Coping

with

cancer

Survivor tells his story

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm native Jason Nado held a packed house at the Larkspur Market nearly spellbound for almost two hours Sunday as he read from his narrative "A Legacy of Cancer: A Son's Story."

The narrative, which Nado hopes to publish, centers on spreading the word about cancer and how it affected his life and how he overcame cancer after a conversation with God.

He is the grandson of Willard and Henrietta Nado and Arthur and Lucille Wolf, all of New Ulm.

Both of his parents died of cancer -- his father at age 31 and his mother at age 34.

Nado was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 26. He underwent successful surgery 2 1/2 years ago. After a series of challenging radiation treatments, the illness is in remission.

Working towards a doctorate in Shakespearean and Renaissance literature at Marquette University, Nado is a college lector at Marquette University, Carroll College and Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wis.

Nado hopes to become a college literature professor.

Michael Johnson, Nado's friend of 20 years, introduced him.

"Wherever he goes, he leaves an indelible impression on people with his description of dealing with cancer emotionally and physically," Johnson said. "He is an intellectual purist. He gets to the bottom of things with a fierce focus on objectives."

Nado takes being called an enigma as a compliment, Johnson said.

"He never offered a hint of concession to cancer," Johnson said of his friend. "He got early detection, top-notch medical care and has a strong faith and will to win. Prayer was the most important factor."

Nado wrote the narrative at the suggestion of his doctors.

"It became a need in my soul to write about it," Nado said. "The doctors told me that if my story saved a life or made somebody more aware of the disease, it would be a success."

Cancer has defined his existence since he was a young boy.

At age three, he learned his father was ill. His father was often coughing or breathing heavily. He spent lots of time at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Cancer spread from his father's lungs to his brain. He sought laetrile treatments in Mexico because the drug was not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

His father's fatal illness led to a conversation Nado never forgot.

"My dad knew he was going to die. He knew he wouldn't be around to see it, but he asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up? I told him I wanted to be a teacher," Nado said.

While Jason was learning to read, his father went to Mexico for more treatments. He died before he returned home.

Nado became aware of the finality of death at his father's funeral. His mother gave him his dad's tie, removing it from him in the casket.

After his father's death, Nado developed a strong relationship with his mother.

Then, she was diagnosed with cancer, and her spleen was removed.

"I told my uncle Mark that God already took my daddy from me so he couldn't take my mother too," Nado said. "Cancer doesn't distinguish between fairness and reality."

At age nine, he learned how to do research, reading all the books he could find about cancer.

Personifying cancer, Nado said, "The C-word or dragon is a dark-hooded figure with glaring red eyes and a smile."

His mother's illness led to another unforgettable discussion.

Before she died, his mother asked him to make something of his life by going to college, learning a vocation that would make him happy and to never forget the love she and his father gave him.

He said his mother told him there is a reason behind all of the cancer and to believe that everything will work out in the end.

Nado prayed that he would share his mother's cancer and die with her. She died on Easter Sunday.

"The odor of roses at the funeral reminded me of my father's death," Nado said. "I spent so much time in funeral homes, it seemed like the norm. Roses were a poor substitute for a mother's caressing touch."

He placed a rose in his mother's hands as she lie in her casket.

After his mother's death, Nado felt frozen for a time between a son and orphan, a son and grandson and life and death. He lived with his maternal grandparents in New Ulm.

At age 10, Nado suddenly owned a house and needed a lawyer to sort out his parent's estate. Instead of playing in the park with his friends or going to movies, he visited a lawyer's office with his grandparents.

During his college days, he moved to Milwaukee, Wis. and fell in love with Liz, a woman who came into a Jewish Community Center where he worked.

His girlfriend's Jewish mother became upset when he said he wanted to marry her daughter in a Catholic church. She reveaed his parents were dead.

The remark cast a shadow on him.

Liz was badly hurt in a car accident and moved to the East Coast to recuperate and be near her father.

Soon after his girlfriend moved away, he found out the shocking news that he had cancer.

"I thought I had lived the perfect life," Nado said. "I never drank or experimented with any drugs. I lived by the rules, to the last dotted I."

He learned that if he didn't have surgery within six months, the cancer would spread to his lymph nodes and his survival chances were much less.

Nado called Liz and his old friend Michael with the news. Both said they would pray for him. Liz said it was his optimism for life that kept her on the road to recovery after her accident.

He underwent surgery.

While he was under anesthesia, he had a conversation with God.

"He told me he wasn't going to take me yet," Nado said.

He learned that he was his own worst enemy with a negative attitude about life and love. He was the object of his own guilt and regret about his parents' death and girlfriend's accident. He created his own island due to his fear of living alone.

He promised God he would let the light in when he awoke after the surgery.

"Your legacy ends only when learning ceases. I was saved the day I had surgery," Nado said. "Waking up was like a rebirth. I wasn't frozen anymore."

Radiation treatments following surgery challenged him. Nado vomited until he was dehydrated after receiving radiation. Needles were inserted into bones in his hands to measure his bone density.

He now feels lucky to beat cancer at a young age because he has a long time to live.

"Like a caterpillar in its cocoon before it emerges as a butterfly, I morphed," Nado said. "Cancer is not an end but a beginning. Cancer and death are not synonymous. God has truly blessed my life."

Now he considers each day a chance to be a more compassionate person while dealing with the experiences that come his way.