Families fight cancer one relay race at a time
For most student, the summer after high school graduation is a time of vacations, packing for college and celebrating with friends. For USU human movement science major Kimberly Nelson, that was the summer of 2009, and it was the summer she was diagnosed with leukemia.
Nelson began chemotherapy right away, which meant dropping out of her classes at USU. She was eventually able to attend a semester at USU, but passed away due to complications from leukemia on March 31.
Nelson said in an interview in March that it was difficult to realize her friends would be attending college without her, but she was determined to maintain a positive attitude. She said her older sister Emily helped her stay cheerful.
“Something opened inside of me then and I knew I would do anything to make her alright. Right from the start I knew we had to view it as an adventure and a challenge to be overcome,” Emily said.
Nelson fought blood infection, fever and weight loss throughout her chemotherapy and extensive hospital stays, including time in the intensive care unit. In her journey to recovery, Nelson had to re-learn to walk and found tasks like rocking in a rocking chair or throwing a beach ball difficult.
“I took it all for granted,” Nelson said, “what it means to just ride your bike or take a walk. It can be the simplest, yet greatest things to do.”
Nelson was told she was in remission the next summer and made plans to return to USU for the fall semester in 2010.
“The toll of a cancer diagnosis is quite heavy, both physically and emotionally, and often prevents or postpones a student’s return to campus during the acute phase of their illness,” said Dr. Jim Davis, director of the Student Health and Wellness Center.
Davis said the student health center has diagnosed cancer in patients in the past and has referred them to various specialists. He said staff at the wellness center participate in surveillance for recurring cancer in patients who have been able to return to school and in follow-up health care for survivors.
Nelson said when she returned to school, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up, but said she enjoyed the challenge and got back “into the swing of things.”
In November 2010, symptoms like bruising and headache appeared, and she was told during a regular bimonthly checkup her leukemia had returned.
Nelson’s sister Emily organized a team in her honor for the 2010 Relay for Life event held at USU by the Colleges Against Cancer club in conjunction with the American Cancer Society. Relay for life is a fundraising event in which teams walk laps around a track in honor of cancer victims, survivors and their support teams. Emily also put together a team in her sister’s honor for this year’s event, which will be held Friday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in the Nelson Fieldhouse. It will continue overnight and end at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Emily said she looks up to her younger sister and has been by Kimberly’s strength and courage throughout her ordeal.
Holli Colligan, a junior majoring in music therapy, survived cancer in her teen years and is serving as this year’s cancer education chair on the Relay for Life committee. She heard about relay for life when an event was held in her hometown her senior year of high school and said when she found out a relay was being held at USU, she knew she wanted to be involved.
She said the event is not an actual relay, but a symbolic one, which will involve at least one member of each team on the track at all times throughout the night. Entertainment and activities for the participants will be ongoing, as well as opportunities to donate to the cause of finding a cure for cancer. The continuous activity symbolizes the fact that those fighting cancer are in the battle 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The event’s theme is tri-fold: Celebrate, remember and fight back. Colligan said the event will begin with a survivor’s lap around the track, followed by a lap where caregivers and supporters join those who have beaten or are currently battling cancer. The track will be lit with luminarias in remembrance of the loved ones participants have lost to cancer.
“It is a very tender time,” Colligan said. “After we celebrate and remember, we fight back so that we can find a cure.”
Colligan said other people should get involved because everyone knows someone who has had cancer, no one is too young or too old. She said treatments for her cancer have left her with lasting side effects.
“Chemotherapy and radiation do a lot of damage to the body,” she said. “We need to cancer instead of an alternative disease.”
Those interested in fighting back along with Colligan and other event committee members and participants can attend the event, give a donation through the Relay for Life website or join the planning committee for next year’s event.
“We’re always eager to have new people on board because a lot goes into this event. Anyone looking for a chance to improve leadership and people skills would do great on the planning committee,” said Eric Anderson, a junior in biological engineering and this year’s logistics chair.
Anderson said another way to get involved is to organize a team. Teams fund-raise by asking friends, family or community members to sponsor their team prior to the event and then take turned walking around the track throughout the night. There will be additional fundraising at the event, although there is no cost to attend.
Games and contests will be held at the event, and food and entertainment will be provided, including a performance by 2010 “American Idol” semifinalist Justin Williams, said publicity chair Meghan Woolstenhume.
“As a childhood cancer survivor, I have always wanted to be involved in something that could help me to give back,” she said.
Anderson said helping plan Relay for Life has given him a sense of “do-gooding” that was lacking in his life.
“I feel great satisfaction in helping the American Cancer Society further its goals in minimizing and eliminating cancer as a major health problem,” he said.
Woolstenhume said the relay is a chance not only to celebrate life, but to show support and get involved in helping others to get through the challenges of both having cancer or knowing someone who does.
As Kimberly Nelson said, “You can’t focus on ‘Why did this happen to me?’ You have to focus on ‘How am I going to get through this?'”
– jessica.black@aggiemail.usu.edu
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