Biddeford senior Codie Ramos thought he was just dealing with the normal pain and wear-and-tear from a long football season – it turned out to be so much more.

“My leg hurt and sometimes I would just sit out of practice and play the games at the end of the week,” said Ramos. “I just thought I had a hurt leg.”

Ramos would eventually find out he had a form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and spent several months of his senior year battling the disease.

The three-sport standout not only beat cancer – he returned to school this spring and rejoined the Tigers’ track and field team.

‘You just have to deal with it’

Ramos was first told by his doctors that he simply had an injured knee and needed to fix it surgically.

“I was going to a sports doctor because they thought I had a fractured meniscus or a bunch of hairline fractures (in my lower leg),” said Ramos.

Ramos thought everything would be fine after getting the leg injury taken care of, but just a few months later he would once again be visiting a doctor.

“They treated me for the fracture stuff and then I got back and did indoor track and I threw shot put and ran hurdles … and after I ran the hurdles, I said, ‘I need to go back to the doctor,’” said Ramos.

This time, the doctors found something much more than a fracture.

“I got an MRI and they said that they found a tumor,” said Ramos, who first heard the bad news just after Christmas.

Ramos would immediately be sent to Massachusetts General Hospital for more testing.

“They sent me down to Mass General first because they thought I had bone cancer, they thought I had Ewing’s sarcoma,” said Ramos.

Ramos would finally get an exact diagnosis in the middle of January.

“I started going (to Boston) a lot in January, but I don’t think I got my official diagnosis until the 16th of January, some- time around there,” said Ramos. “They found out it was Lymphoma which is a lot easier to treat.”

The Biddeford senior dealt with the news – and the impending battle with cancer – like an athlete facing a tough competitor.

“I kind of just went with the flow and did whatever the doctors told me to do … you just have to deal with it,” said Ramos.

Fighting cancer – and boredom

Ramos would spend a lot time at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana- Farber Cancer Institute over the next few months.

During that time, Ramos would begin chemotherapy treatments to rid the cancer from his body.

“It wasn’t awful,” said Ramos of the chemo.

What was awful, according to Ramos, was trying to pass the time at the hospital.

“It was really boring sitting there because there’s not much to watch on TV, that gets boring, and playing X-Box gets boring,” said Ramos.

Special visitors

One thing that Ramos’ battle with cancer allowed him to do was meet some of the best athletes in the world.

During one of his stays at Boston Children’s Hospital, Ramos was visited by Patriots running back Dion Lewis and defensive end Geneo Grissom.

“It was really cool seeing Dion Lewis,” said Ramos.

Ramos was also sent on a special trip thanks to the people at Dana-Farber.

“Through Dana-Farber I went down to Spring Training for the Red Sox. That was really fun, I met a bunch of really big players,” said Ramos. “David Ortiz came up and took a picture at the end, Dustin Pedroia came out first and stayed out there basically the whole time with all of us. Mookie Betts came out, Panda (Pablo Sandoval) came out, (David) Price was out there for a while.”

24/7 support

Ramos was thankful for the support he received from both his family and the Biddeford community throughout the year.

“It was really nice to see everyone doing everything,” said Ramos.

One thing that stood out was Ramos’ cousin, Taylor Wildes, and her teammates on the Biddeford girls basketball team wearing lime green – the color dedicated to support Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma – warmup shirts with Ramos’ number 24 on them during one of their games.

“It was really cool to see, especially because my cousin is on the team. It was really cool and nice to see everyone do that,” said Ramos.

Ramos was also thankful to have his family by his side throughout his battle.

“They were there like 24/7 … they were always there for me,” said Ramos.

Triumphant return

Ramos would be cleared to return to school in April – and was thrilled to be back roaming the halls of BHS.

“That was cool,” said Ramos of returning to school. “I just kind of made up a little bit of it and got as much done as I could.”

Ramos would eventually also get cleared to join the track team.

“I had to get my port removed and I couldn’t do anything for a couple weeks after that because I had to wait for the scar to heal,” said Ramos, who returned to take seventh in the javelin in a meet on April 29.

Just five days later, Ramos would toss the javelin 135 feet, 3 1/2 inches, which was good enough for a second-place finish.

Ramos would then take the Southwestern Track and Field Championships by storm as he won the javelin title with a toss of 160-08.

“It’s nice because I really like throwing javelin,” said Ramos on getting to return to the track team.

Not only has Ramos fought his way back onto the track team – he is throwing the javelin better than ever.

“I’ve already done better than I did last season,” said Ramos, who will head to the Class A championship meet on Saturday. “That was my goal, to go back to states.”

Ramos has high hopes for the state meet.

“Come in first place, that’s my goal,” said Ramos.

Bright future

Tonight, Ramos will begin the next chapter of his life as he receives his diploma from Biddeford High School.

“I’m excited to be done with high school and going to college at the end of summer,” said Ramos, who will be attending the University of Maine.

As far as his health is concerned, the soon-to-be Biddeford graduate is confident that he has put cancer down for the count.

“I’m clear,” said Ramos. “I just have to make visits once a month for the first year and then every so often after that.”

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.