A Taylor Swift superfan is refusing to let her battle with cancer keep her from this weekend’s show.
She is scheduled to receive a treatment the day of the performance. Knowing how important the concert is, the teenager’s doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center are making sure their patient will be able to attend.
“I had got the call that I had cancer, and then one of my first questions was like ‘Can I still go to Taylor Swift?’” Gove said.
Gove was diagnosed with a cancer known as solid tumor sarcoma when she was 10-years-old. She battled the cancer for several years before learning in January of this year that it was back.
Around the same time, a friend invited Gove to see Swift. In the aftermath of her cancer relapse, Gove said hospital staff caring for her rallied around her with excitement.
“They would print out little things and put them on my wall,” Gove said. “And they’d be like ‘This is how many days you have until Taylor Swift.’”
When Gove got her treatment calendar, though, she noticed one treatment scheduled for the day of the concert.
Her doctors helped her rearrange her schedule so she could still attend the show. Now, she said she has a radiation appointment set for Friday morning before she plans to head to Foxboro.
“We just had to make sure she wasn’t going to be experiencing any side effects from the radiation at the time of the concert,” said Dr. Natalie Collins at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Hospital.
Gove said Swift’s music has helped inspire her to be fearless in her battle with cancer.
She said one of her favorite songs is on Swift’s album “Lover,” entitled “Soon You’ll Get Better.
“[I]t’s about her mom having cancer, so I kind of relate to it,” Gove said.
“I try to stay positive because I don’t want to let cancer define me,” Gove continued. “I still want to be a normal teenage girl.”
As for the concert, Gove isn’t sure how she’ll react.
“I could start crying of excitement, but then I could also just be screaming because it’s Taylor Swift and I’ll be so excited,” she said.
Gove’s tumor has now been removed and she is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
She said she is grateful her cancer team made it possible for her to see Swift perform this weekend.
All three Swift concerts, featuring Phoebe Bridgers and GAYLE for two shows and Bridgers and Gracie Abrams on Sunday, are set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. each night from Friday through Sunday.
Activities around the shows were already in full swing Thursday as fans lined up in the cold to buy official tour merchandise at Gillette Stadium.
Local residents, town officials and businesses alike in Foxboro have also been preparing for the influx of traffic and fans as Swift comes to town.