Rocked by cancer, Glazer family determined to give back to the community that was there for them with tender loving care

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Five years ago, a Chesterton girl by the name of Liza Glazer, then 6, pursued her passion of playing soccer daily, and like most her age seemingly had not a care in the world.
“She had a couple of nights of leg pain,” recalled her father, Chad Glazer, a physician whose specialties are ear, nose, and throat, and facial plastic surgery, “and then a couple of X-rays, an MRI, and all the sudden, we find ourselves with her going to sleep for a biopsy at Lurie (Children’s Hospital of Chicago), and four or five days later we found out it’s a Ewing sarcoma.”
The Mayo Clinic defines that, in part, as “a type of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the bones and the soft tissue around the bones,” and added that it “mostly happens in children and young adults,” and that it “often begins in the leg bones and pelvis.”
Within a week of the diagnosis, Chad said, Liza “had an ovary taken out and a port placed and was starting chemotherapy. Three months of chemotherapy to help shrink the tumor and then she had surgery on her leg to take out the tumor, replace it with a bone graft and then six, seven, eight more months of chemotherapy after that.”
And how is Liza doing now?
“She’s playing soccer,” her father was happy to share. “The orthopedic surgeon doesn’t really want her playing, but that’s her passion, so she’s back.”
Remember, this happened in 2020, so at a time when circumstances that left the sisters feeling the need to draw closer than ever, Liza and her older sister, Lana, had to remain more distant than at any time in their lives. COVID-19 caution for those undergoing chemotherapy treatment and therefore immunocompromised reaches an entirely different level.
“During that time, we spent a lot of time at Lorie’s, and it was very isolating,” Chad said. “Lana never once was able to visit her sister in the hospital because of COVID.”
A then recent Valparaiso University graduate who had worked for Chad’s wife and the girls’ mother, Orlee Glazer, at the Barre (dance conditioning) fitness studio business that she transformed to online after Liza started treatments, moved into the home to help look after Lana.
A sophomore at Chesterton who founded a Philanthropy Club last November, Lana fueled fundraising efforts that raised $13,078 for Lurie Children’s Hospital. She exhibits a poise well beyond her 15 years. Yet, when she reflected on that time, she found herself wiping away tears.
“It was really hard,” Lana said. “I couldn’t go see Liza. And I had to wear a mask when I saw her (at home). I could only not wear a mask when I was in my bedroom.”
Chad shared that, “Liza was in the hospital 10 to 15 days a month for that year, had to have a second surgery because a plate, part of it didn’t fuse. She was non-weight bearing for six to eight months. This really impacted Lana.”
And now it impacts the world in a positive way through how it has motivated Lana. She not only founded the Philanthropy Club but plans to volunteer this coming summer at Lurie and at a research lab in Chicago. She said she wants to become a pediatric surgeon, and she hopes that her 5.09 grade point average at Chesterton will help her to gain admission to Duke University.
“Luckily, Lana continued to thrive,” Chad said. “The person we had who was helping was sort of like a big sister to her.”
Few things bring out the caring side of a community as deeply as when the words “cancer” and “child” make that unthinkable intersection.
“For your kids, you want them to be successful, be good people and give back to the community,” Chad said. “When we were going through all that with Liza, the outpouring of support was remarkable. We are always the ones who want to give and not take, and several people said listen you get through this, then there is plenty of time to give back. So, now it’s our turn to give back and help out.”