Katie (Morfeld) Kuschel of Chamois learned a valuable lesson in taking care of issues in a timely manner after surviving a brain tumor last fall.

“It was sudden and scary,” said Kuschel, who has fully recovered from her ordeal. “I had experienced headaches through the summer, but I thought they were just migraines.”

That belief was challenged on the afternoon Kuschel was heading to the first volleyball practice of the year. In July, her husband, Kurt, who is a board member at Chamois R-1, told her if the school didn’t find a coach, the volleyball program would be canceled for the second straight year.

“We weren’t going to let that happen,” said Kuschel, who had previously coached the team.

On that day, Aug. 12, Kuschel had one of her headaches, which plagued her all the way to Jefferson City for fingerprinting as part of the coaching job, which she was able to take because the flooding last summer limited farming options, and Kurt was able to watch the kids.

“I thought it would go away but it persisted all day,” said Kuschel, who laid down hoping it would improve.

When it came time for practice that afternoon, she stopped at Angela Hagenhoff’s house to drop off her three children, Will, 7, Olivia, 6, and Gus, who will turn 3 on Valentine’s Day.

“Her daughter, Macy, was going to babysit the kids while I was at practice,” said Kuschel. “I felt dizzy and had to sit down, and Angela, who is an EMT, insisted on checking me out.”

It didn’t take long for Hagenhoff to determine Kuschel needed help, and called for the ambulance staffed at Chamois by first responders and EMTs.

“Kody and Sean Hackmann came down and checked me out, and called for Osage Ambulance District to send someone,” said Kuschel. “I was ready to go home, but they convinced me to go to the ER.”

Because Kuschel has a rare blood condition, and Boone Hospital was aware of it since her children were born there, she chose to go to the Columbia facility.

“A CT scan showed there was a tumor on the right side of my brain,” Kuschel said. “It was a shock, and I was very scared.”

Her physician, Dr. Charles P. Bondurant, a neurosurgeon, explained that the tumor may have been growing for many years.

“There was no way to tell, but he told me that this is a silent killer, because there are no symptoms until it’s too late,” Kuschel said. “I could have had a seizure while I was driving with my three kids. That’s really a scary thought, and if I had let this go, it’s entirely possible that could have happened.”

The tumor was preventing fluid from draining into the spinal column, which created a lot of cranial pressure.

Kuschel was admitted to Boone Hospital that day, but surgery wasn’t scheduled until Aug. 15, so she spent the few intervening days in the neurosurgical ICU.

After canceling that first day of practice, Kuschel wasn’t sure what to expect, but said she is amazed and grateful that the program was able to continue in her absence.

Leshia Kempker, who was hired last fall to serve as Kuschel’s assistant coach, and Samantha Mitchem, stepped in without hesitation.

“I have to give them a lot of credit for saving the season and most likely the program,” said Kuschel. “They got to work within 24 hours notice, and did an amazing job coaching the entire season. I am grateful for them, and the girls on the volleyball team for their patience, and for the help they gave me to push me both physically and mentally to recover every day of the season.”

With the volleyball program in good hands, Kuschel put her trust in Dr. Bondurant, as her family dealt with the unknown.

Kuschel said she was the first person to go into surgery and the last to leave the operating room.

“It took eight hours,” said Kuschel. “They had to carefully pick away the tumor piece by piece and cauterized each section. It was a very tedious process.”

Kuschel said she had the easy part. “I went in, and when I woke up, it was over,” she said. “My family sat in the waiting room. They were being updated, but it was a long time to wait.”

Following the successful removal of the tumor, Kuschel said she didn’t have much of an appetite, and estimates she lost about 15 pounds between the procedure Aug. 15 and her discharge Aug. 21.

“I was ready to go home,” she said. “They released me at about 10 p.m., which is much later than usual.”

There were some after-effects, including slight drooping on the left side of her face, and temporary weakness on her left side, but those went away relatively quickly.

“I was supposed to undergo physical therapy twice a week for a month, but on my first visit, the therapist told me I really didn’t need it,” said Kuschel. “I attribute that to pushing myself at volleyball practice.”

Kuschel returned to the team Aug. 26 for practice, and went to her first match Aug. 30 at Belle.

“I eased back into it, but just being there and being active really helped,” said Kuschel.

It took three weeks to get the results of the biopsy collected by physicians from the Mayo Clinic, and it turned out the tumor was malignant.

“I consider myself lucky that things turned out the way they did,” Kuschel said. “I am so thankful nothing serious happened that would have endangered my children.”

Kuschel graduated from Linn High School in 2006, and earned her degree in 2010 from Westminster College. She began working for Pioneer Seed after college, and had an agency in the Chamois area, where Kurt’s family farms. She was traveling to Linn to help her father, Steve Morfeld, who operates an agency from his farm.

“It just made sense to join our agencies,” said Kuschel.

The future looks good for Kuschel, who has always maintained the mentality she had while an athlete in high school and college.

“There’s a very small chance another tumor could develop, but for now, everything looks good,” said Kuschel. “One of the things I learned from this situation is that you can’t take for granted you’re in good enough shape to battle this kind of thing. You have to know your limits and pay attention to the signals your body is giving you. I believe that you should live like any day you could have a medical diagnosis or accident that could alter your life and those around you at any moment.”

Kuschel is scheduled to have another scan in March, and every six months thereafter for a while, before it becomes an annual process, just to be safe.

But that won’t stop her from pursuing what she wants to do.

“The night before my surgery, Kurt and I were talking, and I told him that if we survived this, I wanted to go to the mountains again and run,” said Kuschel, who ran a half-marathon in Montana in 2018.

She plans to run a full marathon in the Tushar Mountains of Utah the day after their 10-year wedding anniversary at the end of July.

“We found it pretty fitting, and plan to do it together, not at any record pace just to enjoy the scenery and finish it,” said Kuschel.

Prior to the upcoming marathon, Kuschel plans to compete in a 25K trail run at Lake of the Ozarks, and after her run in Utah, she plans to help the volleyball team during the summer.

“It’s pretty difficult with the farm because Kurt works into the evening,” said Kuschel. “No matter what, though, we will not let the volleyball program die.”

Kuschel said she is very grateful for her husband, family and friends, all of whom helped out, whether it was by cards, visits, meals, babysitting, etc.

“Every act of kindness is appreciated more than I could ever repay,” she said.