Easton Koelker

2023 Courage Ride Patient Honoree

My name is Easton Koelker, and I am proud to say that I am a Cancer Survivor.

My journey began April 29th, 2021. Before I knew my life was about to do a complete 360-degree turn, I was just a normal 17-year-old in high school who was social and stayed as active as I could.

It all started out with a small lump on my upper left thigh that we first thought was a knot. After about a month of trying to get the lump to go away we decided to get an MRI in Dubuque. After we got the results from the MRI, we were told to get an appointment with specialists in Iowa City as soon as we could.

When my family and I got to UIHC, there were non-stop tests. I sat down in a room with Dr. Miller, who told me that I have a tumor about the size of a baseball in my upper thigh. Hearing that is hard especially as a 17-year-old, but I knew there was a chance that my tumor wasn’t cancerous, so I kept my hopes up. Dr. Miller did a biopsy on my tumor.

I came back to Iowa city a week later to get my test results from the biopsy which was a nerve-racking meeting I was not ready to have. I was waiting to hear that the tumor wasn’t cancerous but then I heard the Doctor say, “you are being diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma which is a rare cancer.”

My heart sank and it felt like the whole world was moving in slow motion. I instantly just started to zone everything out. I looked at my parents and saw my mom start to tear up and so of course I didn’t want to look weak in front of my family, so I held back my emotions and pushed everything down. For anyone that knows me I have always cared how my hair looked and always self-conscious if my hair was messed up. So of course, my first question to the doctor was “Am I going to lose my hair?”.

After that appointment, I was still in shock. Once we got home, I wanted to go back to my normal life so that I would be distracted and to take my mind off everything. The next day when I woke up, I had texts from so many people from my town and a couple of other towns around me saying “You're in our prayers” and “We all have your back, and we will always be here for you.”  At that moment I realized that I wasn’t in this alone.

I remember my first round of Chemo like it was yesterday. I showed up to the hospital just wondering what it was going to be like and how bad I was really going to feel. At the beginning of my first round, I noticed there was a tablet that I could order whatever food I wanted. Of course, being a teenager, I took advantage of that. On my unforgettable first night of Chemo, I decided to order pizza and apple pie which as I soon found out was a terrible idea. About an hour after I ate the pizza and apple pie, I finally got sick from the chemo and after that night I couldn’t eat pizza or apple pie for many months after that.

Throughout my first round of chemo, I remember my parents helping me with my every need and taking days off from work to stay with me in the hospital which at the time annoyed me because I just wanted to deal with everything alone but looking back, I see how much time and energy my parents gave up for me so that I would feel like I’m at home and never alone.  

After my first two rounds of Chemo, I started to notice my hair was starting to fall out. So, I decided to shave my head which is what I had been dreading the whole time. The worst thing for me about having cancer wasn’t that I felt awful 24/7, it was the feeling that everyone was staring at me and feeling like I was being watched all the time.

Once you get out of the hospital after staying there for a week all you want to do is go home and go sleep in your own bed, see your friends, and live a normal life. When I got home, I would go to every baseball game or every sporting event that I could do no matter how bad I felt.

Throughout the six rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation, and surgery on my leg I had one round of chemo left before I was done with this journey in my life. On October 27, 2021 was my final day with chemotherapy. I was very anxious to be done with this rough part of my life. Anyone who has had cancer would probably agree that ringing the bell on your last day is the most uplifting thing that you have ever felt. You finally feel this weight taken off your shoulders and you feel like you have accomplished everything you have worked for. When I walked out of the hospital, I saw my whole family waiting for me outside with balloons and lots of hugs and cheers. That was the happiest I had been in months and having my family there to celebrate with me meant the world to me.

The most important things that I learned during this journey are to never be afraid to ask for help and surround yourself with an amazing support system. And lastly, that your family will always be there for you no matter what.