Nathan Blass Sees THON from Different Vantage Points

Nate Blass poses with 2012's THON Graphic Design Captain Lauren Byerly.
Photo submitted by Nathan Blass.

Nate Blass experiences THON from opposing perspectives, because he is a volunteer and a Four Diamonds child.

Volunteering in High School

Blass, who has fought cancer for the last eight months, learned about THON five years ago during his junior year at Cumberland Valley High School. He didn’t know about his school’s 15-hour mini-THON until the day of the event.

“One of my friends asked if I was going,” Blass said. “It turns out a bunch of my friends were going, and I went and had a lot of fun.”

Blass fully bought into THON after seeing Cumberland Valley’s Family Hour.

“I was sold on it,” Blass said.

Blass became the mini-THON’s facility chair and went to Penn State’s THON weekend in 2008.

“Penn State’s THON was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Blass said. “Then, when the total was raised, the way the building shook gave me chills. I almost came to Penn State solely for THON.”

However, Blass decided to go to Shippensburg University as an English Secondary Education major and only made it to one more THON weekend in 2010.

He didn’t expect become deeply involved in THON until June, 2011.

Being Diagnosed with Cancer

Blass came home from work, sat down and felt pain above his heart on a warm June day.

“I wanted to ignore it and go to work the next day,” Blass said.

An hour later, he doubled over in pain and drove himself to urgent care where scans revealed a mass twice the size of his heart that was above his heart.

“I sat in the hospital until 2 a.m.,” Blass said. “The emergency doctor came out and said he’d already set-up an appointment for me at Hershey Medical Center.”

Blass’ first scan at Hershey Medical Center was inconclusive, but his doctor told him it could be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a germ infection or Thymoma. He went home and looked up each potential diagnosis.

“The first thing I looked at was treatments and survival rates,” Blass said. “I was pretty much prepared for whatever it was.”

After the second scan, Blass’ doctor called him to tell him it was Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“He was pretty direct, and I think I actually liked that,” Blass said. “Had he kind of been more emotional about it I would have been more upset.”

Blass, who had just finished his junior year at Shippensburg, kept a positive outlook as he began treatments, but faced daily negatives.

“Directly after chemotherapy I always felt so bad,” Blass said. “My teeth felt like they were falling out, and I had headaches for days. I managed to stay upbeat, because I would sit in my room and text a few friends that I knew weren’t busy, so I had something to feel normal from.”

Blass also disliked answering one question that was asked wherever he went.

“The first question I always got was how are you feeling,” Blass said. “I always said fine, because I won’t complain. It’s fine to say my head and teeth hurt, but saying that multiple times a week is overkill.”

Blass had his last daily radiation treatment one month ago and went into partial remission on March 14.

Becoming a Four Diamonds Child

Blass has also been put into an awkward situation.

He volunteered for Cumberland Valley’s mini-THON for over a year, which benefited the Four Diamonds Fund. Now, he is a Four Diamonds child.

“It’s really strange to be on both sides,” Blass said. “The fact that I was in charge of planning at Cumberland Valley made it very strange. When I was doing it at Cumberland Valley, I knew that what I was doing was for other people.”

However, Blass has become a recipient of THON and the Four Diamonds Fund, which has made him a little uncomfortable.

“When it turned into me benefitting from it, I was uneasy I guess,” Blass said. “I’m not uncomfortable with having the designation of being a Four Diamonds Child. It’s more that I don’t want to move out of the role of planning it for someone else.”

So, instead of just being a Four Diamonds Child, Blass has decided to continue to volunteer. Blass, Mackenzie Bender and other Shippensburg students are starting a mini-THON at Shippensburg.

They’ve had five meetings this semester, but Blass only revealed to them that he was a Four Diamonds Child last week.

“I only told them now, because someone told me I needed to talk about this,” Blass said. “Luckily, being that I’m one of Shippensburg’s overalls and that I just finished treatments, I’m a little more comfortable. I know that some money we raise will still benefit me, but I’m more comfortable because I know that in my head it’s not. It is for the other people who are still going through treatments.”

Now, Blass only needs to have a CT scan every three months for the next two years and a few more over the next five years. If his tumors do not grow and if no other tumors develop in the next five years, he will essentially be cancer free.

While he could relapse, Blass is just happy to have his freedom back.

“It’s great to do things without looking at the calendar to plan around treatments,” Blass said. “It’s great to have the freedom to live spontaneously.”

Visit Blass' blog, which chronicles his diagnosis, chemotherapy treatments and recovery.