Nettesheim returns to Kade’s Klassic, this time on other end of track
By Mike Ramczyk
SLN Staff
Shelley Nettesheim is no stranger to Kade’s Klassic.
Two years ago, the 49-year-old Elkhorn native was an active, supremely conditioned athlete, running triathlons and hitting the gym hard nearly seven days a week.
She participated in the 5K of Kade’s Klassic, an annual fundraiser for families in need, which started in 2005 after Whitewater native Kade Vance, now 18, suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident near highways 14 and A in Janesville.
Something that traumatic can change a person and have knock-on effects for many years or for the rest of their life, that is why if something like this occurs it is important for the person who has been injured to speak to people similar to a San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer or a lawyer where they live, so they can be helped through this and get the justice they deserve.
Nettesheim returns to the annual event this year, which will be held at Evergreen Golf Course in Elkhorn.
But she won’t be running, playing golf, or straining herself whatsoever.
Last October, Nettesheim was lifting weights and running just about every day. In a recent interview, she beamed about how much she loved working out and taking on physical challenges like triathlons.
But after a routine physical at the doctor’s office, the Delavan-Darien High School graduate got the call nobody wants.
She was told to immediately get to the emergency room.
Still unaware of what exactly was going on, Nettesheim was rushed via ambulance to Mercy hospital in Janesville.
There, she was diagnosed with cancer, specifically Acute Myeloid Leukemia with a 5q deletion, which is a rare form of the disease.
“You’re scared out of your mind,” Nettesheim said. “I thought it was a mistake.”
“I was in good shape. But they were giving me blood transfusions. I never took medication in 10 years.”
Nettesheim thought it was wrong, but a biopsy showed her immune system was depleted.
“They said I basically had the blood level of someone who had been in a severe car accident,” she said. “I had no immune system.”
“Two days prior, I was at Holy Hill at a healing mass, around all these ill people. It was packed. I had no immune system and I didn’t know it. It’s a miracle I didn’t get sick.”
Nettesheim added she was supposed to leave for Florida for a vacation with friends two days after the biopsy, which occurred on Tuesday.
“When they said ‘leukemia,’ I kept it together thanks to being with my friend. In the car, panic attack set in. They said you could either go to Madison or Froedtert (Milwaukee).”
Nettesheim made the decision that night to drive to Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned cancer clinic in Rochester, Minn.
When it was confirmed after a second test Nettesheim had AML, she didn’t ask questions about her future. She knew it was a random occurrence. A chromosome in her blood stream “broke,” she said, but the reality was serious.
“I learned once I got home I had a 10 percent chance of getting a stem cell transplant,” Nettesheim said.
A perfect match
Though the odds were low, Nettesheim found a match for a stem cell transplant.
She has four siblings, each which had a 30 percent chance of being a match.
“My sister Bobbi was a perfect match,” Nettesheim said. “While my sister started the process to donate her stem cells, I had to endure two more rounds of chemotherapy.”
Nettesheim received one round of chemotherapy when she first got to Mayo Clinic, which proved unsuccessful.
The second round was much stronger, and 10 days after, she learned the Leukemia was gone. But she still needed a stem cell transplant.
“The first round ran 24/7 for a week,” she said. “I used to sleep with a fan. But at Mayo, I listened to the sound of the IV, of the poison going into me. It was a hum, and all I could think was, ‘They’re poisoning me.'”
She said the second round of chemo was like the “world’s biggest hangover.”
“You don’t get a lot of sleep,” she said. “They wake you up every four hours. Nobody gets sleep in the hospital.”
“Sometimes you’re just wired, thinking about all of the things you’re no longer in control of.”
Keeping the faith
AML is something that elderly people get, Nettesheim said.
“It was my story, and I knew it would be different than anyone else,” she said.
“There were a lot of dark days through all of this but I never really let myself believe I was as sick as I was. The stem cell transplant was a success, and I experienced no signs of rejection.”
Nettesheim was a healthy 140 pounds, but she emaciated to 98 pounds by the time chemotherapy was over.
By April, she was told she was cancer free and returned home to live with her daughter in Elkhorn.
“My faith kept me strong,” she said. “There were signs God gave me that I was going to be OK. I got cards from people, and I just couldn’t believe the support.”
“I know a lot of people in the area, like my teachers from middle school, my kids’ teachers, so many people reached out.”
“I prayed a lot, and my family prayed a lot for me. I didn’t want to see anybody, but they came anyways. My sister, the one who gave me her stem cells, moved to Minnesota, stayed with me and fed me back to life.”
Twelve years and counting
Kade’s Klassic started with humble beginnings in 2005 and has since
become a household name, earning itself a 501 non-profit charity distinction.
After Kade was honored in the initial event, a different family has been helped each year since.
“I’ve known Shelley’s mother and father for over 50 years,” said Pat Ehlen, the grandmother of Kade.
“We knew Shelley was in the hospital, and we go to mass at St. Patrick’s (Elkhorn) every week. Shelley attened St. Patrick’s and is a parishioner, and father was mentioning her by name every mass.”
“We knew Shelley was back home and was in mass, but she was too sick to ask if she wanted to be the sponsor family for this year’s event.”
Shelley said Jill, Kade’s mother, reached out to her on Facebook and asked her to be the sponsored family for the event, which is Sunday, June 26 at Evergreen Golf Course.
“I knew it was a gift from God,” Shelley said. “The day before I talked to Jill, I got the invoice from Mayo, and it was over $1 million.”
“I was really honored and blessed. I had to think about it for a few days. It was a lot to digest, because I’d always been on the other end. I help people for a living.”
Nettesheim is looking forward to Kade’s Klassic, where she said she has no idea what to expect.
“It’s going to be really fun,” she said.
The event will feature golf, a bags tournament, miniature golf for the kids, a 5K run/walk, lunch and tons of raffle prizes.
“I look at life totally different,” Nettesheim said. “The little things you appreciate, waking up and hearing the birds sing, reading books to my granddaughter.”
“Now I think it’s all about making memories. That’s what’s important, the time I spend with my family and my kids. I’m making a memory with them.”
Ehlen said the Nettesheims are a good family.
“They’re a good, solid Elkhorn family, and it’s always more fun to do it for someone you know,” Ehlen said.
“Don’t forget, we were on the other end of that too, one time. The first Kade’s Klassic was for us. That was Kade. I know exactly how your mother is feeling. We get more out of it than the family does. What we’ve found is our beneficiaries have become a family.”
“They all show up every year, and they will be there again this year. People should come because it will make them feel good. Shelley’s a good person, and she really, truly deserves this.”
