Waterford High senior two years cancer free

Kurth honorary survivor at Coaches vs. Cancer game

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

FRANKSVILLE – “My heart dropped, and my stomach went up in my neck. Oh, my God, what happened?”

Waterford Union High School senior Josh Kurth recalls that he wasn’t exactly sure what to think when he was told he had cancer in April 2011.

These days, the news for Josh is much better.

On Jan. 31, Josh was honored at school in a Coaches vs. Cancer game against Union Grove, as the game’s honorary survivor (see related story, page 6).

Cancer found

Josh said that everything seemed normal just a couple of days before an oncologist at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee identified a mass inside him as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Josh had played a doubleheader with the Waterford freshman baseball team on a Saturday, then he and his brothers shot some hoops on the basketball court of their rural Franksville home the next day.

It was the first warm day of spring, around 70 degrees, Josh recalled. Josh said he felt some pain near his chest and didn’t think much of it. But when the pain remained while playing basketball, Josh knew something wasn’t right.

“I had pain in my collarbone and shoulder every time I laughed or took a deep breath,” he said. “I told my mom I think we need to see a doctor.”

By Monday, Josh’s mother, Alana, took him to his pediatrician, who was thinking it was a muscle strain.

At the end of the visit, the doctor recommended an X-ray. But he didn’t return right away with the results.

“We waited a good 45 minutes for the doctor,” Josh said. “I thought, ‘What the heck’s going on?’”

The pediatrician finally came back, and took Josh and Alana to see the X-ray. There was a fist-sized mass around the upper-left side of Josh’s chest.

“That’s not supposed to be there,” the doctor said.

Every parent’s worst nightmare ­– that Josh, a seemingly healthy, athletic teenager, had cancer.

“It was unbelievable,” Alana said. “I was wondering what we did wrong. All three of my boys are very healthy. It was hard to believe.”

Alana wanted a second opinion, but when the doctor said Josh must be immediately rushed to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, she had to call husband Kerry, who was in the middle of a roofing job at the time.

Kerry and Alana drove to be with Josh, and the three weren’t able to leave the hospital for three weeks.

“We cried for a few days,” Kerry said. “I didn’t know if my son was going to live or not. The doctor reassured that it was nothing he did. Usually the cancer goes up in the neck before people realize it. Luckily, Josh caught it early.”

On Wednesday of that week, Josh underwent a biopsy and, by Friday, the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was confirmed.

Saturday came, and chemotherapy began. Alana said out of nowhere, the doors of Josh’s room swung open, and people were rolling in equipment and telling Josh to take pills. It was overwhelming.

“They gave us no warning, and we were shell-shocked,” Alana said. “It was very scary. They were putting an I.V. in him. Josh didn’t even know if he could take the pills.”

Another surgery inserted a large plastic tube into Josh’s chest, and he needed spinal taps to make sure cancer cells weren’t hiding in his spinal fluid.

Josh said he rarely left his room because he was so weak, and he would vomit five to 10 times a day.

“Am I going to be able to play sports again,” he wondered.

Despite the pain, the sickness and the abrupt change in lifestyle, Josh always stayed positive.

“Josh never cried, he only wanted to get better,” Kerry said. “He never complained. I was really impressive. He was really strong, and it was amazing.”

Josh’s oldest brother Jared and middle brother Justin were at home while Josh went through his initial three weeks of treatment.

Jared, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the time, did his best to see Josh as much as possible but had to prepare for finals.

“It was hard for me and Justin to see him,” Jared said. “I was sitting in the library at school crying. I was upset that I wasn’t always there with him. The hardest thing was seeing him the day he came home. He was skin and bones. I felt so bad and there was nothing I could do.”

When Josh came home for the first time, he had lost 30 pounds and was constantly tired. Alana made him egg sandwiches with extra butter to try and build his body back up.

Josh had to return to the hospital every other week for treatment, and this continued until July.

He was slowly regaining his appetite, and he would go on walks around the hospital to exercise. On the cancer floor, he and his family would see babies who haven’t been home yet and children with missing limbs.

“It was rough,” Josh said. “My case was curable, but I wished I could do something to help them. Seeing them let me know I can push through it, and I kept fighting.”

Support system

While the parents and Josh were at the hospital, people would show up at the Kurth residence with full meals for Jared and Justin. Also, friends and family would regularly bring food to the hospital.

Josh said there were almost two freezers full of donated food at his house.

Josh’s baseball teammates got their heads shaved at a Waterford salon, and all the proceeds went to Josh. Also, the Racine youth football league (RYS) honored Josh at a charity football game at Waterford High School.

He was given the game ball from the event. Last October, Josh received a new snowmobile from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

From people in the community to the schools to some people the Kurths had never even met, the wave of support was powerful.

“You can’t believe how good people are until something like this happens,” Kerry said.

Getting better

By the beginning of his sophomore year, only five months after Josh felt that pain in his chest, he was back at school. He had to miss the final two months of his freshman year.

Bound to get his driver’s license, Josh couldn’t wait to return to the weight room and prepare for basketball and baseball.

“My social life returned, and I was back to working on my sports,” Josh said. “I was tired a lot my first year back. By the summer after my sophomore year, I felt strong again.”

That first year back home, Alana said Josh was susceptible to infections, so they quarantined him in the house and kept a bottle of hand sanitizer at all times.

By junior year, Josh was back to normal. Now 18 years old, Josh is a key contributor for the Waterford basketball team.

Josh still sees his oncologist at Children’s Hospital every four months.

“At every check-up, I’m still nervous,” Josh said. “I still think about what might have been.”

Jared is just happy to have his little brother back.

“Life’s back to normal,” he said. “I need to be thankful for everything I have, and we don’t do that enough. I should be able to get through anything, because I’ll never have to go through anything as hard as that.”

Coaches vs. Cancer

Last Friday, Josh was the honorary survivor at the Coaches vs. Cancer game, and those in attendance wore black T-shirts with hios name. More than $1,200 was raised, and the proceeds will go toward a Relay for Life event in May at Waterford High School.

Josh will speak at that event. He has walked at Relay for Life, but this will be his first time speaking. He said he was too scared his first two years after cancer. As for last Friday at the game, Josh got emotional.

“It was pretty special,” he said. “It was hard keeping the tears back. It was cool how the school came together.”

“It was bittersweet,” Alana said. “I was thankful it turned out the way it did. It was pretty special when everyone stood up and clapped for him.”

So what did the Kurths learn from all of this?

First of all, that family always comes first and, no matter what, don’t take anything for granted, they say.

“Appreciate what your parents do for you and appreciate life itself,” Jared said.

For Josh, he said his cancer was “just a little speed bump.”

“I can’t believe I’m still here, but it’s awesome,” Josh said. “Keep believing and stay positive if you’re going through something. A lot of people care and love you.”