C1 Saturday, July 13, 2019 West Central Tribune
EXTRA
Donna Schueler, honorary survivor for the upcoming Kandiyohi County Relay for Life event Friday, was diagnosed with cancer about four years ago and then declared cancer-free in December 2015. As the honorary survivor, she celebrates her journey and represents others whose lives have been touched by cancer. She is shown here July 3 in Willmar. Photos by Erica Dischino / Tribune
The ‘big C’ helped her defeat the ‘little C’ Schueler to lead survivor walk Friday during Kandiyohi County Relay for Life By Carolyn Lange clange@wctrib.com Willmar hen Donna Schueler found out four years ago she had breast cancer, she purposefully diminished the fearful diagnosis of what is oftentimes called “the big C.” “I told my husband, ‘I’m going to fight this. I’m going to be as strong as I can and we’re going to fight this.’ I said, ‘We have our big C. Big C for Christ and little C for cancer.’” Schueler said she knew she had a difficult journey to make but knew she would not be walking alone. “It’s not just knowing that my Lord was with me, but knowing that so many people are praying for you,” she said. “It makes the daily struggles a lot easier knowing there are people out there that care about you.” A friend made black and pink T-shirts that said “Fight like a girl” on the front and “Schueler Strong” on the back, which became her motto. After about four months of chemotherapy followed by bilateral surgery — and with the support of “prayer warriors” — Scheuler was declared cancer-free in December of 2015. On Friday, she celebrates the positive results of her journey — and represents others whose lives have been touched by cancer
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Donna Schueler, honorary survivor for the upcoming Relay for Life event, shows her bracelet with “Hope” written on it Donna Schueler speaks about her journey with breast that represents her journey with breast cancer. cancer and how this December will mark four years of being cancer-free. She has advice for women. “Go in for a the luminarias placed in mammogram,” she said. Relay for Life The 26th annual Kandiyohi County event 4-10:30 p.m. July 19 Bill Taunton Stadium 1401 22nd St. S.W., Willmar
— by serving as the honorary cancer survivor at the Kandiyohi County Relay for Life event. This is the 26th annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society in Kandiyohi County. Scheuler, 66, said she was “humbled” to be selected to lead the survivor walk during the annual Relay for Life, which for the first time is being held in conjunction with the Stingers baseball game at the Bill Taunton Stadium in Willmar. The registration and silent auction begins at 4 p.m. on the grounds, with
the parking lot outside the stadium. The opening ceremony begins at 6 p.m. inside the ballpark. Scheuler will throw out the first pitch for the game, lead the survivor walk and will tell her story of having cancer.
Harsh message of pain
Scheuler hadn’t had a mammogram for nine years, but when she started to feel pain in her right breast in March 2015, she pooh-poohed it. “I thought, this is nothing, it’ll go away,” she said. “But it didn’t go away.” Schueler didn’t tell anyone and delayed going to the doctor because she didn’t want her husband, Ron, to delay his muchneeded knee surgery scheduled the following month. After Ron had his surgery,
Schueler finally told her husband about the pain she had been having. She went to the doctor on May 22 and was told there was a potential problem. A mammogram and ultrasound on May 26 revealed a lump and a biopsy was conducted immediately. Two days later, Schueler was two hours into her shift at Bethesda — where she’s been working in a health care-related field for 16 years — when she got a call from the doctor’s office. She was told the biopsy was positive: She had cancer. “I hung up and I was just numb,” she said. She finished her shift taking care of residents at the assisted living facility, went home and finally broke down in the arms of her husband.
The ‘Red Devil’
Schueler had a rather rare form of stage two invasive ductal carcinoma, called triple negative carcinoma, that is the result of her body not making estrogen or progesterone markers. She underwent chemotherapy from midJuly through mid-October that year, including a type of chemo she dubbed the “Red Devil” because the side effects made her ill. “It was not fun. I was sick a lot,” she said. “But I had good days and made the best of it.” Within two weeks, “gobs of hair” started falling out. Late one night she and her husband, who is a barber, went to his downtown Willmar
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