Why Volleyball Became an Anchor Through Cancer Treatment

After a routine jump at practice, Gabby Orlet landed only to feel her legs give out beneath her. As a healthy, active 14-year-old club volleyball player, she had little pain before that moment. Within weeks, doctors found a tumor close to her spinal cord, and a surgery that lasted almost 15 hours rebuilt her spine. Now a sophomore setter at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, Orlet, who grew up in St. Louis, has kept playing through years of chemotherapy since the cancer returned in her lungs.

The youngest of four, Orlet grew up in the gym while her mother coached volleyball at different levels. She fell in love with the sport early and always knew she wanted to play in college.

“[My mom] helped me here and kind of kept me fighting a lot through my journey,” she said.

More than a volleyball injury

Orlet had little pain before the practice in spring 2021 when her legs gave way and pain spread across her whole body. Her family first suspected a back problem or a growth spurt, and her mother, who has a physical therapy background, tried to work through it with her. At this time, club season was at its peak, with qualifiers coming up.

“I’ve had injuries before and always been able to push through, and it’s all been tolerable. So I thought this was just like anything else,” Orlet recalled.

At a qualifier in Kansas City that weekend, warmups made it clear she could not play at anything close to full strength. A chiropractor there suggested she may have displaced ribs, and a second chiropractor back home tried again, but the pain worsened. An emergency room visit showed a fracture, however, no hard fall or impact had occurred prior. She was sent home and spent the next three days on her back in pain. The following week, a hospital visit uncovered the mass that led to her diagnosis.

Bone cancer diagnosis at 14

A CT scan in the emergency room showed the bone had compressed further since her visit the week before, and doctors began looking for a mass.

“I think hearing that word [cancer] at all surrounding any part of my life was just shocking,” Orlet said. “I was a very healthy kid and very active and loved playing sports, and that’s all I really ever did.”

The care team did not know the exact type of cancer right away because it was rare and more aggressive than the bone cancers they usually saw. Since the tumor sat so close to her spinal cord, doctors warned that she might not walk after surgery. The operation took place about a day after she arrived at the hospital and lasted almost 15 hours. Surgeons removed the tumor, placed a cage and cadaver rods and performed a complete spinal fusion.

“I felt like I grew up very quickly,” she explained. “The carefree lifestyle that I was living was probably no longer going to be that anymore, despite what the diagnosis was in the end.”

Treatment following spinal surgery for bone cancer

Orlet had two surgeries after her diagnosis in 2021. About 12 hours after the first, her care team asked her to stand, though she had not stood on her own for what she remembered as a week.

“I remember thinking to myself that if I could do this, then you know I can play volleyball again. If I can stand up right now, like nothing’s going to be harder than this moment,” she said.

With her mother beside her, she stood up for the first time again. Her recovery included relearning stairs, showering and finding new ways to handle daily movements while she could not bend much.

About 11 months later, the cancer returned and had spread to her lungs. A biopsy confirmed it was the same type of cancer, with a makeup similar to sarcoma, which shaped how her care team approached treatment. She started chemotherapy once a week, but the toll on her body led her team to space it out to once a month, a schedule she continued for about five years.

In January, after she began having difficult side effects from the monthly treatment, she visited The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for a review of her scans. She and her care team decided to trial giving the drug causing the side effects once every three months. She still goes in monthly for other care, and her scans have looked good.

Why would a young athlete keep playing volleyball during chemotherapy?

Orlet was 15 when she began weekly chemotherapy, again in the middle of club qualifier season. Her doctors explained the risks of playing through treatment but if her body could handle it, she could go ahead. She took that and ran with it, because her quality of life depended on the sport she loved and grew up playing.

The days were long. She went to high school, traveled about an hour to practice and to tournaments and managed chemotherapy side effects on top of it all, often finishing completely exhausted.

“I’d much rather be sick playing volleyball than be sick in my bed,” she said. “This is my escape from it all, and I feel just like everybody else when I go to practice or when I compete.”

In 2024, she needed an unexpected reconstruction surgery. Her parents sat her down and told her she did not have to play in college if it was no longer her dream.

“I knew that I wanted to pursue college sports and be at that level and have that pressure and just be that kid,” she noted. “And that’s what I always wanted to be before the cancer, and I wasn’t going to let that change my mindset.”

What returning to volleyball is like after cancer surgery

Orlet’s first game back came less than a year after her original surgery, following a gradual return to practice. She was nervous and her movements felt unfamiliar. The act of diving to the floor for a ball, one of the basics she had to relearn, scared her at first.

The emotional homecoming she had pictured never quite arrived, though, because she never treated a comeback as uncertain.

“It was always the belief that it was going to happen, and it was never like a question if I was going to be back out there,” she said.

How coaches can support an athlete with cancer

Orlet said some coaches have not known how to handle her situation because they had never faced anything like it. Her high school soccer coach worried most of the time she fell. She understands why her falls carry a different worry than other players’, but she did not want to be treated as though something was wrong with her or needed fixing.

Orlet built trust in both directions by explaining what she was going through and telling coaches honestly how she felt each day.

“I think I’ve been lucky enough to have coaches who I can build that relationship with. Of you know, like today’s not a good day, and I’m not feeling it today,” she said. “They can understand that and trust that tomorrow will be better.”

The relationship took a bit longer to build with her college coach. Now the two talk often and have easy conversations about how she is feeling, which helps them balance her emotions with his fears.

How does cancer change an athlete’s sense of identity?

In the months after her diagnosis, Orlet missed the athlete and the body she had before. She went from collecting congratulations for sports accolades to hearing congratulations for standing up and walking, a shift that left her feeling numb and as though she were living outside of her body. She had to watch from the sidelines while other players improved, wondering whether she would ever return.

She now draws on that memory during hard days or after a game she is unhappy with, as a reminder of how much was once taken from her and that life holds more than volleyball. The same competitiveness she had as a little kid is still there.

“I think finding that inner fight inside me, it’s only made me more competitive. It’s only made me, I think, a better teammate and a better athlete in general, just because I don’t take days for granted,” Orlet said.

She added that she wants to use her story to help others, whether they are living with cancer or are athletes facing something else entirely.

Advice from a cancer survivor for young athletes

Orlet encourages young athletes to stay present rather than living for the day they return. She spent much of her own recovery counting down to her comeback and sometimes tried to move on before she was ready.

“As hard as it is, as tough as you know, as much as you’re angry or sad or whatever, just sit in those emotions and feel them, and don’t shut them out,” she said. “There’s a time when it’s time to turn the corner, and then you find that at your own pace.”

Because she had boxed herself in as a volleyball player and soccer player, losing sports left her feeling empty at first. Since her diagnosis, she has learned there is far more to her identity, and she urges other young people to explore who they are beyond their sport and to reach out to the people around them.

She still remembers every person who contacted her after her diagnosis or surgery and every note written to her. For Orlet, the biggest lesson from being sick is how important it is to look after the people in her life.

What should parents of children with cancer know?

Orlet started writing about her feelings after her diagnosis, and one memory she returns to is watching her parents as doctors explained the surgery. Her father, much like her, shut down when he heard the news. Her mother tried to listen closely so she could help her through it while carrying guilt and holding back tears.

“I think just understanding that no matter the age, your children are not naive, and they understand the impact that it has on you as well,” she said.

She encourages parents to focus on what they can control and to help their child become the best version of themselves despite what they are losing. Her own parents made sure she knew there was more to her than volleyball, even if she never walked again. She also hopes parents allow themselves and their children to feel anger and sadness, rather than always putting on a brave face.

“I always knew when my mom or dad was struggling with whatever I was going through too,” Orlet concluded. “It all goes back to probably the communication and the honesty, and just looking out for people who look out for you.”

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