'Thankful:' Yukon Teacher Cancer-Free After Routine Screening, Treatment At INTEGRIS

A Yukon teacher's battle with cancer hasn't been easy but she has reason to celebrate. She shared her story in hopes more people screen for colorectal cancer. 

Inside Shaila Grulkey’s house, a person will find a lot of gratitude. A sign on the wall serves as a reminder. “There is always, always, always – something to be thankful for,” said Grulkey, as she read the words of that sign along the hallway. 

Her family has a wedding to plan. Grulkey and Ashley Baker have known each other through school. “I had her sister – for two years,” Grulkey said. 

Baker will soon marry Grulkey’s son Logan. “We look forward to things and that’s exciting,” Grulkey said. 

This good news, Grulkey said, she needed in her life after INTEGRIS doctors said that six-letter word. “Yeah, it’s a shock,” Grulkey said. 

INTEGRIS doctors diagnosed Grulkey with stage three colorectal cancer. “I lost my grandmother to lymphoma sixteen years ago,” Grulkey said. 

Grulkey said she struggled to tell her two sons because of an open wound within her family in recent years.  “Am I always gonna deliver bad news to them?” Grulkey said. “Jeff and I lost our grown daughter three years ago this April.” 

Her late daughter Baylie still lives on in her family’s heart.  “She was also very soft-hearted and loyal,” Grulkey said. 

Grulkey struggled through chemo and radiation. Her late grandmother and daughter were always on her mind – but she never gave up. “There were moments I really had to dig deep,” Grulkey said. “When you’re sick, and when you’re discouraged, and when you're tired – you're like, ‘I can see them again.’ I was just reminded that there are people here who wanna see me too.” 

Of course, today is better -- Grulkey is cancer-free. “It just made me so happy,” Baker said. “I was like, ‘She did it.’ We’re just really proud of her.” 

Grulkey’s third-grade students in Yukon were there every step of the way. “They all rallied around me,” Grulkey said. 

Grulkey won’t forget who she lost, but she’s always reminded who she's thankful for. “It’s changed us, and it’s changed us for the better,” Grulkey said. 

Grulkey said she never had any symptoms. The screening she got at the INTEGRIS Health Cancer Institute caught the cancer in time. For anyone with a family history of the disease, doctors recommend screening at age 40, or 10 years before the age a family member was diagnosed, whichever comes first.