Master sergeant comes back from cancer - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Master sergeant comes back from cancer

Scott Kapanke thought a bad reaction to a flu shot was causing the recurring pain shooting through his arm, but the over-the-counter medication he took wasn’t helping.

So the tech school student went to his doctor to get some stronger pain medication. But within days, doctors had a shocking diagnosis: Kapanke had testicular cancer, and more than 45 tumors had developed between his waist and neck.

That 1995 cancer diagnosis kicked off a fight for Kapanke’s life that took his strength, morale and — for a time — his Air Force career. But in the 17 years since, Kapanke rejoined the Air Force and thrived — he’s now a master sergeant and flight chief at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

“You ever see the picture of the stork trying to eat the frog and the frog’s legs are out in the stork’s neck as he’s trying to go down?” he said. “Don’t ever give up.”

It took a while for Kapanke to accept his diagnosis. But about two weeks after a doctor told him about the cancer, he started chemotherapy at Wilford Hall Medical Center in Texas. On top of that, an official told him that he had to be medically retired from the Air Force.

He also lost dozens of pounds — going from 205 to 130 — in a matter of weeks.

“It was a total night-and-day transformation. I went from being a 22-year-old young, single, in-decent-shape and attractive man to Gollum,” he said referring to the gaunt character from the “Lord of the Rings” movies.

Kapanke took four types of chemo, but none caused his tumors to shrink. He had only one other option, bone marrow transplants combined with high-dose chemotherapy. He coped by coming to terms with the fact that he had about 50-50 odds of dying.

“When your mortality is there in front of you, you accept it, you think about it more, and you just make it into a fact instead of an emotion,” he said.

The bone marrow transplants worked. A year after entering treatment, Kapanke was able to leave Wilford Hall. And in May 1997, doctors determined that Kapanke was healthy enough for active duty.

“I grabbed everything I could and hauled butt back to San Antonio to try and re-enlist,” he said.

Kapanke went on to take a special-duty assignment at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and became crew chief for the Thunderbirds. He also deployed for a year in 2007 to train the Iraqi air force on C-130 maintenance and survived 57 rocket and 16 mortar attacks.

Now, Kapanke is flight chief for the 437th Maintenance Squadron at Joint Base Charleston. And — because of his fight against cancer — he’s learned not to get hung up on small problems.

“It makes you not worry about the little piddly stuff in life,” he said. “The stuff people stress about every day — getting your car fixed or not getting the promotion you want or the day just not going good for you — people worry about the smallest things compared to their mortality.

“And I no longer stress the small stuff,” he said.