Ronan teen staying positive despite battle for life
courtesy photo
Kendall Shae Schiele’s post-graduation plans abruptly changed after doctors discovered two rare brain tumors.
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
RONAN — Kendall Shae Schiele expected to spend his 18th birthday on July 3 surrounded by his family and his passion — horses. His equine love began when his young nephew, Dominiq, won a therapeutic pony that through its healing powers literally saved the young relative’s life.
Instead, Shae will spend his birthday fighting for his own life.
Graduating from home school in February, Shae was busy addressing announcements and planning to study Parelli Natural Horsemanship training when suddenly he couldn’t see clearly. He also began to have headaches.
In March, the eye doctor discovered Shae had astigmatism and a lazy eye. Hoping that correcting his vision would solve the issue, Shae began wearing glasses. He took some time to get used to the corrective lenses, but his vision worsened, and nothing brought relief from the throbbing in his head.
Shae returned to the doctor in May. His family was shocked to learn he had lost nearly all of his sight in his right eye, and much of his left.
Immediately he was referred to an eye surgeon in Kalispell. An MRI revealed two brain tumors: one on the pituitary gland, one behind it. Now they needed to wait for an appointment with the neurosurgeon.
Shae and his mom, Kathy, drove home in shock.
“It’s terrifying,” Kathy said. “That’s deadly if nothing’s done. You go into that mode where you just put one foot in front of the other.”
They didn’t have long to wait. Less than 30 minutes after arriving home, the hospital staff called and asked to have Shae come back immediately.
“We got back up to Kalispell at 11:30 p.m. They started some meds to reduce inflammation to try to save what sight he had left, and gave him steroids to relieve pressure,” Kathy said.
That was May 29. By May 31, Shae was in surgery.
“We just went into auto pilot. It was like being absolutely side swipped by a train,” Kathy said.
The doctors did a biopsy, then took out a tumor on Shae’s optic nerve that was the size of the doctors’ thumb. The tumor is extremely rare, found in only four percent of all brain tumors.
“It’s confusing to explain, Kathy said. “(The doctors) say the tumor itself doesn’t have the cancer cell, but it’s a fast growing supercell in the brain, so they call it a cancer, and have to treat it just like cancer,” she said. “We were really relieved to hear it’s not malignant. But … ”
But the young man is currently undergoing aggressive chemotherapy at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Shae will receive several series’ of chemotherapy for 18 weeks, followed by seven weeks of radiation.
Kathy and Shae were fortunate to quickly gain access to a Ronald McDonald house, where she can stay comfortably and without charge. Shae joins her between treatments.
Back home on the range, things are a bit hectic. The couple grew up in the area, and now four generations share the 10-acre ranch. While dad Larry Schiele — who has run his own mason business for 45 years — works daily, Shae’s sister, Kendra, cares for her 9-year-old son, Dominiq, his little brother, Lucas, and her 72-year-old grandmother.
“There are a whole lot of plants and gardening to do,” Kathy said. “Kendra basically got left with everything. She’s struggling to try keep up.”
In addition, Kendra is attempting to raise awareness and funding for her brother, who she describes as “very active, loves natures, loves all kinds of animals, is very caring and just funny to be around. He’s just a really, really good kid.”
So the family can have some money to pay extra medical bills, for anything Shae might need in Seattle, or to help offset travel expenses, Kendra has placed donation jars in Ronan businesses including Harvest Foods, ACE Hardware, True Value, Mission Mart, WBC, Westland Seed and Les Schwab. She’s also set up a benefit account at Community Bank Ronan.
“He’s been a real trooper through this, staying strong,” Kathy said. “He does ask ‘why?’ occasionally, but he is walking through amazingly strong emotionally.”
The family was planning a horseback ride and camping trip for Shae’s graduation, “so that’s how we will celebrate when he gets better. Just camp and ride and ride for days,” Kathy said.
If history repeats itself, then the family should feel very hopeful.
This isn’t Shae’s first brush with health issues.
From age 6 to 9, Shae had a rare vascular problem that could have crippled him, explained his mom. “But he started rebuilding.”
They found exercises that could help him heal, and Shae did 100 of those exercises every night for four years.
“He healed basically miraculously. The doctors were absolutely amazed when they looked at the x-rays. He shouldn’t have been walking,” Kathy said.
“I’m ordering another miracle. Shae is on lots of prayer chains.”
