Schiele on road to recovery
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Kendall Shae Schiele
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RONAN — Kendall Shae Schiele is on a journey of miraculous healing.
In late May, the 18-year-old rapidly lost nearly all of his sight in his right eye, and much of his left. An MRI revealed two brain tumors: a large and extremely rare tumor on Shae’s pituitary gland, and one directly behind it.
On May 31, doctors in Kalispell removed a thumb-sized portion of the big tumor and then sent Shae to Seattle for 18 weeks of chemotherapy, to be followed by radiation.
Shae’s mom, Kathy, has been at his side throughout the ordeal.
“Thankfully, the surgery and treatments he’s received since May 30 have brought back a large portion of his sight, which is miraculous,” she said.
The larger tumor completely disappeared after two rounds of chemo, and the second one had shrunk to the size of a grain of rice. Two more rounds were administered to be certain all the cancer cells were obliterated.
“This is also miraculous. We were told this wouldn’t happen,” Kathy said. “It surprised the doctors. (One doctor’s) comment was, ‘this is the only time I like to be proven wrong.’”
Shae has now completed all of his chemotherapy. On Nov. 11, he was flown to Boston, Mass. to undergo seven weeks of radiation treatment. Doctors chose to send him to Boston for a new type of proton radiation protocol because Shae had severe complications due to medical sensitivities during his chemotherapy. The new radiation treatment targets isolated tumor areas, unlike Seattle’s harsher photon radiation treatment that attacks the full brain and full spine, increasing the possibility of additional severe reactions.
“The doctors feel ‘less is more’ with him, and believe they can rid him of the tumors for good with this treatment, with less possible negative health effects,” Kathy said.
After seven weeks in Boston, Shae is expected to return home to Ronan where he can regain his strength, according to dad Larry Schiele, and eventually fulfill his goal of becoming a natural horse trainer through the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program.
“I think he’s going to pull out of it and have a good life,” Larry said. “Just have faith and believe.”
While Shae was in Seattle, sister Kendra kept busy raising awareness and funding for her brother, who she describes as “very active, loves nature, loves all kinds of animals, is very caring and just funny to be around. He’s just a really, really good kid.”
Kendra placed collection cans around the community and started a benefit account at Community Bank.
The community has stepped up to help the family monetarily, by helping around the ranch, and through cards and letters of encouragement. Correspondence has helped lift Shae’s spirits as well.
“Sending cards and pictures really, really helps,” Kendra said.
The family is grateful “to all who have sent cards and financial gifts to help out in these trying times,” Kathy said.
The family also wanted to thank specific people, including Kenny and Donnita Snyder of KD’s Valley Club for providing hay for their horses at a discount and delivering and stacking it; Kristine Paro and KD’s Valley Club for organizing a fundraiser that brought in $1,200; Marty and Roxana Herak and Tom Herak of Charlo for the gift of natural grass-fed beef for the family’s freezer; Dale Carter and Ralph Salomon for trimming the hooves on the family’s nine horses; and Mark Johnson Horse Shoeing for fronting the first $1,000 toward Shae going to the Parelli Natural Horsemanship training.
“We thank everyone for their good thoughts and prayers, for this is where miracles are created. And we are so grateful for having such thoughtful and heart-feeling people in our lives,” Kathy said.
