Shepard Dean's Devotion to Cancer Causes is Personal

It was Christmas Eve of 2008, and Jacki Frederking and her husband Ken had just received crushing news: Their 5-year-old daughter, Kaylee, had been diagnosed with cancer.

"Your life flashes before your eyes when you hear those words: 'Your daughter has cancer,' " Jacki Frederking said.

Kaylee had always had asthma and allergies, so her parents paid careful attention to how she was feeling. Then the headaches started. After consulting with Kaylee's doctor, Jacki Frederking took Kaylee to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago

"She would be lethargic one minute, and then she would be fine," Frederking said. "Then the pain would come, and it was this intense, debilitating pain."

Doctors gently broke the news that they had found something, although they were not quite sure what it was. More testing was required.

Frederking had her husband bring in her laptop and immediately went to the American Cancer Society's website. It was a resource she knew well.

Community Service as a Way of Life

It was in 1995 that Frederking first started working with the American Cancer Society. It wasn't unusual that she would volunteer for a cause; it was just what her family did.

"My mom and dad always pushed us to give back to our community," Frederking said.

While she was on an advisory board for the ACS in 1997, Frederking realized that the national fundraising effort called Relay For Life was a perfect fit for the segment of society she knew best — young people.

Frederking was a social worker and had been working with students in District 230 for years. She had confidence that the young leaders she knew had the power to make a difference.

"My experience had been working with adolescents," Frederking said. "I really thought that the Relay For Life fundraising concept would be neat if it was just students. That's who I know best."

So Frederking and a small group of students from District 230 set out to create an event that would empower young people, while also raising money for the fight against cancer.

Relay For Life consists of teams of participants walking around a track or field in an all-night event. Each team has to have at least one member on the track at all times. Beforehand, teams seek sponsorship and donations, all with the goal of raising money for the American Cancer Society. As the relay event runs through the night, symbolizing the fact that the disease never sleeps, various activities take place, many of them sponsored by local businesses and organizations.  

The goal for that first Relay For Life in 1998 was $15,000. Instead, $35,000 was raised.

 Brian Reitz, now 30, was one of the students there at the beginning.

"At first I was a little skeptical," Reitz said. "It was hard to imagine the scope of the event. I just thought that it sounded like a really great way to get involved and give back."

It was when Reitz was standing with other students and community members at Sandburg High School at the opening ceremonies of the relay that the importance of the event hit him.

"You really felt the impact of what Relay For Life was and how much it meant to some of these students who may never have gotten involved in a community event before," Reitz said. "It was really moving to see how many people gave their time, their money and their energy. You just knew it meant something to them." 

It was a concept that struck a powerful chord. Cancer is a disease that has made its way into countless families. Students and their community came together that year to create a special night.

But it wasn't just one night. That first District 230 relay became a tradition that has grown to enormous proportions. Last year the district's Relay For Life raised almost $500,000, Frederking said.

Since 2002, youth Relay For Life events have raised approximately $144 million nationwide, according to the American Cancer Society.

"It's finding that hook for students to get involved in something bigger than themselves that is so key," Frederking said. "I think that is what all of these programs can do."

The real power of the concept that Frederking first devised was not just that District 230 kids were empowered to give back. It was the fact that it spread throughout the country, spawning similar events at high schools all over.

As students from those early relays started attending college, Colleges Against Cancer was born. With over 300 chapters nationwide, the group not only organizes Relay for Live events, but also sets out to educate fellow students and advocate for cancer causes.

It started so simply, and has grown so quickly.

Surreal Diagnosis

On her desk at work, Frederking has a picture of her family from Christmas Eve 2008 — Santa Claus and an elf with Jacki Frederking's smiling children. It was later that night Kaylee's diagnosis came.

"I just remember sitting there numb," Frederking said. "I was thinking, 'Wait, I have raised funds for the ACS. I have raised money to fight cancer.' "

The Frederkings were supposed to be in Texas on that night. Frederking's brother is Pat Fitzgerald, the head coach of Northwestern University's football team. Northwestern was set to play Missouri on Dec. 29 in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. 

But the Frederkings' bags remained packed at home.

"We had all these things planned with my brother, with Northwestern," Frederking said. "But it wasn't so much the trip, it was what the trip represented — a sense of freedom, normalcy."

In the early days of the hospital stay, there was still hope that the family would be able to make the trip to San Antonio. The Frederkings had been in the hospital since Dec. 17, and family members were watching their 15-month-old son Jake for most of that time.  Numerous tests were in store, sessions with doctors were scheduled to discuss how to proceed.

But the diagnosis on Christmas Eve was a retropharyngeal cancer cancerous tumor.  The growth was located deep within Kaylee's neck, and the next step was invasive surgery.

The surgery was planned for the new year. On Dec. 31, the family finally left the hospital two weeks after first checking Kaylee in. The growth had shown signs of shrinking, and Kaylee's fever gad gone down. 

The family returned to Children's Memorial Hospital on Jan. 10. The doctors had some unexpected news for the family: The tumor had shrunk.

It turned out the type of whiteblue-cell tumor Kaylee had often appears as cancer.

Later, friends would ask Frederking if she was upset about the incorrect diagnosis. Frederking insisted she only felt relief.

"I was just so happy we were on the other side of it," she said. "Unfortunately, false-positives happen sometimes."

The American Cancer Society arranged a trip to Boston for Kaylee to receive a second opinion. The trip didn't come as a result of Frederking's connection to the organization; she simply had called the hotline looking for help.

Almost two years later, a small growth still remains. Kaylee's doctors say as long as it keeps shrinking, they will consider it non-cancerous.

Kaylee's memories of those weeks after the initial diagnosis are fuzzy.

"She remembers little things like playing in the playroom, or the IV," Frederking said.

For someone who has done so much to raise funds for cancer research, this very personal crisis only strengthened Jacki Frederking's dedication to the cause.

"My dedication to the American Cancer Society is even greater now than it ever was," she says. "Now cancer has a face for me. It has become very personal."

Moving Forward

In the time since Christmas Eve 2008, Frederking has re-evaluated her life.

"It really causes you to stop and rethink things," she says.

Last fall she started a new job as a dean of students at Shepard High School. After over a decade of work with District 230 and its students as a social worker, she was ready for a change.

"It was a really tough decision, but I thought everyday life presents you with challenges and opportunities and you have a choice, you either stay complacent or you grow," Frederking says.

She has been involved with expanding the Relay For Life at Shepard. She also oversees the school's St. Baldrick's day event in which students shave their heads in order to raise money to support childhood cancer causes.

Frederking is also involved with Maeve's Foundation, which was started by neighbors of Frederking's who lost their 26-month-old daughter to a brain tumor in 2004.

The American Cancer Society recently presented Frederking with its Student Engagement Award. Her family joined her in Houston for the presentation.

Frederking's passion for youth empowerment pervades everything she does.

Her former student sums it up best.

"Her faith in youth is unparalleled to any adult I have ever worked with before," Brian Reitz said. "She really finds a way to empower youth so that they can grow personally and professionally. She genuinely cares and wants kids to succeed."