The Relay, slated for Saturday, is a chance for everyone to come together and raise funds to help find a cure and to support those fighting cancer.

Letsche’s cancer journey had a sudden beginning, as she would regularly run 5 miles in the morning.

“I got up to go for a run one morning, and I fell down and couldn’t feel or move my legs,” she said.

That was October 2009, and what followed was a whirlwind of tests, hospital stays and treatments, with no diagnosis in sight.

Thyroid cancer survivor Maddie Letsche (left) and her best friend, Kate Leberfinger, then both 21 and of Altoona, splash in the puddles at Mansion Park Stadium as the rains disrupted Relay For Life ceremonies on June 12, 2015. The pair have been friends since the age of 5 and Letsche credits Leberfinger’s support for helping her get through her cancer treatment. Mirror file photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The paralysis spread and eventually reached chest level, where her ability to take a deep breath was compromised.

At that point, she landed in UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh where her condition continued to baffle doctors for four months.

When she stopped being able to swallow or keep anything down for more than 20 seconds, a gastroenterologist was consulted.

That doctor saw what others had missed — a two-inch tumor on her thyroid.

Letsche, now 31, said she had a “roundabout” path to her eventual diagnosis of an aggressive form of thyroid cancer.

“They did so, so many tests,” she remembers.

Her initial scans revealed a number of “little lumps” scattered throughout her body that were believed to be benign, Letsche said.

In early January 2010, after one of her doctors ordered a biopsy of one of those “little lumps,” she finally gave a conclusive diagnosis — metastatic papillary carcinoma.

Letsche returned to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh for surgery to remove the tumor cells one month later.

At the time, Letsche’s surgeon told her that he wasn’t able to schedule her procedure over the weekend, so he could set it for either Monday or Tuesday.

“He said, ‘if we wait until Wednesday, it’ll probably be too late,'” Letsche said.

The surgery to remove Letsche’s thyroid gland, parathyroid glands and several lymph nodes — which contained much of the cancerous cells — was a success, allowing Letsche to progress to a high dose oral chemotherapy course for the next year and a half.

That forced Letsche into isolation for several weeks as her body was radioactive during the highest-dose portion of her treatment.

“I did go into my physics class briefly, as sort of a show-and-tell, so I could be Geiger-counted,” she said.

Letsche missed almost the entirety of her junior year, and the first half of her senior year of high school due to her radioactivity and subsequent recovery period.

“It sort of slowed my plans down a little bit,” she said.

Letsche was able to graduate on time with her other classmates thanks to her teachers, who would stop by her home in Juniata every few days to drop off a new round of course work and pick up her completed homework, she said.

She credits her family and a small core of close friends who stayed by her side throughout her treatment and recovery process with maintaining her mental health.

Letsche’s “absolutely wonderful” parents, Carl and Laura Letsche, were there for her throughout her numerous hospital visits and during her recuperation period, as well as her childhood best friend Kate Leberfinger.

“The friends who stuck with me were really instrumental for that,” Letsche said.

Leberfinger and Letsche met when they were both about five years old, likely while playing intramural soccer around Altoona.

It was incredibly difficult for Leberfinger when Letsche received her diagnosis, Leberfinger said.

“It’s so hard knowing your friend is so sick,” she said.

Leberfinger would visit Letsche in the hospital as much as she could, and was a regular visitor at her house once she progressed to outpatient treatment.

“She’s a survivor,” Leberfinger said.

Lifelong involvement

Letsche, who has been in remission for the past three to four years, has been involved with Relay For Life of Blair County for years, even prior to her own diagnosis.

She attended her first relay in 2001 or 2002 and painted banners for her church’s team.

While the event was always meaningful for Letsche, who lost her maternal grandmother to pancreatic cancer, its significance shifted after her own diagnosis.

“It just got larger, closer and more real,” she said.

Letsche’s recognition came at an important milestone, she said, as she was diagnosed at 16 years old and has almost lived as long with her cancer as she had without it.

The Relay, then, is a time to reflect and celebrate her journey with the supportive community of other survivors and their families, Letsche said.

“It’s a fun energy and there’s lots of community there, it’s beautiful,” she said.

Letsche said she wants to use her platform as an ambassador to raise awareness of the symptoms of thyroid cancer in hopes that other people don’t have to go through the arduous diagnostic process she experienced.

A community event

With a mixture of celebratory scenes and moments of solemn reflection, the annual Relay offers a little something for everyone involved.

According to American Cancer Society Northeast Development Manager Sharon OKeiff Fusco, the survivor dinner set for 5 to 6:30 p.m. is one of the “highlights” of the program, allowing cancer survivors to reconnect and reminisce about their respective journeys.

The luminaria ceremony, held at 8:45 p.m, is another important moment of the Relay, as paper lanterns are lit in honor of loved ones who died from cancer, Fusco said.

“The ceremony of light symbolizes the hope and perseverance with which we all continue to fight,” according to the American Cancer Society.

Young participants can expect face painting stations and other games during the “Kids’ Zone” that will be open from 1 to 5 p.m., Fusco said.

This year’s theme of “Strike Out Cancer” was chosen by a vote of the Relay planning committee months ahead of the opening ceremonies at Mansion Park, according to committee co-chair Sue Boland.

“It gives people an opportunity to be creative with their decorations,” Boland said, since a broad baseball theme can be interpreted many different ways.

Relay participants are encouraged to dress up and decorate their team’s camp in fun theme-appropriate ways, she said, with some teams opting to support local little league clubs or Major League Baseball franchises.

Boland is putting a cinematic spin on the theme by decorating her team’s camp with stuffed bears in reference to both the Bears Of Hope campaign hosted by the society more than a decade ago and the 1976 baseball classic “The Bad News Bears.”

As of Thursday afternoon, MacDermid Alpha leads the team fundraising category with a total of $17,921 with Boland’s team and Foot of Ten Elementary close behind with $13,641 and $11,845, respectively.

Many teams atop the fundraising competition are multi-year Relay regulars, Boland said.

John Wessner holds a commanding lead on the individual fundraising leaderboard with $11,845, according to the Relay website, with Boland in second position with $5,712.

The event on Saturday is rain or shine, so participants should bring weather-appropriate gear in case of rain, Boland said.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.

The Letsche file

Name: Madeline “Maddie” Letsche

Age: 31

Residence: Juniata

Employment: Peterman’s Florist

Education: Altoona Area High School Class of 2011

Family: Parents, Carl and Laura Letsche; sister, Emily Letsche

2025 Relay For Life of Blair County Schedule

10 a.m.: Opening ceremonies

11 a.m.: Baseball attire lap — Possible mascot sighting!

Noon: Hula hoop contest on the field; Relay Rascal’s Kids Area open (Fun activities for kids through age 10); Relay Rascals Area — Pick up your scavenger hunt form and return by 4 p.m.

1 p.m.: Bocce, corn hole and wiffle ball games on the field; Relay Rascals Area — Home Depot woodworking shop; Relay Rascals Area — face painting until 3 p.m.; Dime pitch, foam crafts, beads until 5 p.m.

2 p.m.: Do the Hokey Pokey & other fun dances; Relay Rascals Area — Pinata

2:30 p.m.: Relay Rascals Area — Cookie and water break

3 p.m.: Mad Hatter Contest and Lap; pick up cellphone scavenger hunt sheet; Relay Rascals area — Hula hoop contest and octopus tag

4 p.m.: Team recognition and celebration; all teams participate in their theme attire and laps; all teams group photo — make a human heart on field; individual team photos

4:30 p.m.: Relay Rascals Area — Jump ropes, potato game, bowling, golf

5 p.m.: Road To Recovery cardboard car contest & lap

5 to 6:30 p.m.: Survivor Dinner in the Big Pavilion until 6:30 p.m.

6 p.m.: 50s theme lap — poodle skirts anyone?

6:30 p.m.: Survivor tent — survivor basket raffle giveaway and activities

7 p.m.: Survivor recognition and ceremony; concession stand closes — only open for water and soda

8 p.m.: Ball drop; team prize drawings announcement; lottery board drawing

8:45 p.m.: Luminaria Ceremony

9:30 p.m.: Closing ceremony in the stands

9:45 p.m.: Last Lap for 2025 Relay For Life of Blair County