Kristen Webb continues to amaze those around her.

Fifteen months after being diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the Issaquah senior is defeating her disease, all while returning to one of her true passions — the volleyball court.

“It’s still a lot of hard work and stuff, but it’s getting easier,” Webb said.

Webb was diagnosed with ALL on June 15, 2007. According to the American Cancer Society, the fast-moving cancer, which starts in the bone marrow and spreads to the blood stream, will impact 5,430 Americans in 2008. Most of those affected will be young children between the ages of 4 and 5.

“It was high risk because of my age,” said Webb, 17.

When she first started to feel ill, Webb said she was constantly fatigued and was breaking out in hives. Her initial thought was that she might have mono. When she heard the result of her blood test, however, she was in disbelief.

“It was just kind of shocking, I guess,” she said. “I didn’t really know what to think about it.”

Webb was immediately admitted to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she underwent roughly two months of intense chemotherapy treatment. Family and friends swarmed to her beside in support.

“There was somebody from (our) team who was there, there was somebody from her club team that was there. She always had somebody — friends, family around there,” said Issaquah High volleyball coach Todd Parsons. “I remember I would go there and there would be like six or seven people there. I thought ‘This is awesome.’”

The support and a positive response to the treatment helped Webb move from the hospital bed to her home, where she advanced to the consolidation stage — more heavy chemotherapy and steroid treatment. Reactions to certain medications induced seizures and sent her back to the hospital on two separate occasions. With medication adjustments and a strong will, however, Webb has since moved into the last stage of treatment, oral chemotherapy.

“It’s basically in remission right now. It’s the final stage,” she said.

The return

While her cancer is nearly defeated, Webb’s body is still far from back to normal.

She took to the volleyball court for the first time during the University of Washington camp, exactly 13 months after her initial diagnosis.

Parsons said it was evident that it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“She showed up for a team camp in mid-July, and it was hard,” he said. “It was physically demanding — exhausting for her and I was just like ‘Wow.’”

Over the past three months, however, Webb’s muscle’s have regained strength and her stamina has increased. Parsons said when Webb first returned to the court, she was probably at 30 percent and she is close to 70 percent now.

“I have a lot more energy, and now I’m more back to normal,” Webb said. “I don’t get really tired that easily. It’s more like I get really sore afterwards. During (practice) I don’t feel bad, but afterwards it’s like, ‘Oh that was a lot.’”

Webb’s first game of the season was delayed until this past weekend’s Kent Invitational due to complications involving her shoulder and knee. In fact, Parsons said there was one point prior to the Liberty match where Webb thought she was going to have to have season-ending knee surgery.

“The next day she came back and she said ‘My knee feels better,’” Parsons said. “The doctor gave her the clearance and he’s like ‘Keep playing.’”

Webb will play a lot as a defensive specialist this season, rather than as a setter, where she was expected to start as a junior.

“I have to build up my muscles and setting is kind of a rigorous position,” Webb said. “You have to run around a lot and the steroids kind of took away all my muscles, so it’s just kind of building them up.”

A true inspiration

Just having Webb back on the practice court has made a huge difference for her teammates.

“She has really come back and put forth the effort to get back into the game and really shown people that you can come back and work your way back into things as long as you try really hard,” senior libero Kayla Schwisow said.

Stephanie Jones has known Webb since the sixth grade, and says having her friend back on the team has made a significant impact.

“I think she’s just kind of engrained herself really well into a team that was completely new (to her), but founded,” Jones said. “She’s definitely a key part of our team, probably more so than people would have expected or anticipated.”

While Webb’s game participation has been limited this season, Jones noted she is providing her teammates with something much more important: Inspiration.

“We all know that all of these workouts hurt her a lot,” she said. “If she’s passing even though her arms hurt, or she’s playing even though her knee gives out, that makes me want to try that much harder because I don’t have that going on.”

Webb continues to go to the doctor on a monthly basis to get blood tests and chemotherapy through her spine. Her knee has also become a focus of late. While the pain might frequently reach uncomfortable levels, Webb said it’s not going to get in her way.

“I just don’t really think about it because I’m just really excited to be back,” she said.