On November 15, 2008, Tristan arrived, a healthy 8lb. 5oz. boy, rounding out the Milano Family. As the youngest of three boys very close in age, he’s always been independent and able to fend for himself.
A happy and healthy toddler and middle schooler, he played baseball, developed a love for the beach and swimming, and always wanted to be outside. He always had an independent streak, deviating from the rest of the family as a skier to become an excellent snowboarder in middle school.
It was in the summer before 7th grade that he found his true passion, volleyball. He couldn’t get enough. He practiced with multiple teams every day of the week. He begged for rides to the beach or the park to play pickup games. He practiced ball striking on the wall of the garage until it was time for bed. He also began to grow. Quickly. He could not wait to be taller than his brothers (it didn’t take that long, starting high school at over six feet tall). He continued to play competitive club volleyball throughout middle school and was a standout on his high school team as a freshman, receiving All-County honors.
In the summer of 2024, Tristan continued to compete at a high level as the starting outside hitter for the Ocean Bay 16Q team. As the summer season turned to Fall, something was off. Tristan began experiencing pain in his left knee. Always a competitor, he continued to play through it but agreed to see an orthopedist. He was diagnosed with tendinitis, and prescribed physical therapy, but there was something the doctor saw on the X-ray that he didn’t like. Thankfully, he ordered an MRI just to be thorough.
On December 26th, 2024, two days before the family was set to leave for a week-long cruise with Frank’s extended family and parents, the orthopedist called with the news that the MRI showed a tumor, and that a specialist would be calling to discuss the next steps. The next day, Dr. Utset-Ward called and calmly outlined a plan. He suggested going on the vacation as scheduling the required tests and the like would be challenging around the holidays. After returning from a week of warm weather and fun, Tristan was told he had a tumor in his left leg and wouldn’t be going to school for the first day of the second semester of his sophomore year. Instead, on January 6th he began his battle with Osteosarcoma, receiving the news that it was a malignant tumor on January 7th.
He began chemotherapy on January 10th, exactly one week after the final day of vacation. Everything had changed in the blink of an eye. On the way home from the hospital after the first round of chemotherapy, Tristan (now famously) stated “cancer messed with the wrong guy,” a quote that certainly personified his coming seven-month long battle.
Throughout his fight with cancer, Tristan never wavered in his commitment to getting back to his life. As horrible as the side-effects were from chemotherapy, and as difficult as it was to recover from major surgery, he would not be deterred. Forced to withdraw from traditional school because of his treatment regimen, he refused to skip a semester and instead enrolled in online classes, choosing to keep his challenging schedule of honors and AP courses, and managed to maintain straight A’s.
He maintained his social life as best he could, visiting with friends, going away for weekends and watching his team’s volleyball games. He took complete ownership for his own case, learning the Osteosarcoma standard of care, the indications for the myriads of drugs he was prescribed, and essentially being his own nurse during his eleven cycles of outpatient Methotrexate treatment. In short, he was an inspiration.
Today, Tristan is a junior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. While he knows the challenges ahead, he remains focused on resuming his volleyball career as a competitive student athlete. He intends to study biology or chemistry in college and is planning to attend medical school. Regardless of his exact career path, he knows he wants to spend his career making cancer lose more. He looks forward to giving back to the Nicklaus Community through TJMSOF.