After Losing Arm To Cancer, Keyboardist Finds It’s Not 4 Nothing

In 1982, a full decade after he started playing the keyboards, 14-year-old Todd Waites began diligently saving his money for an advanced keyboard that would help him realize his musical potential.

“My dream was always to be a rock star,” Waites, now 43, said. “I knew at the time I would need a portable keyboard.”

He found the perfect keyboard, but the day before he went to pick it up, he was playing catch with a neighbor when his right arm broke. After his arm was casted he picked up his keyboard only to be diagnosed the next week with advanced bone cancer.

He soon lost his right arm and endured two years of chemotherapy, beating the odds that cancer would also take his life.

“The keyboard was to be the object that kept me interested in playing so it’s been the biggest blessing ever,” he said.

Learning to play with only one arm wasn’t a huge challenge for Waites, who recently signed on with the Christian parody rock band  ApologetiX, a talented group of musicians that tours the country performing parodies of popular rock songs. Listening to Waites play keyboards with them, it’s clear that he’s in his element when playing. (See accompanying youtube video that features Waites at the beginning.)

“When you lose an arm you only lose maybe 2 percent of functionality...clapping and maybe a couple of other things,” Waites said. “There are workarounds for everything; it just takes time to get them right just like anything.”

Waites, a devout Christian, said it wasn’t the cancer that led him to his strength in God; that came years later. He is unapologetic about his faith.

“Praise God, he knew all of this was going to happen,” he said.

Watching Waites playing keyboard with ApologetiX, it’s indisputable he’s loaded with talent and has the boyish rock-star looks to fit the part.

It’s Not 4 Nothing

In a documentary about his life, Waites, who is a father to a son and daughter, said he is often asked, “Why would God do that to you?"

"And I realized he did it for me,” Waites said.

It was on the ApologetiX tour bus coming home from Georgia where Waites mulled the idea of starting the website Not4nothing.net for others to share their inspirational stories of “unsung heroes...those people who have faced physical and/or medical challenges and used them to inspire others...to be heard.”

Waites, who is also a songwriter and motivational speaker, hopes the site, which he runs with his son Seth, will grow. He encourages others to add their stories of inspiration. He hopes others will find and share encouragement, show triumph in the midst of tragedy, and to make sure "none of it is in vain."

In a phrase that it’s “not 4 nothing.”

“It’s a platform for people to share their stories globally which in many ways brings emotional healing to them as they share there own stories,” Waites said. “Secondly, it’s for those stories to be heard by and to inspire others not only that are facing challenges, but even those that aren't.”

After beating cancer, he said he occasionally struggles with "survivors guilt" asking why he was spared. The website helps answers some of those questions.

“Am I doing enough with this amazing gift of life?” he asks. “Am I honoring those that weren't spared enough with what I am trying to do? Why did it take me so long to start this initiative?”

The site also sells wristbands bearing Waites' name and website.

A song  to honor his father

The musically inclined Waites recently released a song he wrote in honor of his father, Gerry, who died from leukemia in August of 2004.

“It’s called ‘Not Goodbye,’” Waites said. “He was always very proud of my music but downplayed it. When we knew he was dying from leukemia, I wrote a song for him, saying how he always my unsung hero.”

His father was able to hear the song before dying.

These days, Waites spends his days as a vice president of a computer business development for a custom Cloud development company. He spends many weekends touring with Apologetix. The band’s upcoming schedule is a good indicator of the dedication being a musician requires. Through December, they will be bouncing around from the Midwest, up to Oregon and Washington and into Nebraska, Florida and Georgia. For those hoping to catch the band locally, they’ll be in Westlake on Sept. 10.