Brother's Cancer Fuels Glenview Resident's Career Path

GLENVIEW, IL — Kate Gregory is passionate about helping children and believes kids battling cancer are among the strongest people around. The Glenview resident knows first-hand about this fighting spirit as her younger brother, Luke, was diagnosed with stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of the disease, in 2016.

Inspired by her sibling, Gregory is now on a career path to one day become a pediatric oncologist. Recently, she was named one of the Northwestern Mutual’s Childhood Cancer Sibling Scholarship Program recipients, receiving a $5,000 renewable scholarship (for a total of $10,000).

"I was so excited to receive the email that I was selected to receive such a generous scholarship," Gregory, who is studying at the University of South Carolina as part of the School of Medicine program, told Patch. "College is expensive, and the cost is a bigger burden on families that have been affected by pediatric cancer."

According to the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer, the average cost of battling childhood cancer for just one family starts at $833,000, including medical costs and lost parental wages.

While the siblings were both students in the Glenview school system six years ago, Luke (Glenbrook South class of 2021) received his initial cancer diagnosis. Kate Gregory (GBS class of 2019) said her brother maintained a positive attitude throughout treatment.

"He even went for long runs and bike rides during treatment, and ate very healthy foods to give himself the best chance at survival," Gregory said.

Luke, who is currently attending St. Olaf College to become a nurse, had a wish granted by Cal’s Angels, a group that raises awareness and funds research in the fight against pediatric cancer. That motivated Kate to become an ambassador for Cal’s Angels Go Gold program, where she raised more than $10,000.

"Cal's Angels is an incredible organization that fights a 'WAR' against pediatric cancer by granting Wishes, raising Awareness, and funding Research," Kate Gregory said. "Go Gold is a program they do with high schools to fundraise for their mission and increase awareness about pediatric cancer. As a Go Gold ambassador, I worked with faculty at my high school to bring the program to my school."

Gregory, who played volleyball and basketball at GBS, said the group passed out gold apparel to each athletic team to wear during September, Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. She said the school also held "Go Gold" games in several sports with fundraising initiatives.

Northwestern Mutual’s Childhood Cancer Scholarship Program was created in an effort to ease the financial burden on families affected by childhood cancer by helping to fund school tuition and fees. This year’s program marks the largest group of scholars to date, according to the company, with 50 students nationwide receiving a renewable scholarship. Each recipient has been impacted by childhood cancer, either as a survivor or sibling, and has demonstrated strong academic performance.

Kate Gregory calls her field of study "special" and feels like she's on a solid path to get into a good pediatric residency. In her final year of undergraduate study, she is part of a seven-year accelerated MD program consisting of three years of undergraduate studies and four years of medical school at the School of Medicine Columbia. Gregory is impressed with the classes being offered at her school.

"Each of these classes is giving me a breadth of knowledge that will be useful for a future career," Gregory said.

Gregory is working on her senior thesis entitled, "Adherence to Lifestyle Guidelines Among Cancer Survivors." She said she is performing a literature review to determine to what extent the American Cancer Society's recommended lifestyle behaviors for cancer survivors make an impact on their quality of life and overall survivorship.

"These factors include diet, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight," Gregory said. "I am also analyzing data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to determine what proportion of cancer survivors in the U.S. are adhering to these guidelines."

She said the goal of the thesis is to make an impact on cancer survivors by providing research to support programs to increase health behaviors recommended by the ACS. Gregory hopes to publish her paper in a journal and present my findings at a conference.

"I also recently started an independent research study on the psycho-social and inclusion challenges and supports for pediatric cancer survivors returning to educational contexts," Gregory said. "In this study, I will be reviewing the literature about pediatric cancer survivors returning to school with the goal of gaining a better understanding of what I could do as a future pediatric oncologist to ease the transition back."

Gregory said her brother is currently cancer-free and doing "amazing."

"He has run two half-marathons and continues to get stronger," Kate Gregory said. "I am so proud of how hard he works and am so lucky to have him in my life."