By: Media Services Intern Jorgan Staker
Janelle Batista, one of Nevada's newest volleyball team members, is much like any other student-athlete. She fills her busy days with workouts, classes, study hall and plenty of social interaction. But there is one thing that makes Batista different-something that makes her unique. With a ready smile and easy-going personality, no one would ever guess the difficulties that she has had to overcome.
In 2003, Batista's father was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare disease that causes the body to stop producing blood cells. While being treated for that, the doctors noticed that there was another very serious problem. Batista's father was diagnosed with leukemia.
Batista's father moved to Houston, Texas, to be treated at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Batista's father had been a competitive athlete, playing for a few minor league baseball teams and because of this, the doctors decided to give him extensive chemotherapy treatments.
"The nurses said that they were giving him more treatment than they had given any other patient because his body was so strong," said Batista.
Both the doctors and the family hoped that this extremely strong chemo would rid his body of the cancer once and for all. When it didn't, they turned to other solutions. Batista found that she had the same blood type as her father. She was a perfect match to donate stem cells. The doctors hoped that Batista's healthy stem cells, when placed in her father's body, would duplicate and replace the unhealthy cells causing the cancer.
So, at the age of 12, Batista was given medicine to produce more stem cells in her body so that she could donate some to her father.
"People were always, 'Oh you donated cells? You are so brave!'" she said. "They would go on and on about it, making a big deal. I never understood that-if your dad had cancer and you could help because you were a perfect match, why wouldn't you do it?"
Batista didn't fully understand at the time what a big deal the procedure was, but she just saw it as an opportunity to help someone that she loved.
"I saw it as more of a responsibility," she said. "The thought never crossed my mind to not donate."
Once Batista began the actual procedure of donation, though, she began to realize why everyone made such a fuss. The medicine she was given to produce more cells gave her migraines and caused her to lose her appetite. The day of donation was not much fun either. She was hooked up to a machine that took her blood out, separated the stem cells from the blood and then filtered the blood back into her system. She says that she spent the first day in bed and was extremely cold from this procedure. If that wasn't bad enough, Batista found out that the doctors didn't gather enough stem cells the first day and she had to undergo the treatment a second time.
"It was kind of miserable," she said. "But I just kept thinking that it was cool to take something out of my body and put it in my dad's to make him healthier."
After donation, Batista flew back to Oregon, where she lived with her mom. It wasn't long before she found out that the treatment had worked and her dad was in remission.
"He called and said that the treatment worked and he was cancer free," said Batista.
This happiness was short lived though. Her father soon contracted a virus that affected his kidney. The chemo Batista's father had previously undergone had destroyed his immune system and he was unable to fight off the virus. He passed away a short time later.
Batista said that her father's death was a shock for her. She said that it was hard to realize that he was gone, especially when there had been so much hope that he would recover after the stem cell treatment.
"For a while I was holding up and it never really hit me until later," she said. "Whether you are a boy or a girl, you need that father figure. No matter what age you are, you never really get over it."
Batista says that some days it is harder than others, especially when she sees people fighting with their parents or taking them for granted. She says that little things are the ones that she is going to miss the most.
"It's simple things-like how he never got to see me play high school or college sports, or how he's supposed to walk me down the aisle," Batista said. "Simple things like that are when it's hard."
Although there are many things that Batista misses about her father, there is one good thing that came out of the whole situation.
"It has definitely made me a stronger person and made me very independent," she said. "It's one of the hardest things to go through, but it makes you stronger."
As for now, Batista wants to follow in her father's footsteps and work for Nike, whose headquarters are located in Beaverton, Ore. She is planning on graduating in 2013 in business marketing or business management.
She is working hard not only off the court, but on the court as well, training to be a right side as well as a middle hitter. She says that even in just the short time that she has been at Nevada, she has seen herself getting better and stronger.
Batista says she will always remember her father and wants to make him proud. Right now, she is looking forward to all the possibilities and opportunities that await in the future.
