Brandon Twp.- Jenny Ikeler thought she was going to be at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota a little more than a week ago for what would have been the 21st surgery on her leg in the past 11 years, but she was prepared to make the 14-hour drive back home for one very special night.
The surgery got cancelled and she had no trouble making it to the Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance Youth Recognition Night on April 23, which honored 156 kids who have volunteered in a variety of ways to make this community a better place. Ikeler received a unique honor? the first ever BGYA Profile in Courage Award.
‘We nominated her because this child is just phenomenal,? said BGYA Secretary Jackie Jidas. ‘I was just amazed that this child who has had all these operations and all this pain, still finds a way to help others, and not just once or twice, but all the time. I was immediately drawn to her story. She’s a humble girl and doesn’t like to draw much attention to herself. She never complains and doesn’t use (her challenges) to get special treatment. She just pushes through. It was hard not to cry, everyone in the audience seemed to have a tissue in their hand to wipe their eyes with.?
Ikeler, now 19 and a senior at Brandon High School, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, when she was 8-years-old. She endured three rounds of chemotherapy and doctors at the University of Michigan wanted to amputate her right leg above the knee. Her parents, Joan and Derek, sought a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic. Doctors there performed surgery on Ikeler, removing her right cancerous tibia and replacing it with her left fibula. While the surgery had been done before, it had never been done on a tumor so large.
Ikeler has been cancer-free since, but has faced numerous hurdles? every few years, the bone would break from something as simple as tripping. She has had other surgeries when her ankle was turned wrong, or her knee extended backwards.
In eighth grade, Ikeler experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and gained a new, mature perspective on life.
‘That is when I really realized I had cancer and I could have died,? she said. ‘I talked to a couple people about my fears. I was wondering, ‘What is my purpose here?? and that’s when I started volunteering. There is a verse in the Bible, 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 3-4 that says, ‘God comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others.? I think that’s my life verse. Since I went through cancer, I should comfort others going through it.?
With her newfound purpose, Ikeler has gone to great lengths to comfort others. Her list of efforts includes assisting cancer-stricken children with crafts at horse day camps, speaking as a survivor at the Relay for Life in Clarkston, volunteering at My Brother’s Keeper, a homeless shelter in Flint for men, doing yard cleanup for senior citizens in the township, helping disabled children play baseball in the Miracle League, helping out at Banbury Cross, a therapeutic riding stable, being a homework helper at elementary schools, and going on mission trips to Mexico and Camp Barnabas.
In January, Ikeler and her family suffered a scare when she was taking off her boots and heard a snap. With pain in her leg, she drove to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, where doctors feared her cancer had returned. The x-rays were sent to the Mayo Clinic, while she lived in terror for a week. To her relief, she learned it was not cancer, but she has osteoporosis and doctors say her bone is like that of a 90-year-old woman.
Still, it isn’t stopping her. Next week, Ikeler will speak to cancer patients and survivors at Gilda’s Club and she plans to participate in a fashion show for cancer survivors at Parisian, where she will tell her cancer story and ‘the meaning of true beauty, scars and all.?
Ikeler also continues her work as the founder of Keemo Kraftz, collecting arts and crafts kits to distribute to hospitals and children. She started Keemo Kraftz in November 2007, inspired because of the hours she passed doing crafts when undergoing her own treatment as a child. She has collected more than 18 bins full of craft kits and estimates there have been more than 5,000 individual crafts distributed (for more information, visit www.keemokraftz.com).
In June, she will be in the Mayo survivor clinic for a 10-year check-up and she is deciding where she wants to go to college, with plans to earn her undergraduate degree in elementary education and then a master’s degree in social work. Her dream is to be a child life speicalist and run craft and play rooms for sick children and counsel them.
Ikeler said she feels honored to receive the Profile in Courage Award.
‘I’m not going to wallow,? she said. ‘You will always face hard things in life. You should have a positive attitude. There are always bad things going on, but people need to focus on the good.?