From the beginning of this basketball season, junior Isaiah “Zay” Boldridge started noticing something a young, healthy athlete shouldn’t experience while playing: constant chest pain.

After several appointments, doctors gave Isaiah a CT scan. The next day at school, Isaiah got a call from his mom, Kalila Boldridge. Kalila pulled him out of school, saying there was something wrong.

“We went to the doctor, and he said there’s a mass in my chest, and he didn’t know what it was,” Isaiah said.

Many tests later, the mass compressed against Isaiah’s heart was identified as Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. Since then, Isaiah has also been diagnosed with Histoplasmosis, a fungal infection.

The news came as a shock to Isaiah.

“I kind of wasn’t taking it that well,” Isaiah said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Yeah right, this is not real. This is not happening.’”

Isaiah’s friend and teammate junior Anthony Riley immediately felt the impact of the diagnosis.

“I was really depressed because [he’s] been my best friend since the third grade,” Riley said.

Isaiah’s main worries were the chemotherapy he may have to endure and the effects it may have on him.

“I was [thinking], ‘Am I ever going to play sports again? Will I ever be able to go to school again, will I have to be homeschooled or something? Will I ever be able to do my regular things like go out on a Saturday night and hang out with my friends? How sick am I going to be?’” Isaiah said.

As of now, doctors are trying to get rid of the fungus before attempting to tackle the cancer.

“If we cure the cancer first, my immune system will be open, and then the fungus will want to attack my immune system,” Isaiah said.

Treating the fungus means pills and a medical drink for Isaiah.

“Before I started taking the medication for the fungus, I felt really tired and not active, but [after] a couple weeks of taking it, I feel a little normal,” Isaiah said. “I don’t feel 100 percent like I [could] do a full practice of basketball.”

Despite improvements, Isaiah still experiences spontaneous chest pains and fatigue.

“When I wake up in the morning, sometimes I absolutely do not feel like I want to come to school, I kind of force myself to,” Isaiah said.

Observing basketball practices and going to school for full days are steps Isaiah has been taking to live the life he had before the cancer. However, some things still prevent him from resuming normal life.

“Just not being able to do anything like I used to, like hanging out with my friends on the weekend,” Isaiah said. “Sometimes not being able to go to games because I have to go to the hospital or something for an appointment.”

From the first sign something was wrong, the boys basketball team came together to help their teammate through his struggles.

After finding out the diagnosis, “there was not a dry eye in the room,” head coach Mike Lewis said. “Everyone was really sad for Zay and his family.”

The devastating news has brought the team closer, said Riley. It has also given the team a reality check.

“Something like this helps you to keep everything in your life in perspective,” Lewis said. “Our guys have daily reminders [of] how lucky they are to have friends and families that support them.”

While the team generously pitched in and bought almost all of Isaiah’s Christmas gifts, most importantly, they simply treat Isaiah as one of the guys.

“Even though something is going on with me, they still make me feel accepted,” Isaiah said.

Along with the team, friends, family and even strangers have shown concern for Isaiah. Tweets saying “#PrayForZay” helped spread the word about Isaiah’s situation. Supporters designed T-shirts and wristbands and set up a charitable bank account for Isaiah and his family.

“It’s actually making a difference in my life that everybody’s supporting [me], and that they actually care about what’s going on,” Isaiah said. “It’s amazing.”

The support has been influential in Isaiah’s healing process.

“There’s some days when I feel down, and then I’ll see ‘Pray For Zay,’” Isaiah said. “These people make me think that I can get through this, and I am going to get through this. Nothing is impossible.”

The experience, which is far from over, has already taught Isaiah life lessons.

“We kind of take life for granted,” Isaiah said. “There [have] been days when I haven’t lived like every day like my last. Now that I realized that some day, it possibly could be my last day, I’m actually trying to live every day like it’s my last.”