Volume 1, No. 15. August 24, 2001
PHOTO of Pat Koch holding a water blaster. Photo by Sarah-Janette
Smith
Return visit
The last we had talked with Pat Koch, owner of Holiday World in Santa Claus,
Indiana, she was upbeat and almost eager to take on her battle with colon cancer
(LOOP May 18). Since then she has
been through chemo sickness, a deadly bacterial infection, radiation burns,
surgery and moments when she wasn't sure she would live through the next day.
When we talked with her Tuesday, she was cancer free and heading back out to
her park to greet guests and manage the staff.
That attitude of hers going into the summer had more to do with her full recovery
than medical treatment, according to her own doctors. After her August 3 surgery
and subsequent pathology report showed no cancer anywhere in her system, the
oncologist told Mrs. Koch: "I don't know why this happened. You were very determined,
you were in good condition when you went into this, but I also know you had
so much prayer and love and support. We'll just leave it at that."
In July when she spent 12 days in the hospital suffering the effects of infection
and damage to her intestines from the radiation treatment, Mrs. Koch, who turned
70 August 14, was, by her own reckoning, totally un-Koch-like. "I've never felt
so completely helpless," she said. "I realize now how sick I was because I didn't
want to get up and do anything. I didn't even want to read." She finally regained
enough strength and stamina to withstand the long-planned surgery to remove
the tumor, and it was scheduled, ironically, for Holiday World's 55th anniversary.
Her family went to lunch while she headed for what turned out to be a short
operation.
She recalled lying in the recovery room and the surgeon walking in, touching
her hand and saying "I couldn't find anything: I think you're cured." "When
I started to come out of it, I wasn't sure where I was or what had happened.
Did I die and go to heaven? Who was that person and what did he say?" Later
the surgeon told Mrs. Koch she was "every surgeon's worse nightmare. I got in
there and thought, 'am I in the wrong place or do I have the wrong person? There's
nothing here.'"
Paula Werne, Holiday World's director of public relations, sent the good news
out on the coaster enthusiast networks, notifying the park's worldwide base
of fans who had constantly pumped Mrs. Koch with encouragement. "I know this
healing is because of all the love and support," Mrs. Koch said. "It made such
a difference in how I felt that so many people cared. I'm humbled that so many
people prayed for me and sent me cards and wrote me notes. Some enthusiasts
sent me church bulletins with my name highlighted in their prayer lists. I don't
want to have cancer again, but it's a wonderful experience to know that you're
loved so much. It's a nice thing to know."