Michigan Golf Journal May 2019

When I think of what it means to be a Spartan, many words come to mind. Tough, disciplined, courageous, strong, brave & a warrior. In November of 2012, being a Spartan took on a completely new meaning for our team. Liz Nagel, one of our superstars, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was an ordinary day in the weight room. Our team had gathered for our daily conditioning session, Liz came to me and said she wasn’t feeling great and that she had been coughing a lot. We sent her to see our team doctor, as he is located in the same building and is always accessible. Some red flags immediately went up and a few days later we had the diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Pretty shocking for all of us; for the players on the team, for the Spartan community, Editor’s Note: It seems as if it would be easier ƚŽ ǁŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůŽƩĞƌLJ ƚŚĂŶ to have to face the horrible challenge of two young, vibrant, ĂƚŚůĞƟĐ ƉůĂLJĞƌƐ Ăƚ ŽŶĞ college golf program ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƟŶŐ ĐĂŶĐĞƌ ŝŶ the past decade – and both graciously coming out survivors. MSU coach Stacy Slobodnik- Stoll shares the MSU story in her own words. MSU Faced a Double-Bogey When Cancer Struck - TWICE Guest Column: by MSU Women’s Golf Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll for Liz and her family and for me as her coach. When you haven’t gone through something of this nature, it sure hits you like a ton of bricks. But you soon ƌĞŐƌŽƵƉ͕ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ĮŐŚƚ ďĞŐŝŶƐ͘ Where will Liz get the best care, what is thyroid cancer, how will the team respond to this, when will Liz play again? There were so many ƋƵĞƐƟŽŶƐ ĂŶĚ LJŽƵ ǁĂŶƚ ƚŽ make all the right decisions as this was a very special young person with a very bright future. We had a tremendous amount of support and help, so Liz and her family could make the best choices for her care. Liz wanted to have the surgery to remove her thyroid as soon as possible so she could get on the road to recovery…the pleas to the doctors were sincere. Liz had a tournament to compete ŝŶ ƐŽŽŶ ĂŌĞƌ ƚŚĞ EĞǁ zĞĂƌ would begin! Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll Michigan Golf Journal Guest Column, MSU Golf