‘Let’s take this head on’: L-P softball coach Randy Huebbe battling multiple myeloma

La Salle-Peru softball coach Randy Huebbe said he “got really lucky” that he had a really bad cold just before the start of the season.

“I was coughing so hard it was hurting my ribs,” Huebbe said. “Everyone kept telling me to get checked out. I never go to the doctor, but I did.”

At the doctor, they did X-rays because of his rib pain, which showed he had an impingement in his shoulder.

Huebbe was referred to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Connor Kasik, but he considered not going to the appointment because he didn’t want to have surgery during the season.

“It’s something I love doing and I wasn’t going to not be there. I’m not going to let the disease define or dictate who I am. I asked the doctors and they said I could definitely keep coaching if it’s something I can handle.”

—  Randy Huebbe, L-P softball coach on coaching while battling cancer

“But for some reason, I went and he did his own X-ray and found two small dots on my right arm, which he thought was suspicious,” Huebbe said.

Kasik ordered more tests and eventually, Huebbe was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a cancer that forms in plasma cells and causes cancerous cells to build up in bone marrow.

“We found it really early, so I got lucky there,” Huebbe said.

But naturally, Huebbe was scared after the diagnosis.

“You don’t know what your reaction will be until someone tells you you have cancer,” Huebbe said. “Right away, your thoughts go negative. For the first day or so, you kind of do the pity me, like ‘Why me?’ Then afterwards I was like, ‘No, let’s take this head on. We’re going to take care of this.’ It was scary at first.”

Initially, Huebbe only told his assistant coaches about his health issues.

“I was shocked,” L-P assistant Kara Turczyn said. “I knew he wasn’t feeling great for a while, so when he told me he got the news it was cancer, my heart dropped. Initially hearing that word, you think the worst, but I knew he was going to be ready to fight this.”

Because multiple myeloma can cause thinning or brittle bones and bone pain, Huebbe was put on restrictions. He couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds and he wasn’t allowed to swing a bat or throw the ball.

Turczyn and fellow varsity assistant Alexia Michael and sophomore coach Randy Gunia stepped into those roles.

“He did lean on Alexia and me a lot through the season,” Turczyn said. “We had to help facilitate practice more, which we were happy to do.

Huebbe said he was grateful to have assistant coaches who stepped up.

“I was still able to coach, instruct and correct any techniques that needed to be,” Huebbe said. “My wonderful assistant coaches took over the hitting ground balls and fly balls part of coaching. They really stepped in and did things I couldn’t do.”

When his diagnosis was firm and treatments were going to start in April, Huebbe let his players know what he was going through.

“It was a big shock to everyone,” L-P senior Callie Mertes said. “Nobody really had anything to say. Everyone kind of went quiet when he told us, but he reassured us and told us that everything would be fine and he’d still be there for us as much as he could.

“I think a lot of girls started to pick it up after he we found out because instead of just playing the game, we started playing for him.”

When Huebbe started his chemotherapy treatment, he went every Thursday to University of Chicago Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

He’d leave his house around 6 a.m. Upon arrival, Huebbe had to have blood taken for tests. After waiting for the results, he’d have to take pills and wait an hour to make sure there wouldn’t be a negative reaction. Then Huebbe got three injections in his stomach.

“They knock me out because there’s Benadryl in there and there’s also steroids, which makes it really tough to sleep at night,” Huebbe said. “That makes the fatigue factor really bad.”

He’s on a six-month program. The first eight weeks he has to have treatment weekly, the second eight weeks he’ll go every other week and the final eight weeks he’ll go for chemo monthly.

“Hopefully by then, it’s done,” Huebbe said. “If not, I’ll possibly have to have a stem cell transplant. We’re trying to avoid that.”

Despite the fatigue of going through treatments and working his day job as a security guard at L-P, it didn’t affect his softball schedule much. He needed to get clearance to fly for the team’s trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. due to kidney issues caused by the cancer.

“He really never let it show to the girls how he was feeling,” Turczyn said. “He did a really good job of showing up and giving his all.

“I think he loves all of these girls and they were some of the big components of him wanting to fight this. He loves the sport and wants to see all these girls grow not just as softball players but into great people. He knew we had a great group that could accomplish so much, so I think that also helped him in his battle.”

Mertes said the players noticed Huebbe pushing through to be there.

“It really means a lot he would come straight from appointments and still make it to practice,” Mertes said. “He still showed up for us with everything he was going through.”

Huebbe said game days were tough.

“By the time a game ended, I knew getting in my truck was not going to be fun,” Huebbe said. “Then when I got home, I knew I was going to have to instantly lay down.”

Huebbe said he did not consider stepping away from the team to deal with his health.

“Not one time,” Huebbe said. “It’s something I love doing and I wasn’t going to not be there. I’m not going to let the disease define or dictate who I am. I asked the doctors and they said I could definitely keep coaching if it’s something I can handle.

“Now if it had got to the point it was a detriment, I would have.”

The Cavaliers went 30-6, had a 22-game winning streak and won the Interstate 8 Conference title with a 10-0 league record.

Mertes said the players wanted to play for Huebbe, who she described as a coach who “always went the extra mile for every player.”

“This was one of our best seasons since I’ve been at L-P and I think it’s because everyone kind of stepped back from thinking just about the game,” Mertes said. “We started thinking about each other and we all just bonded a little more.”

Huebbe is looking forward to hitting ground balls and throwing to his players next season.

“My prognosis is really good,” Huebbe said. “Every meeting we’ve had with the doctors, they said it’s really good. The last time the blood counts were already coming back and the kidney function is coming back. I still have the pain. I feel the pain more now than I did during softball season maybe because during softball I was so concentrated on that I didn’t feel it as bad.”