Last fall, Nicholle Anderson was diagnosed with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the nose and throat.
One year later, she’s cancer-free and ready to help others defeat cancer in partnership with the NHL and NHLPA as an official ambassador for Hockey Fights Cancer throughout November.
“The role entails me working with the NHL, and they’re partnered up with the American Cancer Society and the Canadian Cancer Society. Their focus this year is to raise money and they’re giving back money to these lodges that help cancer patients go through their treatments,” Anderson told Sportsnet. “They stay there for free. It’s a great support group for patients.”
Over the course of the next month, Anderson will help tell stories of patients and those affected by various cancers. These stories will be featured on NHL.com and shared on social media using the hashtag #HockeyFightsCancer.
“We go into these lodges and we’re interviewing patients and talking about their cancers because there’s so many different ones, to share their stories,” she said. “We got to see what the lodges offer and we got to see the room, the setup, the different activities that they do for the patients and how caregivers can stay there, too. It’s a pretty amazing experience for me.”
I’m honored to the be @NHLs #hockeyfightscancer Ambassador. Join us in supporting of those who face the toughest battles. pic.twitter.com/l9G2QJQLb2
— Nicholle Anderson (@xonichollexo) November 1, 2017
Anderson’s connection to the NHL—her husband, Craig Anderson, is the Ottawa Senators‘ starting goaltender—as well as her experience as a school teacher makes this role a natural fit for her.
“I’m starting to understand that journey. I went to school to be a teacher, and here I am,” said Anderson, who was declared cancer-free in May 2017 after several months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. “[Teaching] was just so rewarding and fulfilling to me. I feel like … this new path I’m going on feels like it’s the same thing as teaching in that I’m doing what I love to do. It’s not just teaching kids. It’s teaching everybody about cancer.”
We conducted a brief Q&A with Anderson to learn more about her own battle and the upcoming campaign.
ES: When did the NHL first approach you about becoming a Hockey Fights Cancer ambassador?
NA: We met in the summertime in regards to some different ideas we were going to think about for Hockey Fights Cancer, and it transpired into the Hockey Fights Cancer ambassador a month ago and they asked, ‘Is this something you’d like to do?’ and I said I’d be honoured to do it. It’s exciting and I’m glad that I can raise awareness through the NHL. It’s amazing.
What was it like, knowing that you had the entire hockey community in your corner during your cancer treatments?
I think the hockey family gave me hope. The community provided me with hope. Between how great the [Senators] organization was, and all the organizations—people reaching out that I didn’t even know, fans even sending me messages … the wives in our community, all the wives across the league were amazing.
Hockey itself gave me hope, too. During the playoffs, it was the second round of chemo for me and when you know you have to go in for chemo, your whole body is in meltdown. So just the hockey games themselves during the playoffs were something to look forward to every night, to take my mind off it. People would be sending me messages during the games, and it was just such an outpouring of support that it took my mind off of cancer a lot so I can’t thank the hockey world enough. It’s like family.
Have you heard from other survivors?
I was on Twitter and I put my StickByNik blog up and some guy, a New York Rangers fan, reached out to me and said, “Nicholle, I had Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma…”
Because it’s so rare, you really can’t talk to many people about it. I reached out to him on my private email and I said, “I’d love to hear your story because I’m going through the same thing you are.” So they jumped on board. Their family is actually Italian, like my family, and we bonded so quickly.
His family in New York, before we went to the playoffs, all five of them bought Anderson jerseys. We ended up building this friendship. His kids were so mad during the Rangers series because the Senators actually ended up beating them … It just ended up being a fun thing between us.
Anthony and his wife, Sandra, came down to … Florida and I actually got to meet them. It was cool, because I got to meet him and his family and Craig got to talk to Sandra—she’s a caregiver so she saw what Craig saw. It was an amazing experience and I got that all through the hockey world because they were Rangers fans. It was cool.
They still text me all the time. (She even joined the boys’ fantasy hockey league and yes, Craig Anderson is on her team.)
What is something that you learned over this past year that you’d like to pass along in this new role?
I don’t think people really understand the daily grind of a cancer patient. It’s a full-time job. You wake up, you’re going to radiation, you have your chemo, then you have your side effects from the medicine they put you on. To being in and out of the hospital, to not being able to be around people. A lot of people reach out and they want to help and they don’t know how to help. The best help is the support of, ‘Can I take you to a doctor’s appointment?’ or ‘Can I make dinner for you,’ ‘Can I take your kids?’ If I can help in this role, knowing everything that cancer patients really need, they need the support. I know like we put so much money into research and we want to get a cure for cancer. I would love that, in a heartbeat. But right now in the here and now, we need to help these patients.
For more information or to make a donation, visit HockeyFightsCancer.com and share your own stories using the official hashtag #HockeyFightsCancer.
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