Like most parents, John and Jeanne Kron had little concern about the day two years ago that their 13-year-old daughter, Sara, was scheduled to have a routine physical exam to be cleared to play eighth-grade volleyball.

Like most young athletes, when Sara walked into the room for her exam, all she could think of was how much she was looking forward to playing the sport she loved.By the end of the exam, the Krons had a serious concern about a small nodule that the doctor found on their daughter's neck, and Sara was wondering more about what an ultrasound procedure was like than about her starting date for volleyball practice."The original diagnosis was that Sara might have pediatric thyroid cancer," Jeanne said. "Then a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Obviously, our world stopped immediately even though the doctor told us that if our daughter is going to get cancer, then thyroid cancer is one of the better ones to get."Sara was subsequently scheduled to have surgery to have her thyroid gland removed."I was scared," she said. "My greatest fear at the time was that I wouldn't be able to play volleyball again."Sara's surgery took place five days before school began, and a quick recovery allowed her to not miss the first day of eighth grade. Her battle against cancer and her issues with the absence of a thyroid gland, however, were just beginning. First, radioactive iodine was implemented to target cancerous cells that might have escaped during the surgery. Then, with no thyroid gland, Sara had lost a natural means to regulate her body's metabolism, which balances calcium and temperature. She also had none of the gland's hormones that stimulate body tissue to produce protein and increase oxygen used by the cells.Because of her body's intake of cancer-killing radiation, Sara was quarantined for seven days in her own room."It was weird," she said. "No one could come in, and my food was sort of tossed through the doorway.""Pediatric thyroid cancer is rare," said Jeanne, noting that this disease usually afflicts older people (it occurs in less than 1 percent of all children). "The next problem we had was that with Sara's hormones imbalanced, a complication caused her salivary glands to stop working. Imagine trying to eat with a totally dry mouth and throat."A year later, Sara was still experiencing physical difficulties and emotional worries. She had random bouts of severe pain. Then a trace of the cancer was located in her lymph nodes. Setbacks prevented her from playing volleyball, too."As a family, we face any crisis head-on and we move forward. We would not let cancer rule our lives," Jeanne said. "The doctors, especially Dr. David Brown, who performed Sara's surgery, were wonderful too, even though they were telling us things we did not want to hear. All along, Sara was very strong. She still is able to deal with any bad thing that comes her way.""I have to admit I cried a little about all this until my doctor told me I was not going to die," Sara said.After months of prescription and dosage adjustments, Sara is healthy again and cancer-free, although she will need to take medication for the rest of her life.She plays mid and outside hitter on the Pleasant Valley volleyball team. On Sept. 20, the Bears (12-6) made it to the quarterfinals of an invitational tournament at Nazareth High School. Pleasant Valley coach John Gesiske had nominated Sara for the Courtney Anne Diacont Most Inspirational Award, which is given to a volleyball player who exemplifies teamwork and sportsmanship while facing a major adversity in her life. Diacont was a Nazareth volleyball player who succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 18 after a year and a half courageous battle."After the tournament pool play, they announced the winner, and it was me!" Sara said. "I was surprised at first, but then I had a good feeling and I felt happy I won."Early on, the Krons had decided to not tell many people about Sara's condition. In fact, upon hearing that she had won the award, most of her teammates were wondering why."When we got on the bus after our last game in Nazareth," Sara said, "I sat in the back and told the whole team about what I had gone through.""Sara is a very humble kid," Gesiske said. "She doesn't want to be given anything just because some people might feel sorry for her. She wants to earn everything she gets. And she has definitely earned a starting position on our team. She is tall and strong and has come a long way since last year when she played on what I call Bambi legs." He said, "Academically, she's in the gifted program, too. By the time she's a senior, Sara can make an opportunity for herself to play college volleyball at a very good school.""Although we have mostly kept Sara's story within our family and friends," Jeanne said, "I think it's time we publicly thank the doctors at Pleasant Valley Family Practice who first noticed there might be a problem. I also feel that by telling our story, we might be of some help to people who have a similar problem. It's good to not feel alone when it comes to having cancer."Now Sara gets a full body scan once a year just to be sure there is no recurrence."There was a time when I had to go four months without playing volleyball," Sara said. "I had a lot of pain and the doctors weren't sure what was going on, but now I feel fine."She remains confident that the cancer won't come back.Based upon all that she has experienced in the past two years, it is a safe bet that when cancer, or any other adversity, flies in front of Sara Kron, she will give it her best to knock it back just as if she were hitting a volleyball over the net into a place of no return.**********400 AND COUNTING The Pleasant Valley volleyball team reached a milestone last Wednesday. With a 25-10, 25-16, 25-7 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory over East Stroudsburg North, the Lady Bears recorded the 400th win in the volleyball program's storied history.**********EIGHT IS GREAT Eight more Times News-area soccer players recorded hat tricks this past week, with Palmerton's Monica Wood accomplishing the feat for the fourth time this season with three goals in Thursday's 8-0 win over Wilson. Wood's four hat tricks leads the Times News area, with Northwestern's Sarah Segan right behind with three hat tricks on the season. Northwestern's Sabrina Mertz tallied four goals in last Wednesday's 9-1 victory over Northern Lehigh, while Lehighton's Allison Andrew notched four goals in Saturday's 6-4 win over Northern Lehigh on Saturday. Beth Kistler scored three goals for Tamaqua in Thursday's 10-0 victory over Pine Grove. On the boys side, Lehighton's Zack Christoff recorded four goals in a 7-1 victory over Catasauqua on Monday, Lehighton's Frank Bokan netted three goals in a 5-1 win over Pottsville on Saturday, Tamaqua's Josh Delp chipped in all three of his team's goals in a 3-2 win over Jim Thorpe on Saturday, and Northwestern's JD Haaf tallied three goals in Wednesday's 4-0 victory over Wilson. Haaf also scored a hat trick (3 goals) in Northwestern's 10-2 win over Palmerton on Sept. 18, which was inadvertently omitted from last week's Times News Fall Sports Notebook.**********"FORE!" At Monday's District 11 Golf Qualifiers at Mahoning Valley Country Club (par 73), "four" Times News-area golfers advanced to Monday's District 11 Championships at Shawnee Inn and Country Club. Leading the pack was Pleasant Valley's Ryan Adamonis, who shot an 84 to qualify in the Class AAA field. In Class AA, Northwestern's Zack Caruso (84), Tamaqua's Carson Schoener (90) and Marian's Albert McFadden (90) all advanced to Monday's championship.**********TOURNEY TIME The District 11 Girls Singles Tennis Tournament got underway today with seven Times News area athletes competing in first round competition. In Class AAA, being held at Saucon Valley, Pleasant Valley's Madison Olexson is the fourth seed and will be taking on East Stroudsburg South's Amanda Jackson. Last season, Olexson was the lone Times News girls tennis player to advance into the second round of the Tournament. Pleasant Valley teammates Kara Urland and Pauola Mieles will also have first round matches today. Urland will square off against Elise VanOrmer of Emmaus, while Mieles faces seventh-seeded Emma Angle of Northampton. In Class AA, being held at Parkland, three Tamaqua players will be in action. Allison Pederson will face Blue Mountain's Julia Hahn, Maddie Dolinsky will take on Pen Argyl's Abby Strouse, and Maddie Davis squares off against Skyler Hammond of Moravian Academy. Jim Thorpe's Gabbie Binder also qualified and will be opposed by Allentown Central Catholic's Olivia Luchetti. First and second round matches will take place today, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Friday at Saucon Valley high school, and the championship matches in both classes will take place on Monday at Lehigh University.**********STILL UNDEFEATED The Marian volleyball team and the Northwestern girls cross country team are still rolling along this season, as both are currently undefeated on the year. Marian, the defending PIAA Class A State Champion, is 13-0 and has yet to drop a game this season (recording three-game sweeps in all 13 of its matches). Northwestern, meanwhile, is 23-0 and hasn't lost a duel meet race in the past four seasons. The Lady Tigers look to cap off their fourth consecutive undefeated season (26-0) in Tuesday's Colonial League meet at Northern Lehigh.**********TICKETS PUNCHED As the calendar turns over to October, 10 Times News area fall sports teams have already punched their tickets into the District 11 playoffs. Qualifying for the postseason are: the Marian golf team (9-3), the Pleasant Valley tennis team (11-5), the Tamaqua tennis team (10-7), the Marian volleyball team (13-0), the Panther Valley volleyball team (10-2), the Lehighton volleyball team (9-6), the Northern Lehigh field hockey team (13-1), the Northwestern girls soccer team (12-1), the Northwestern boys soccer team (11-3) and the Lehighton boys soccer team (10-3).