By rssfeeds-admin DePorter is the president and managing partner of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group.
He readily admits he learned his showmanship from his father Donald, a career Hyatt Hotels VP, who had a quite the reputation for putting on some awesome events himself.
But his next chapter, as DePorter enters his sixth decade may be the most important and defining one to date. He is fighting cancer.
His diagnosis came only one month ago. Shortly before that, there was no sign of it. It was only after waking up sick on New Years Day and a visit to the ER was it discovered. But because the seasonal virus was masking his cancer, it took a lot of testing and medical pros to figure it out.
“I go into the emergency room, it wasn’t like one doctor. I feel like I saw 30 doctors,” he said. “Like they all were like confused, like what’s going on there. (I had) fever, chills and sweats, rashes, the swelling, and all this stuff which ends up I have multiple things happening and my kidneys are failing.”
But once a biopsy was done on his lymph nodes, the diagnosis was something no one ever wants to hear. DePorter has t-cell lymphoma.
“I got great doctors and I’m glad they called their shot saying, ‘This is going happen.’ It gives you some confidence that things are going the right direction,” he said.
He says in his absence from work and other regular activities, people started to wonder where he was. So he took to Facebook to tell his story and the love he got in return he says was amazing. He says he even heard from friends who had their own cancer battle they kept quiet but were now inspired to share.
He said he’s grateful for his support network.
“My wife and a 29-year-old twins were all over it. They were listening to the doctor and at that point you can’t listen to a doctor because your brain is not even there.”
But perhaps his greatest inspiration these days is his baby granddaughter Charlie. He’s’s got some things he wants to share with her.
“My granddaughter now is 16-months-old and want her to know you know my life,” he said.
He vows to continue to share this journey and hopes to inspire others to do the same because by doing so it can be cathartic in oh so many ways.
And at the end of no matter what day and whatever it may bring, DePorter says he feels he has been blessed with a wonderful life with still many chapters in his book yet to come.
“The odds are in my favor, as long as there are no curveballs,” he said.
More tests in the weeks ahead will tell what lies ahead but in the meantime he said he has something planned for March 18th at Harry Caray’s involving a baseball recently discovered in a time capsule at the old Chicago Tribune Tower. He says the ball has a connection to the infamous 1919 Chicago Black Sox team that he promises will turn things around for the Southsiders coming off the 2024 season that had them losing more games than any other team in MLB history.
Discover more from RSS Feeds Cloud
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.