Riley Oncology Graduate: Rachel Ways
The hematology-oncology team at Riley Children’s Health will host its annual graduation ceremony Friday, celebrating recent high school graduates who underwent lengthy cancer treatments at Riley Hospital for Children. One of those graduates is Rachel Ways, who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2021 when she was 15. She recently graduated from Rochester High School with honors.
She pens her Riley Children's experience, from treatment to a student of the Riley School Program.
I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia with a FLT3 mutation. At the time, my body was overwhelmed with blasts, which are immature white blood cells. While white blood cells normally help fight infections, mine weren’t mature enough to function properly. A normal white blood cell count ranges from 4,500 to 11,000. Mine was 196,000. My body was producing too many blasts and almost nothing else, including red blood cells, which are essential for transporting oxygen. Essentially, I was suffocating from the inside.
I had always looked forward to high school. For what felt like my entire life, I had imagined those years—thriving academically, making memories, and chasing my goals. Since I was never great at sports, I had poured myself into academics, determined to be the best I could be. But cancer completely shattered that vision.
Due to the intensity of my treatment, I wasn’t allowed to go to school or even leave the hospital. I spent months at a time inpatient. Still, even while battling cancer, my drive to succeed academically never faded. My goal wasn’t just to survive. I wanted to thrive. I was terrified of falling behind, so I pushed myself to stay ahead of the curve.
I finished my initial treatments in 2022, but in 2023, I relapsed. Unfortunately, relapses are common for AML patients. I was scheduled for a bone stem cell transplant. At the time, I was a junior in high school—a year that’s considered the most important academically. Still, I persevered. I continued my high school courses and even enrolled in college classes while undergoing cancer treatment. Since I was often confined to my hospital room, I filled my time with education to stay ahead.
But my academic success was not mine alone. It would be selfish to pretend otherwise. I was fortunate to have an incredible schoolteacher at Riley Hospital: Stacy Willett. Stacy went above and beyond to make sure I received the quality education I deserved, despite every setback. She is a brilliant, compassionate person whose contributions often go unnoticed—but to me, her work is as vital as any specialist's. Education opens doors that only a few people can give you the key to, and Stacy made sure we all had a chance to walk through them.
People often think of cancer as just a medical journey—a series of treatments. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the before, during, and after that define the full experience. Along with Stacy, my two primary doctors, Dr. Jennifer Belsky and Dr. Jodi Skiles, pushed and inspired me to continue learning. I was constantly surrounded by some of the smartest, most dedicated people I have ever met. “Smart” doesn’t even begin to capture it. I was in awe of them. Their brilliance, compassion, and determination inspired me deeply.
That inspiration is what carried me through the darkest moments. It’s what drove me to keep studying, even through the pain and exhaustion. I wanted to be like them—not necessarily in medicine, but in purpose. They used their knowledge to heal what felt unhealable. Because of them, I am alive. I am living proof of the power of education.
This fall, I’ll be attending Indiana University Bloomington to study Clinical Psychological Sciences. My dream is to earn a Ph.D. and work with adolescents who struggle with mental health challenges. I may not be entering oncology, but I hope to one day save lives with the power of my education, just like everyone at Riley saved mine.
