept. 19, 1964. Hugh Morton Collection. Copyright North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.
“That’s his M.O.,” says Myrlene, who spent 17 years as a nurse in the intensive care unit at Nash General Hospital before retiring to help Danny through his care. “Everyone’s a friend. He talks the same way to his buddies on the golf course.”
The Talbotts have found a comfort zone at the N.C. Cancer Hospital since Danny’s diagnosis in 2010 – a place where they can laugh. The staff members at the hospital – everyone from the volunteers to the nurses to the physicians – have become their friends. And for the Talbotts, that’s been important as they’ve taken on the challenges of Danny’s disease.
“They’ve been fantastic,” Talbott said. “I have not had a bad experience in four years. When you’re going through a situation like this, it really does make a big difference … . The thing that’s impressive to me is that they all love their jobs – they love working here – and that helps you as a patient and, in Myrlie’s case, as a caregiver.”
Photo of Danny Talbott on the wall in the Hall of Honor at Boshamer Stadium. Beside it is the Tar Heels’ 1966 College World Series trophy.
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