The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Soccer letterwinner embraces new fight
10.20.2011 | Soccer
Oct. 20, 2011
Natalie England, TexasSports.com
About a month ago, Michelle (Wickwire) Dusing gave birth to her second daughter, Eva, and was ecstatic to see her arrive with a bushy head of hair. In this case, mother didn't want a daughter in her own likeness -- bald.
Last May, Dusing, a four-year Texas Soccer letterwinner, was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. She was 22 weeks pregnant at the time, and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy during the final weeks of her pregnancy. Dusing's hair didn't make it, but her fighter's spirit remains strong.
"I'm just a mom now, and my daughters -- they are my primary inspiration," Dusing says. "I think that's what gave me the focus during the initial craziness. I knew I had to fight for my baby."
And if Dusing's career with the Longhorns proved anything it's that she's a fighter. When Texas Soccer coach Chris Petrucelli was hired by the Longhorns in 1999, he exited his introductory press conference and soon made a phone call. It went to Michelle, his first UT recruit.
She came to the Longhorns as a prolific goal-scoring forward, but goals don't come as easily on the collegiate level. Dusing was a starter as a freshman, but by the end of her sophomore year, she was coming in off the bench. Dusing said she knew she lost her starting spot because she wasn't producing goals, so after her junior year, she asked Petrucelli what she could do to regain it. He wanted her to transform into a defender.
"She had qualities that were very good qualities -- extremely competitive and wanted to win," Petrucelli says. "She was a good player. You wanted her on the field, you just had to find a place for her."
Dusing spent the spring before her senior season learning the different view and mindset that comes with playing on the back line, but her purpose was fulfilled. As a senior, she started every match as a defender.
"In short, I am a fighter, and I will not give up," Dusing says.
So it's fitting that she will return to the field at Mike A. Myers Stadium this Sunday, when the Longhorns host their first Kick for a Cure match. The event is part of UT Athletics' ongoing mission to raise breast cancer awareness throughout the community.
Dusing, 30, will be the team's honorary captain against Seattle.
"I know I didn't think that deeply about events like these before I was diagnosed," Dusing says. "But if this does anything, I hope it raises awareness for people in my age bracket."
Formerly a competitive athlete, Dusing remains fit and conscious of her diet. She has no family history with breast cancer and doesn't carry a breast cancer gene. Her last visit to the doctor was for a cold and cough -- back in college.
Five months ago, her husband, former UT swimmer Nate Dusing, felt a marble-sized lump in her armpit area. A biopsy revealed stage 1 breast cancer, because the tumor was less than 2 centimeters wide. The tumor itself is the most aggressive doctors can diagnose, and their only explanation is that Dusing was "just unlucky."
"It was crazy. I was 30 and pregnant and perfectly healthy," Dusing says. "The first couple weeks (after the diagnosis) were hard and devastating. But then we got a plan together, and since that day, I've just been focused on carrying out that plan to the best of my ability."
Shortly after her May diagnosis, Dusing and her husband packed up their dog and oldest daughter, Lyla, and spent 11 days in Houston working with a team of doctors. Because Dusing was pregnant, they had to put together a specialized treatment plan.
She initially went through four rounds of chemotherapy, took a five-week break -- during which she gave birth to her second daughter -- and then recently began another 12-week round of chemo. In December, Dusing will have surgery to remove the tumor, and her treatment should be complete by the end of January.
The process, while daunting, has also been encouraging.
"After my first treatment, you could already feel the tumor getting smaller," Dusing says. "It went from being a large marble to now the human hand can't detect it."
Dusing remains close to her Texas Soccer teammates, and some who are here in Austin have provided consistent support during this process. They cook meals, watch her girls when Dusing needs rest after chemo and have organized a Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure team in Dusing's honor.
"They were a pretty tight group," Petrucelli recalls. "You always tell them that the people you play with will be your friends for life. I actually got an email from one of her teammates who told me (Dusing had cancer). We talked shortly after that. It was a difficult conversation, but she's handled this like she's handled everything else - head on. She attacked this thing."
And even if it hasn't been a conscious choice, Dusing's competitive background has helped her find a sense of calm and poise.
"I just look at this as my newest battle," Dusing says. "I have hard days, but for the most part, I live normally. I lost my hair, but I'm not going to hide away at home. This is just what I look like now. This is my way of continuing to fight."
