RPAC Rundown Spotlight Series: Reese's Journey

October 17th, 2024. A day that the Tines family will never forget. Reese, the daughter of Mike and Lesa Tines, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Reese, a senior at Hitchcock County, had her life totally changed as a junior last year.

"It was really scary. Like when we were sitting in that hospital room...telling me that I have cancer. And I remember looking over at my dad, and I was confused. I didn't know what that meant. And I'm just sitting there thinking like, my first thought that went through my head is, am I going to die?" said Reese.

Reese was 17 years old when she received the diagnosis. And all of the questions hit her. "Like, at 17 years old, you don't think you should have cancer. That's something really hard to go through. And so yeah, I was just wondering if I was going to have a future, and then like I had a really big problem with the why of it. Like, why did I get it? What did I do to deserve it? Like I thought, I did something awful. Like this was something catching up to me, and I deserved it."

She knew, though, that there was something in store for her. "And it took a lot to go through it and realize that this was just something God had planned for me, and it was going to It's gonna do something for me. I don't know yet for sure, but I know that there was a reason for all of it and that there's a plan," said Reese

Reese's dad, Mike, coaches the Girls Basketball Team at Hitchcock County, and Lesa teaches there, too.

And as parents, of course, it was hard on Mike and Lesa. "That sucked. You didn't know what was going to happen, if she's going to be around, or, you know, I didn't know if I was going to still be coaching basketball or if I wanted to just totally get out of it and hang out. But yeah, it just totally sucked there for a while," said Mike.

Throughout the process, Mike was the emotional one, and Lesa took action. "I was like, what do we got to do?...cause that's just kind of how I am. Like this is what we're doing. Tell me what to do, and let's get started. And so I let him be the emotional one, and I just, I don't know if I blocked it all out. I don't know, but I was just focused on. We need to go to this appointment, and we need this biopsy. We need this test done...And I don't know. I just really just tried to take charge and take care of what needed to be taken care of," added Lesa.

Reese's parents commended her for the courage she showed throughout the process. "She was pretty solid, I mean, I know you could tell she was scared, but I mean, she got stuck with so many needles, and they put the port in, and I hate needles. I had to leave the room every time they did a needle thing. So yeah, she just kind of trooper through it," said Mike.

I was there for all of the treatments. So I kind of saw where she did struggle, and she did, you know, she wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her friends. She wanted to just be normal. Like we just did, she struggled, and I just tried to do whatever I could to make it better. And the nurses at Children's (Hospital) are amazing people, and they, you know, if she was nauseous, they were trying any medication they could to try to help her, you know, feel better and any kind of pain and, you know, whatever she needed, they were like on it, willing to help. And so it was tough, and she did struggle, and we both did struggle," added Lesa.

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Something that tends to happen when a hardship occurs, you learn something about yourself. And the same can be said for the Tines Family.

"I feel like I'm a pretty determined person, and if I want something, I'm gonna get it, and I wanted to survive, so I did it," said Reese.

And Reese has been in remission for almost a year, continuing to live life. She has been able to compete on the basketball team her dad coaches, and that's been fun for them.

"I love it. I love the group of girls I get to play with so much. They're so fun. We always have fun at practice. Even if Mr. Wagner is screaming and yelling at us or Mr. Tines (Her dad, of course), we're always still laughing. They'll turn away, and we'll still be smiling and laughing. They might not know it, but we just always have so much fun, and I feel like we're always there for each other. And I just love the group of girls I get to play with," said Reese

"It's pretty cool. Yeah, and not just doing it. She's doing it, you know, at a high level...you know, she's definitely accepted her role...But, you know, Coach Wagner kind of has her as kind of a defensive specialist, you know, chasing the other team's good scorer around. She's leading the team in assists," added Mike.

"We didn't know how she would react long-term to the treatments because, you know, everybody reacts differently...so, yeah, to see her out there is incredible. And then, as Mike said, she's playing so well, and she's doing such a good job. And, you know, that's amazing. I'm just trying to take it all in because she's my only daughter. And so this is, you know, the last time she'll be doing all of that. Yeah, I just try to enjoy it. And I'm just, I'm just so glad she's out there, and she's having a good time, and she's smiling for the most part when she's out there, and she's having fun with her friends. And that's all you can ask after last year is just to enjoy what she's doing now," said Lesa

This spring, she plans to compete in track, a sport in which she qualified for the State meet as a sophomore. After graduation, Reese plans to study nursing in oncology.