Volleyball is therapy for Wildkat with cancer

It was in June when Taylor Peterson, then a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School, noticed a growth above one of her teeth.

"It just kept growing," the 16-year-old said. "It started growing over my braces, and it hurt when I touched it."

The growth turned out to be spindle cell carcinoma - jaw bone cancer.

A middle blocker for the Wildkat volleyball team, Peterson had just finished August tryouts when the tumor was removed. A biopsy indicated it wasn't benign, however, and Peterson is heading for further treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Peterson will leave Columbia Falls with her aunt and grandmother on Nov. 12 or 13 and pick up her father in the North Dakota oil fields along the way.

The doctors at the Mayo Clinic plan to remove part of her jaw bone and replace it with bone from her hip. She's been told so far that chemotherapy or radiation won't be necessary.

"Chemo is the main thing that I was worried about," she said. "I'm scared I'll go there and they'll say I have to have it. (The fear) is mainly when I think about losing my hair."

Volleyball has been a type of therapy for Peterson. The sport is her passion, and she's determined to continue.

"I practiced really hard this summer, and I don't want this little thing, big thing, to ruin it," she said.

Peterson ranks third in Northwest Class A in blocks with 27 on the year and is eighth in the conference in serves received with a 1.96 ratio.

Those are good numbers, especially for someone who admits she's tired a lot and often out of breath - she's even blacked out. Eating too much or too quickly also makes her sick to her stomach.

"I get sick in the morning a lot, and I've been losing weight like crazy," she said.

Wildkat coach Addy Connelly wants Peterson to be able to enjoy her friends and enjoy the game.

"Volleyball was kind of a bright spot in her life," Connelly said. "She just loves the game. It's her thing."

Connelly said she's "played the heck" out of Peterson.

"She doesn't want to be any different. She doesn't want to be the kid with cancer," the coach said. "At least on the volleyball court, she can just be herself."

When the rest of the team is running lines and Peterson isn't, "nobody has said anything or held a grudge," Connelly said.

"They act the same as when I was healthy," Peterson agreed. 

A volleyball benefit organized by the Columbia Falls High School student council recently raised $1,800, and a doctor at the Mayo Clinic has taken on some of her expenses.

"At first Minnesota wasn't going to take me. But the doctor said he'd pay for it. They just want to get it done because I'm so young," she said. "I just wish it was gone. I just want to be healthy again."