For Arlington Heights girl, child cancer walk is personal

This weekend, Shea Anderluh will be walking to help fight children's cancer.

And there's no better person to take part in the CureSearch Milestones Walk to Conquer Kids' Cancer in Chicago. In 2008, Shea was diagnosed with nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The 15-year-old Arlington Heights girl, a sophomore at Hersey High School, is currently on three different chemotherapy medicines, which were researched by CureSearch and Children's Oncology Group.

That's one of the reasons the Anderluh family chose to support the foundation, recruiting a team for the walk that has raised more than $10,000. CureSearch is a foundation that supports children's cancer research.

The Anderluh team, known as the "Shea Crusaders," are about 140 strong and will walk together today in Lincoln Park. Shea's team includes family, friends, members of the Hersey choir and cross country team and classmates from her journalism class, which has become her favorite.

Despite her illness, Shea's family is upbeat. Her mother, Liz, credits Shea for the family's positive outlook. She said Shea has such a strong will, and you would never think she's sick by the way she acts.

Shea said she stays so positive by just not thinking about the negative.

"I really just don't think about it," she said. "When I'm out of treatment, I feel completely normal."

Shea was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2008, just before she started high school. She had to miss the first day of her freshman year and 20 to 25 more days her first semester.

She underwent outpatient chemotherapy treatments that appeared to be working, but this May, some symptoms returned. She is now at stage 4B and in June began a new treatment. This time, the chemotherapy consisted of four five-day inpatient therapy sessions. She has completed the treatment, and the family must now wait to see if the lymphoma goes into remission so she can receive a stem-cell transplant.

In the meantime, Shea and her family are trying to make the best of their time. This includes Shea going to see U2 at Soldier Field Saturday night but also just enjoying little things like going to the mall with friends.

For more on CureSearch, go to curesearch.org.