The tools of Ramsey Lafayette’s existence last winter and spring were those of recovery – needles and medicine, doctors and hospitals – as the all-conference football player from Hampden battled stage 3A melanoma.

But checkup after checkup suggests that the chemotherapy has worked, that his body is free of cancer. And the remission rate for teenage melanoma patients like Lafayette is good, meaning if he takes care of himself, the odds are in his favor that the disease won’t return.

“Everything looks good so far,” said Lafayette, a 2005 Hampden Academy graduate.

But there was one important checkup yet to be taken, one that had little to do with his medical condition but likely was just as important to his state of mind. It didn’t take place in a hospital or a doctor’s office – but in Lafayette’s own office, the line of scrimmage.

And while the 6-foot-2, 260-pound lineman didn’t dominate the 16th annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic in Biddeford last Friday night in the manner he dominated opposing linemen in the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks as a junior, the fact he was out there competing at all was perhaps the best indication that Lafayette’s life has resumed a sense of normalcy.

“I had a great time. I just loved it,” said Lafayette. “I was a little timid about playing at first because I hadn’t done anything like that in a while, but every day as I worked out after I was invited to play I thought about the Lobster Bowl, and I was looking forward to it.”

Like the more than 80 other recently graduated Maine schoolboy football standouts who participated in the game, Lafayette endured a vigorous week of pregame camp amid 90-degree temperatures and high humidity at Hebron Academy.

It was tough at first, Lafayette admitted, because he was somewhat fatigued from the effects of six months of interferon treatments designed to eradicate the cancer doctors found in his body last fall. He got the OK to stop those treatments July 1.

“I’m still getting rid of the excess medicine in my system,” said Lafayette, the son of Danny and Carla Lafayette.

He’s also still recuperating from surgery done in the aftermath of that initial diagnosis to remove 21 lymph nodes from one of his legs – and that recovery process can take up to two years, he said.

“I had to be careful that my leg didn’t swell up, and I have to be careful about any open wounds and guarding against infection,” he said. “I wasn’t in total football shape, either, but as the week progressed, it got a lot better for me.”

Lafayette’s biggest contribution to Lobster Bowl week in the long run may be the fund raising he did in advance for the beneficiaries of the annual all-star contest – the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Lafayette and Bangor’s Kyle Oliver were recognized by the Shriners for raising the most money among the participating players and cheerleaders – a group that collectively raised a record $61,000.

He admits his own medical issues provided additional motivation to help others.

“I definitely wanted to help out,” Lafayette said. “Even though it didn’t involve cancer research, just to be able to raise some money to help the general well-being of other people was important to me, and all the people I asked for donations were very generous.”

As for the game, Lafayette split time on the offensive line for the East, which fell 23-12 to the West.

“It was a good test for me, just about a full week of practices that was like preseason training,” he said. “I spent a lot of the last few months in bed or on the couch just sleeping because of the medicine, but I feel like I’m never tired right now.”

Lafayette now is gearing up for his next athletic challenge – joining the football team at Harvard University for preseason practices beginning Aug. 24.

“Right now I’m doing their lifting program, working my body into physical shape,” he said. “When I’ve been training, I’ve had the Lobster Bowl on one TV and [cancer survivor] Lance Armstrong [in the Tour de France] on another, and they’ve both been inspirational to me.”

Lafayette said he may be a bit behind his own schedule in terms of making an immediate contribution to the Harvard program, and he knows the rest of his life will include additional periodic checkups to make sure he remains cancer-free.

But the big picture is full of optimism. Life is good again for Ramsey Lafayette, and it’s all about looking ahead.

“I have to be more careful from now on, more aware of my body, but it’s not slowing me down,” he said. “I’m feeling really strong.”

Ernie Clark can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net