Three years ago, Rachael Windhausen never thought she would make it this far in her collegiate career, as she had to fight for her life. Her teammates and her coach never thought she would play in Max Ziel Gymnasium again. That reason was cancer.

It all started with a lump on her clavicle. One day, Windhausen discovered a swollen area that would eventually go away. Even though the swelling disappeared, she decided to go to Urgent Care and get it looked at. Urgent Care then thought it was best for Windhausen to set up an appointment with her primary care physician.

The doctors obliged, and Windhausen was seen and tested for a variety of ailments, including but not limited to Mononucleosis, Hepatitis B or C and Strep Throat. Her blood work seemed normal, but X-rays, CT scans and PET scans were to follow.

Those tests showed something more serious: multiple masses that proved to be cancerous. More specifically, it was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Before the official diagnosis, Windhausen gave former Oswego State women’s basketball head coach Tracy Bruno a call.

“I called coach to let her know about the situation on the Friday or Saturday before receiving my diagnosis,” Windhausen said. “She was so supportive.”

On Monday, Aug. 3, Windhausen was diagnosed with stage-three Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Her update was the third blow to a women’s basketball team that looked to be on the cusp of turning the corner at the end of the 2014-15 campaign.

Bruno, at the time, had to learn the hard way and understand that her top three scorers from that season would not be returning for the 2015-16 season. Leading scorer and SUNYAC Rookie of the Year Alisha Jacobs would not return to the team due to personal reasons. Senior captain and second leading scorer Heather Hebert had torn her ACL, meaning she was out for the remainder of the season.

And then, there was Windhausen. She started 12 treatments of chemotherapy over the coming months, starting on Aug. 24, which should have been the first day of classes of her sophomore year fall semester.

And so it began. Windhausen was receiving treatment every other Monday, followed by a day or two of nausea, hair loss, then bouncing back, completing the online course work, attending as many of Oswego State’s home games as possible, taking fitness classes at Syracuse’s North Area YMCA for physical and a lot of emotional support with others who were fighting or had survived cancer, all to do it over and over again for 24 straight weeks.

Then came the waiting and the tension of taking the tests and scans that would show whether those 12 treatments would work.

A month-long wait until Feb. 29, an already unique day that comes around just once every four years, became one of Windhausen’s best days of her life.

The tests and scans showed a couple spots to watch out for, but other than those, doctors cleared her. However, she would still have to go to the doctor once in a while to get evaluated.

“Now, I visit the doctors every now and then just to keep an eye on those few spots.” Windhausen said. “After a few years of clean tests and scans, I will be considered cured.”

For Windhausen, lymphoma was never an excuse. It was just another challenge that she was determined to overcome.

“She is a very bright kid. [Windhausen is a] very hard worker, driven, obviously very resilient tough kid for someone who is going to be very big or us this year,” said head coach Sean Pinkerton

Windhausen was able to give some advice to those who are currently battling cancer.

“Just take it one day at a time,” Windhausen said. “You wake up and decide what attitude you’re going to have. No matter the diagnosis, it’s going to be a struggle. You’re going to have good days and bad days, but you get to decide what the next day is.”      

Now, playing her final year in a Laker uniform as a graduate student, Windhausen wants make her last season a good one, and it starts with her decision-making.

“She needs to be better with her decision-making,” Pinkerton said. “There are times where she tries to force some passes in the middle of traffic, and it’s honestly a head-scratcher. So this year, her decision-making has to be really sharp.”

A couple more things she will have to work on is to be more aggressive offensively and bring more leadership to this young team.

“Last year, we lost Courtney Ameele and we’re going to need her in all parts of the game,” Pinkerton said. “She is going to have to be in charge of bringing leadership to this team. We had three seniors last year who were in charge of bringing leadership to this team. Now, that time has passed, and it’s her turn to continue that trend.”    

Last year, the Liverpool native played and started all 25 games for the Lakers, averaging over 30 minutes a game. She finished in second on the team with points (251) and crashing the boards with 208 rebounds. She also received the Oswego State Female Athlete of the Week during the season. 

File photo | The Oswegonian