Outside Looking In
As Shelly Rybinski sat in the stands at a Minneota boys basketball game against Lakeview on Tuesday, Feb. 8, she soon become the center of attention.
Anthony Rybinski, Shelly's son who is a starter for the Vikings, came up to the stands and presented her with a basketball that was signed by the varsity and junior varsity players and coaches.
This presentation was to mark Shelly's final chemotherapy session. Rybinski was diagnosed with rectal cancer last fall and had surgery last September.
Rybinski "rang the heck" out of the bell earlier that day with her daughter Emily taking her mother to the Avera Cancer Institute in Marshall for her final treatment.
"I knew with Emily there, I wanted to ring the ball with her present," the personable Shelly told me. "It would mean a lot to both of us. The nurses also wanted to witness me ringing the bell, so when I was ready to go, I waited for them to walk out with me."
But another group was waiting in the lobby on the other side of the double doors and once Shelly and nurses walked through, there stood Emily and several of her mom's best friends waiting for her. Those friends included Lisa Hauswedell, Jill Jerzak, Lisa Przymus and Rita Fleahman.
"They all had the 'TEAM SHELLY' shirts on and wanted to help me celebrate ringing the bell," Shelly noted.
After ringing the bell and getting ready to leave the Avera Cancer Institute, a priest in the parish that Shelly attends, Father Brendan Rolling, was visiting his uncle who has cancer, and walked into the lobby. He gathered the group together and said a prayer of healing for Shelly.
"Now that was not planned," Shelly remarked. "That was God celebrating with us."
Later that same night is when Shelly was presented the game ball from her son, Anthony, with her other son, Lucas, by her side.
"That will be a day that will live with me forever," she said.
Last Thursday, Feb. 10, Shelly had her pump removed and then had her port-a-cath removed on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
She will follow up with scans on March 2, and meet with her oncologist and GI doctor to schedule more tests on her colon and to schedule surgery sometime this spring to reverse her ileostomy.
Shelly gave praise to the Marshall Avera Cancer Institute and noted how nice it is that this area has a place like that.
"I want to thank Jess and her nurse, Rachel; the Radiation Therapy Team and the infusion nurses, Sara, Jamie, Lisa, Ramona, and all the others who help us all out. They are some of the best nurses around," Shelly said.
Pet of the Week
The Mascot has been running a Pet of the Week for over a year now and we would really like to continue to feature pets. But we are in need of some more pets to be able to keep that trend going.
Tri-County Veterinary Clinic in Taunton has been gracious enough to sponsor the Pet of the Week for us. There is no charge to feature your pet.
If you have a pet of any kind, including farm animals, please email us a photo of your pet, along with the owner's name, the name, age, breed, and favorite activities of your pet.
They can be emailed to editor@minneotamascot.com or scott@thomabooks.com.
Correction
In our Minneota Memory photo two weeks ago that depicted two boxers in a light heavyweight Golden Gloves district bout on Feb. 2, 1947 in Redwood Falls, the names on the cutline were incorrectly reversed. The man on the right was Renil VanOverbeke of Minneota, who lost by decision to Norm Witte of Bird Island.