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Rev. February 27, 2008

 


Preble's 'Sting Cancer' offers pain relief

How do you engage and mobilize 200 high school students toward a specific cause? Ask Preble High School teacher Nick Nesvacil '07. He's writing the book on it.
      His triumph over tragedy story began while the Denmark, Wis. native was a sophomore at St. Norbert College. A sudden onset of blurred vision and headaches led to a brain tumor diagnosis. And because of the location of the tumor, the prognosis for recovery was slim. Even worse, doctors told Nesvacil that aside from the tumor's aggressiveness, he also suffered a stroke and a meningital infection during his initial surgery that would kill him if the cancer didn't.
      “In effect, they told me if the brain cancer didn't kill me, something else would,” Nesvacil said.
      His family sought a second opinion and located a neurosurgeon specializing in his particular kind of cancer. Based on the MRI, and the surgeon's past success, Nesvacil's chances of survival with surgery increased to 50-50.
      “After a 7-1/2 hour surgery the surgeon came running up and hugged my siblings and dad, saying 'I got it! I got it!'” said Nesvacil. “I ended up having a stroke in my first surgery that caused a lazy eye and short-term memory loss. But with chemo therapy and radiation, neuro, occupational, speech and physical therapy, I made my way back.”
      It's his personal story that helps Nesvacil connect with the more than 200 students and staff members who now make up “Sting Cancer” - the Preble High School student organization that works to reduce the effects of cancer and to offer support to families that face it.
      Four years ago, Nesvacil initiated the organization with 20 members. It has grown to about 215 members and 12 advisers, and is believed to be the largest if not the only high school student-organized cancer awareness group in the nation.
      Why so popular?
      “Because of the effects of cancer, I'm bald and I have an array of scars on my head,” jokes Nesvacil. “I guess I'm a lightning rod for questions. When students hear my story, they share their own. I would imagine there are very few students at Preble not affected by cancer in some personal way.”
      Now in its fourth year, the organization has been featured in the local media and on Wisconsin Public Television. The group raises awareness and financial support for cancer patients with merchandise sales and a few big events such as Family Fun Day, the Jack Drankoff Run/Walk and the Sting Cancer Dinner Gala. Group members also take on tasks that might seem mundane — buying groceries or raking leaves — but are a huge relief to families trying to cope with the day-to-day struggles of dealing with the disease and its impact. Sting Cancer has helped approximately 100-125 families, Nesvacil estimates, with about 90 percent of those referrals directly related to Preble families.
      “When Nick came to me with the idea, I told him to make sure he had enough members for it to be viable and lasting,” said Preble Principal Chris Wagner. “I never dreamed how many students and staff had a need for this particular organization. It has grown appreciably.”
      Meanwhile, Nesvacil is taking his passion a step further, documenting his groups' efforts, with hopes to publish the results.
      “The idea for the book came when I was working on my master's degree at UW-Green Bay,” he said. “My advisor, (Prof.) Linda Tabers-Kwak, was persistent in her message to research an area we were most passionate about. My master's thesis became the start of my research and a method for documenting the work of the group.”
      The book, now about 75 pages in length, is “essentially a 22-page lesson plan on how to institute a program such as Sting Cancer, with standards, objectives and methods,” Nesvacil said. It will include his personal history and the history and evolution of Sting Cancer.
      The organization has grown so drastically, that individual teams have been created to accomplish specific objectives; events, publicity, outreach, etc., with a special eye to expansion.
      “Our 'Team Advancement' is looking at why we're the only organization of its kind,“ Nesvacil said. “And we're working on trying to get area middle schools and high schools to start their own Sting Cancer groups.”
      Nesvacil has plans to expand locally, and dreams of similar organizations across the U.S. Success would just be one of many victories for this local educator who has a history of showing others how to turn tragedy into triumph.

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