By Sam Lane
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MAQUOKETA, Iowa — It’s a typical Monday morning in high school. Kelsey Wagner sits silently as her horticulture teacher reads from a list of announcements. The list is longer than usual today: Kelsey thumbs through her papers and stares blankly ahead.
Finally, Kelsey gets to work, typing deliberately on a desktop in the Maquoketa High School computer lab.
Kelsey has to work harder — and faster — because now she’s making up for lost time. For most of her senior year, Kelsey battled cancer.
The lanky 18-year-old with an infectious grin and a quiet voice had Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes, causes unhealthy fluctuations in blood-cell levels, and tires the body.
The latter is partly why Kelsey transferred to Maquoketa from Midland High School in Wyoming, Iowa: Her new school could accommodate her hospital visits.
Holly Honey, a counselor at Maquoketa who helped Kelsey construct a personalized schedule, said the Oxford Junction, Iowa, native is certainly virtuous.
“One good thing about Kelsey is that she’s an advocate for herself,” Honey said. “We just make sure everything’s going smoothly.”
A young woman who now defaults most questions to her mother, Kelsey played volleyball during her first two years at Midland.
However, during last fall’s season Kelsey, a back row passer, began feeling weak during her matches.
A blood test revealed signs of anemia, and Kelsey was given pills and proteins to help her get through the games.
By May of her junior year, she was having trouble making it up and down Midland’s steep steps. The trek between classes was difficult. “I was out of breath,” Kelsey said.
Finally, her mother, Eva Haferbier, had had enough.
In early July, Kelsey and Eva decided to make a trip to the UI Hospital and Clinics. Days later, doctors revealed that something had caused one-fourth of Kelsey’s lung to deteriorate.
The once-adventurous teen, who had loved the sweeping speed and rumbling sound while riding on the back of her mom’s Harley Davidson, was frazzled.
“I was really scared,” Kelsey said.
Soon after, one of Kelsey’s doctors at the UIHC told Eva they planned to remove Kelsey’s lung for “her comfort.”
The decision didn’t sit well with Eva.
“[The doctor] was yelling at me, I was yelling at him,” Eva said. “You can’t just tell me you’re removing it for comfort.”
Because of Eva’s adamance, doctors left Kelsey’s lung. And despite the ferocity of the incident, Kelsey was slightly entertained.
“I thought it was kind of funny,” Kelsey said with a smile.
The shy teen smiles often — especially in school. As she strolls up Maquoketa’s steps, she exchanges waves with a fellow student. She seems to find simple pleasure in roaming the halls after she’s done with classes for the day.
Kelsey likes Maquoketa’s friendliness. It helps her feel comfortable, she said.
After Kelsey was diagnosed with cancer, she began her first of 15 radiation treatments and a number of chemotherapy treatments. Kelsey lost her flowing brownish-blonde hair and dropped from 100 to 82 pounds.
Lesley Wagner remembers her older sister’s trips to the hospital.
“I was there to support her,” Lesley, 16, said. “Every time she went, I got worried.”
During Kelsey’s cancer progression and treatment, Dance Marathon representatives helped pay for her medications and comfort her while she was at the UIHC. Tomorrow, Kelsey and Lesley will be dancing along with some of them at the “Big Event.”
Kelsey’s next “Big Event?” Graduation.
Before Kelsey was diagnosed, she planned to graduate early. Now, she is working hard just to graduate in May.
“She’s very conscientious,” said Mark Hillebrand, Kelsey’s American History teacher. “It may not look like it, but she’s a very strong lady.”
On New Year’s Eve 2010, Kelsey’s family received a phone call from her Cedar Rapids oncologist: Kelsey was pronounced cancer-free.
“It was really exciting,” Kelsey said with a wide grin, one that returns every time she talks about the phone call.
This spring, Kelsey’s port — the channel embedded in her body for injecting drugs, taking blood samples, and delivering fluids — will be removed.
But for now, Kelsey is working on her college decision. She made a successful visit to Kirkwood Community College. However, she hasn’t yet closed the door on her other option, Iowa Central Community College.
Her family is planning a big graduation party, Kelsey said. And at that party, Kelsey, her family, and friends will be celebrating much more than a high-school graduation.
