Hollings patient spreads cheer one pair of fancy pants at a time

Most people battling cancer don’t give a second thought to what clothes they will wear to treatments. Jim Nelson isn’t most people. Before each of his appointments over the past five years, Nelson, 81, walks into his closet at his home in Santee, South Carolina, and meticulously picks out the outfit he thinks will bring the most joy to staff at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

He’s made it into such an art form that he even has a nickname: Mr. Fancy Pants. “If I can make people happy simply by wearing a different set of fancy pants each time I come to Hollings, why wouldn’t I?”

Nelson was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009. Two years later, the cancer was back – this time it was stage 4 and inoperable.

“The doctors told me I had terminal cancer, and I asked, ‘Is that the good news or the bad news?’ Ever since then, I’ve been on oral chemotherapy and follow all their instructions because I want to live as long as I can.”

Nelson makes the one-and-a-half-hour trip to Hollings from Santee between 15 and 18 times a year. Today, his cancer has spread to his bones and brain, and he also has a new prostate cancer diagnosis. Despite it all, he remains optimistic.

“Hollings saved my life. I can’t really say any more than that. I should have been dead 12 years ago, and here I am today still living. The doctors and staff here are professional and compassionate. I can’t ask for much more.”

 

The trend of wearing the colorful and eye-catching pants began five years ago when Nelson came to Hollings for an appointment after a golf outing. “The girls in the office and my doctors just loved it. It made the staff happy and smile. There’s so much that they deal with on a daily basis that is so serious. I thought if I could make them happy simply by wearing my different fancy pants, then that is what I’ll do."

He estimates that he has 24 different pairs of fancy pants and tries never to wear the same pair twice in a row. “I take one from one side and put it back on the other. That way I know I’m wearing a different style of fancy pants each time I come in.”

Nelson has given back to others his entire life. Wearing the playful pants is just the most recent way he shows others he cares. Having grown up in the self-described ghettos of Chicago, Nelson was awarded a scholarship to play baseball at Northwestern University. That scholarship afforded him the chance to get a top-tier education and live out his dream of playing baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization.

Nelson never forgot the impact the man who presented the scholarship had on his life. “I wanted to thank him for changing my life and the course of my life,” he said. “That man told me, ‘If you want to thank me, give back to others. Try and profoundly impact 10 other people in your life the same way I’ve impacted you.’ That’s what I’ve been trying to do my entire life.”

Nelson went on to become a high school history teacher and baseball coach, eventually rising through the ranks to become school principal and ultimately superintendent. No matter what he did, he always tried to give back to others. “I think I can count seven people who I truly impacted. That means I still have three to go.”

Following retirement, and tired of the Chicago winters, Nelson and his wife of over four decades moved to Santee, South Carolina, in 2005, not realizing that just four short years later, his cancer journey would begin.

“Mr. Nelson is an inspiration to all our staff in clinic as well as the infusion area. His positive attitude, cheerful disposition and his general regard for others’ well-being over his own, despite his terminal cancer diagnosis, uplifts us all and brightens our week. I always look forward to his visits.”
— Dr. Mariam Alexander

“I’m very thankful for everyone here,” he said. “From the time I arrive to get labs and screened, until I see my doctor and am able to leave, I’m just in awe of how well everyone works together. Cancer is scary, but I’m thankful to be a patient at Hollings.”

Nelson said he has been amazed by the scope of care his cancer team at Hollings has provided. He is currently being treated by Theodore Gourdin, M.D., a Hollings prostate cancer specialist, and Mariam Alexander, M.D., Ph.D., a Hollings oncologist specializing in lung cancer. Alexander said Nelson’s desire to make others happy is inspiring.

“Mr. Nelson is an inspiration to all our staff in clinic as well as the infusion area,” she said. “His positive attitude, cheerful disposition and his general regard for others’ well-being over his own, despite his terminal cancer diagnosis, uplifts us all and brightens our week. I always look forward to his visits.”

Nelson said as long as he has a fighting chance, he will keep moving forward with his wife by his side and his three children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren cheering him on.

Nelson admits that he isn’t as good at golfing these days as he was at playing baseball during his prime, but he also is quick to mention that he still wins a golf trophy in a tournament every now and then. But in true Nelson fashion, he doesn’t keep those trophies for himself – he gives them to others.

“I take the plaques off and have them replaced before presenting the trophy to some of my doctors at Hollings,” he said. “The plaques say, ‘Thank you for another season.’ And I’m still here fighting on the right side of the grass.”

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