Danville Student Athlete Takes on a New Opponent
By: David Woods
Correspondent
DANVILLE – The leg pain began last December, unrelenting and mysterious. Still, Violet Rodgers continued to play junior varsity tennis for Danville High School, reasoning Tylenol and Ibuprofen would take care of it.
Medical professionals kept investigating. The 17-year-old had x-rays, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging on her spine, plus physical therapy.
Maybe it was Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological condition that runs in the family. That wasn’t it, either.
Violet had no other symptoms. Finally, an oncologist recommended an MRI on her hip. There it was: a 10-centimeter mass in her pelvis. A biopsy confirmed it: cancer.
She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer affecting the immune system. White blood cells responsible for fighting infection grow abnormally.
Violet said she never considered her condition might be serious.
“Because I didn’t have any pain with tennis,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this will be great. We can just play and figure out what this is during the season.’ I never really had a second thought whether I was going to be playing or not.”
After the initial shock, at least the family now has a game plan, said her father, Michael Rodgers. Violet’s chemotherapy at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis started in July, and she is treated every two weeks. Chemo is scheduled through December.
The condition affects about 8,500 people annually in the United States, and early detection improves outcomes. The disease most commonly occurs in young adults in their 20s and 30s, or in adults over 65.
It was all so scary.
“Is this really happening? Is this really our life?” said Violet’s mother, Charity, a fourth-grade teacher at South Elementary School.
Violet has taken on the new opponent as she has previous ones – with vigor.
She was so rambunctious, compared to two older sisters, that a family friend nicknamed her “Sporty Spice.” Violet is so competitive that besides playing tennis and golf, she has entered baking contests at the Indiana State Fair and climbed to No. 5 in junior class ranking.
The good part? Leg pain disappeared within hours of the first treatment.
“She doesn’t complain. She doesn’t want to be away from the team,” tennis coach Sammy Maxwell said. “She’s always been that strong fighter type.”
One of Violet’s goals is to maintain academic excellence. Teachers post lectures, and she has sat in on other classrooms to catch up on her lessons.
She played golf this fall, although she lamented missing so much practice. After Wednesday chemotherapy, she can do little except sleep. Vomiting is frequent. Diet is limited to buttered toast.
“The other days of the week, I’m at school and playing golf and hanging out with my friends and shopping. Like, it’s so normal, except for the days I’m home or missing school,” Violet said.
“That’s what my friends said, too. ‘It doesn’t really feel like you’re sick until we show up for school on Wednesday. We don’t see you sitting in your seat, and then you remember.’ “
The Rodgers family has not navigated this unexpected course alone.
Friends have delivered dinners on chemo days. Violet has support of Danville’s Northview Christian Church, school leaders and flexible employers. Michael Rodgers is a manager for his father-in-law’s company, Justin Dorsey Plumbing.
The girls volleyball team organized a bake sale for Violet, and the golf team featured violet-colored ribbons on bags of clubs. The football team devoted a night to her, highlighted by violet T-shirts.
“The community came together to show her we see her and support her, and we’re all here together,” said Regan Little, a junior who is Violet’s doubles partner in tennis.
The experience has prompted Charity Rodgers to consider other cancer patients, especially older adults, who lack such support. Not everyone has a “wonderful community” surrounding them, the mother said.
Meanwhile, Violet fights on. There are more tennis and golf matches to play, baking contests to enter, high school courses to study, college visits to make.
“My doctor is very confident that it won’t come back,” Violet said.
Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007
Photo Credit: David Woods
“I never really had a second thought whether I was going to be playing or not.” ~Violet Rodgers