For coach Glenn Caruso and family,  August to December is all about football. It’s not just a game;  it’s life.

But last November, life became the focus. In the thick of the NCAA Division III playoffs, Rachael Caruso, Glenn’s wife, was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer.

“It’s a little overwhelming. There’s some scary things ahead,” Rachael said, “but I’ll deal with it, and I’ll be OK.”

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer starts in the colon or the rectum. A cancer is diagnosed as Stage III when it has spread beyond the initial tumor into surrounding organs but has not yet made its way throughout the body.

Rachael went to the doctor at the urging of two friends after finding blood in her stool. At first she thought the blood was being caused by hemorrhoids, and she was hesitant to make an appointment.

“I’m 41, I’m healthy, I have no cancer history in my family,” she said. “When there’s something wrong with you, you don’t want to go to the doctor because you’re afraid of what they might say or what they might find out.”

On Dec. 11, Rachael began her year-long treatment, starting with chemo-radiation each week. The treatments have gone well so far, but she knows side effects, such as constant sickness and hair loss, could be in her future.

“The worst could be coming, as we’ve been told,” she said about two months into her treatment, “but I’ve been feeling pretty good overall. I have some fatigue, but that’s to be expected.”

Part of what has made the treatment go as well as it has is that Glenn and Rachael have been open and upfront with their children.

“Everything we do, we do as a family,” Glenn said. “We go on a trip, we go as a family. We go to a football game, we go as a family. We deal with cancer, we deal with it as a family.”

When Rachael was first diagnosed, she and Glenn told their three kids almost immediately. When she began treatment, Glenn brought them in to see the facility. After processing the initial shock, Glenn said they have all adapted and handled the situation really well.

“That’s one of the (lessons) that our children will get from this that will be invaluable someday,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to go through the same (thing) next year, I’m not going to wish it on ourselves, but there are positives in everything.”

After telling their kids, the two said the next step was to tell their other family — the football team.

“We’re not a group that hides anything,” Glenn said. “We don’t hide anything from our kids, we don’t hide anything from the football team. We respect both those families too much to keep anything from them.”

Glenn asked if Rachael wanted to come in and tell the team the Tuesday after her diagnosis, which was also the week of Thanksgiving and right before a second-round matchup against Berry University. Rachael agreed and told the team after practice. She said she didn’t want them to be sad, but rather use that emotion on the field, “to fight for one another … because that’s more important.”

”It made an already special week even more poignant,” Glenn said.

Even though the Tommies would ultimately be eliminated from the playoffs a couple of weeks later in a quarterfinal game against Mary Hardin-Baylor, Glenn didn’t see the season as a total loss.

“I thought it totally appropriate that the single best message the team got all year long didn’t come from a player or from the head coach,” he said, “but that it came from the head coach’s wife. I thought it was really neat.”

Rachael and Glenn will carry that lesson into the next challenge when Rachael goes in for surgery in late March. Despite having more than half a year left to go in treatment, Rachael’s trust in her family and her faith have kept her positive even in the worst of times.

“There’s good from everything, and (God) doesn’t promise an easy life ever, but he promises he’ll be with you through it all,” she said. “I’m grateful that I have a strong faith, and I think it’s become stronger through the process.”

Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.
Noah Brown can be reached at brow7736@stthomas.edu.