‘I’m very, very close to getting my life back’
Niki Nolte, a Kutztown grad and two-time cancer survivor, is getting ready to start classes and resume her swimming career at Penn State
After Niki Nolte survived two bouts with cancer, all Melissa Nolte wanted for her daughter was to “have her life back.”
That was 10 months ago and only days before Niki was diagnosed with graft versus host disease (GVHD), a residual effect of the bone marrow transplant she received from her older sister, Krystal, in February 2019 and which helped her recover from leukemia.
Her body was extremely stiff and sore. She struggled to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, socks and shoes. Her doctors told her GVHD was affecting her eyes, liver, joints, muscles and skin.
Melissa Nolte said the GVHD diagnosis was an even bigger punch to the gut than her daughter’s battles with lymphoma and leukemia.
“That was the hardest part to get through,” Melissa said. “She’s been through hell and back three times. It was a struggle.”
Niki Nolte is feeling much better these days, as well as she’s felt in 3½ years, she said. Now 20, she’s back in State College and prepared to begin the next chapter in her life, which includes starting fall classes Monday and resuming her swimming career at Penn State.
“I’m very, very close to getting my life back,” Niki said. “What’s crazy now is that everyone’s life isn’t normal with COVID. Life has completely changed for everybody. All we can do is be safe and smart about how we’re handling the situations that we’re in now.
“I would say I’m right there, not completely but very close. It’s closer than I’ve ever been in these past three years. I’m ready. I’m ready to get back to normalcy.”
Niki has maintained her remarkable optimism throughout her ordeal, which began with a lymphoma diagnosis in April 2017 when she was a junior at Kutztown High School. It continued with a leukemia diagnosis in September 2018, shortly after arriving at Penn State for her freshman year.
She was excited about being back on campus in October last year before she began feeling the crippling effects of GVHD. She initially called it a “bump in the road.”
“It was a big bump in the road,” Niki said.
“I did not realize how bad I was until I was on medication and I was feeling better. I could barely walk or tie my shoes because of the amount of joint pain and muscle pain that I had.
“Every part of me was swollen. It was not good.”
For the rest of fall semester last year and into the spring, she traveled weekly to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for infusions and treatments to help get her GVHD under control. She’d attend one class on Thursday mornings before her parents, Melissa and Karl, would pick her up and drive her to CHOP for her appointment.
She’d stay at home Thursday nights and return to campus for her 9 a.m. class Friday. She also did physical therapy three times a week at Penn State.
“Fall semester was tough,” Niki said. “I was taking a lot of medication.”
The CHOP appointments became monthly during the spring semester, and she gradually improved until she was hospitalized with severe bronchitis in March. That was right before Penn State went to remote classes because of the coronavirus pandemic, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise for her. That allowed her to fully recover at home and to focus on her studies in biobehavioral health. She’s carrying a 3.92 GPA into this semester, an extraordinary achievement considering what she’s been through.
“I will not lie about just how tough this past year was,” Niki said. “Without the professors, coaches, doctors, family and friends that I have, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten through it as I did.”
She didn’t mention her own tenacity, a chief reason she was able to recover from three serious illnesses.
“She’s the one who really fought it,” Melissa Nolte said. “She was determined to come back.
“She is so excited to go to school. I’ve never seen somebody so excited. She’s already done her chemistry homework. It’s crazy.
“She’s close to being all the way back physically. Mentally, she’s always been so positive.”
Niki was a champion swimmer at Kutztown, winning a pair of District 3 Class 2A gold medals in the 100-yard breaststroke and placing in the 200 individual medley and winning a medal at states.
That was before she was diagnosed with lymphoma, placed in a medical coma, put on a ventilator and endured weeks of chemotherapy.
She recovered and months later medaled at the 2018 PIAA Championships in the 100 breast and 200 IM, an amazing feat.
“I don’t know if she’ll ever be the swimmer she was when she was 15 or 16,” Melissa said. “I don’t think she’ll ever be back there because she’s just older, too. That’s for anybody.
“The hard part is for her future. She may never be able to have kids, but she’s walking. She’s living.”
Niki and her mother have little trepidation about her return to school during a pandemic. She’s living with two teammates and a high school friend in an off-campus apartment. She’ll wear a mask and gloves.
“If I feel uncomfortable and someone’s not wearing a mask or following the rules, I will try to avoid it as much as I can,” Niki said, “not only for my safety but for everyone else’s safety, too.
“Especially from what we’ve been through, it’s crucial to be very cautious and careful and completely honest with people about the situation and hoping they understand that.”
She had been working out by herself at home since the pandemic began, biking, doing cardio and strength training and swimming in the family pool. She’s been off GVHD medication since July. She’ll begin workouts with the Penn State swimming team after following policy and quarantining for the next week.
Those who know Niki Nolte best are thrilled about where she is and how she’s recovered a third time.
“Tears of joy,” her mother said. “I’m really happy for her. I know she’s where she wants to be, and that makes me happy.”
Niki’s grit has impacted the lives of others.
“I would love to be inspiring to other people,” she said, “especially young kids who are going through it. I want to make sure they know they can get through this, come out of it stronger and still have every opportunity they would have beforehand.
“I want them to realize it’s not an easy road, but if you just keep that positive outlook on life and the situation, you will get through it.”