One Hawken grad`s triumph over cancer

Kevin Weiss`s story of how he beat childhood cancer recently appeared in the Cleveland Jewish News. The 2004 Hawken grad shared what he took from the experience and why it made him the person he is today. Athlete`s winning attitude helps beat childhood cancer By Ellen Schur Brown, Editor, Family Section Kevin Weiss, a junior at the University of Michigan, is on his way to the library to study for a chemistry final; he wants to get his studying out of the way so he can watch the Cavs play. Pre-med and basketball pretty much define this vivacious Pepper Pike resident, but not in the way you might think. As a freshman at Hawken, this rookie didn`t think much about anything but basketball and playing the game himself and watching the Cavaliers, even as he ignored a throbbing pain in one leg. \"I thought it was growing pains,\" he says. Kevin had started running track in the off-season to boost his on-court speed and endurance. \"I would do 100-meter sprints, and halfway through I couldn`t even walk. It was the worst pain I can remember feeling,\" he says, relating how he`d limp back to the trainer`s room. Coaches suspected a stress fracture, but an MRI revealed osteosarcoma n bone cancer. As Kevin explains the difference between the tibia and fibula bones and the complexities of the treatment that included removing six inches of his leg, he concludes, \"I`m pre-med now, and that (experience is) the major reason why.\" Nine months of chemotherapy, surgery and a difficult recovery meant Kevin missed a lot of school during his sophomore year. It also gave him plenty of sideline time to think. \"Nothing is positive about cancer, but if you handle it the right way, you can come out of it a better person than when you went in,\" he says. \"It`s hard for a teen to have that perspective. It took me a long time to understand what I`ve gained from this experience.\" Meetings with Rabbi Joshua Skoff of Park Synagogue helped Kevin get confirmed with his class, as well as to rebound from his \"why me?\" negative thinking. \"I wondered if it was a wakeup call because I was so in love with basketball,\" he says. Rabbi Skoff helped Kevin understand that while there`s no explanation for why something like cancer happens to a particular child, once it does happen, one`s only option is what to do about it. \"That conversation solidified for me that I`m going to make something positive out of this,\" says Kevin. Volunteering at The Cleveland Clinic`s pediatric oncology department is one constructive act he finds fulfilling. Talking to other young patients and parents has been a key play in his own healing, he says. Sometimes, he`ll toss a ball around with a little kid, giving her parents some time alone; other times, he`ll coach a teenager on staying positive. Another of Kevin`s successful defense strategies has been raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization that grants the wishes of young cancer patients. Meeting Coach Mike Krzyzewski (\"Coach K\") of the Duke University Blue Devils basketball team has also helped him rebound psychologically. \"I`ve developed a great relationship with K. I`m part of the Duke basketball family, and I`m closely connected with the coach, whom I`ve always idolized. He helped me get through the idea that I can`t play basketball anymore,\" says Kevin. With his winning attitude, Kevin still participates in athletics. He competes in golf, and he earned a black belt in karate. High impact activities like basketball games are out of bounds, but he still shoots hoops. And by helping others, he scores!