Published Jan 3., 2018 on Sports Illustrated
BOSTON — Tuesdays are usually off days for Patriots players. Guys might do volunteer work, or sleep in or hang out at home. For New England left tackle Nate Solder, Tuesdays are chemo days.
On this “off” day in early December, Nate sits sideways on an exam room table, behind his two-and-half year-old son, Hudson, the cancer patient. They play with action figures while Hudson’s nurse cleans the left side of his chest, where a port lies just beneath the skin. The port is a small disc about the size of a quarter, attached to a vein. A special needle fits into the port and makes it easier to draw blood and deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into the vein.