Girl who battled cancer to speak at Care-a-Thon: Brooke Wakenigg, 11, is just happy to be playing softball again [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.]

Aug. 26--Brooke Wakenigg recalled the day her father told her and the rest of the family she had bone cancer.

"I'd never seen my daddy cry before," she said.

That was in January. Now, after months of treatment, 11-year-old Brooke has a clean bill of health and is going back to doing what she loves most -- playing softball.

Brooke, who lives in Cataula, Ga., will be telling her story to a large audience today and Friday during the 10th annual Care-a-Thon, which benefits research and programs at the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta. The Care-a-Thon will be broadcast on AM 750 & Now 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB radio in Atlanta.

Aflac has donated more than $60 million through the years to the center, which falls under the umbrella of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. It is considered one of the top-ranked childhood cancer and hematology programs in the country.

Approximately 16,000 agents voluntarily donate a portion of their commissions monthly to the facility, said Aflac External Communications Manager Jon Sullivan.

"I owe the people at the Aflac Center everything," Brooke said. "I want to make people aware of cancer and what can be done."

It was September 2009 when the first sign of trouble appeared. Playing softball, Brooke began to feel pain in her left shin.

"We thought it was just something like a stress fracture," said her father, Rick.

Soon after, a knot appeared.

"There was no discoloration," said her mother, Laura. "We just kept watching."

The pain got sharper and the knot bigger.

That brought about a trip to the orthopedic surgeon where X-rays were taken and an MRI conducted.

"A golf ball-size tumor was found," Rick said.

It was removed at Emory in Atlanta. An oncologist there delivered the bad news to the parents. Rick and Laura, who own the Rising Stars Child Development Center in Cataula, brought the family, which includes Brooke's three siblings Brady, Ryan and Abby, together and explained the situation.

"I was kind of scared at first," Brooke said. "I'd seen about cancer on TV."

Chemotherapy lasted for more than two months.

"I lost all my hair," Brooke said, rubbing her hand through what has returned. "The nausea was the worst."

An operation removed bone below the area where the tumor was found.

Laura said, "That was to make sure none of the cancer remained."

Though Brooke wasn't able to attend class at Creekside School, she received her materials and did work at the Aflac Cancer Center, which has its own school. Brooke is glad to be back with her classmates now.

"Brooke attended fifth-grade graduation at Creekside and got a standing ovation," Laura said.

Brooke said she made friends in the hospital. So did her parents.

"The support from others is good," Laura said. "You meet parents whose children are in worse shape than yours. We're gone and there are still children there who were there when Brooke arrived."

Rick emphasized that even though Brooke is in the clear now, she is "not cured."

As for Brooke, she's glad to be back as a pitcher and third baseman with the Renegades, a travel softball team her father helps coach.

"It was fun being back in the batting cages. I did surprisingly good," Brooke said.

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