Lyle Area Cancer Auction organizers helped one of their own accomplish a dream and lift her spirits — literally — a few days before she does her part in raising funds for cancer research.

LAC leaders helped organize a hot air balloon ride Tuesday for Tracy (Cooling) Schilling, 52, as she fights cancer.

“It was the most peaceful, relaxing, amazing thing in the world,” Schilling said.

Despite recently being hospitalized for several days and starting a type of chemotherapy earlier this week, Schilling isn’t letting cancer slow her down. She’s still organizing the Halfway to January Cancer Bash from 4 p.m. until midnight this Saturday at the Lyle American Legion, 112 Grove St. in Lyle. All proceeds will go to the 36th Lyle Area Cancer Auction next January.

Schilling’s journey

In 2004, Schilling was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she beat. She then organized the Halfway to January Cancer Bash in 2006. Doctors diagnosed Schilling with signet cell cancer — a rare, aggressive type of stomach cancer — in 2012. Doctors diagnosed her with metastatic colon cancer in 2013 and recently found cancer lesions on her spine.

Still, Schilling is excited to help organize the eighth bash after last year’s was canceled as she battled cancer. She wanted to hold the bash last year, but instead a benefit was held to help Schilling with expenses after she was unable to work during treatments.

Some people tried to convince her not to hold the bash this year, but Schilling was determined for the event to return.

“I just never know what plan God has got for me, and I just could be here a month; I could be here another year,” Schilling said. “I need to do this for myself. I want to do it. I can do it.”

Other LAC volunteers are helping organize Saturday’s event, and Schilling is thankful to designate some of the work.

But she doesn’t plan to let cancer slow her down.

“Right now I want to do as much as I possibly can while I can do it,” she said. “I’m not going to stop living; I’m going to keep going. I am a fighter and it means the world to me to do this. I want to help anyone I can by raising money for LAC or the Eagles [Cancer] Telethon for research.”

Schilling praised LAC as one big family, and that family is happy to help Schilling meet her goal. Board member Gary Ziegler said Schilling was going to hold the bash “come hell or high water,” and he praised Schilling for her will and called her one of LAC’s biggest supporters.

“It’s just inspirational as heck to the whole team what she’s doing despite all her own battles,” he said. “It drives the rest of us.”

‘It was so peaceful’ 

LAC leaders originally intended Schilling’s hot air balloon ride to be a surprise, but Schilling admitted she knew ahead of time, as she had contacted Gary Trimble about a ride on his hot air balloon.

But that didn’t make the ride any less special.

“It was so peaceful,” Schilling said. “Just like being in heaven.”

Schilling even got an extended ride thanks to wind and Trimble’s search for a good spot to land. In all, Schilling estimated she and her son, Jordan, rode from about 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“I got a longer ride than I probably should’ve, but it was good,” she said. “It went great.”

Trimble’s crew following the balloon was called the Rainbow Chasers, a fitting coincidence to Schilling.

Rainbows are special to Schilling. When she was battling breast cancer about 10 years ago, she was in the hospital for surgery and her sister drove home from a visit through powerful thunderstorms. After an awful trip, she looked outside, saw a double rainbow, and called her sister to say, “Your prayers have been answered,” and that their father was watching over her.

Along with the hot air balloon ride, Schilling wants to do many other things. She’d like to attend a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, and she’d also like to ride in a semi.

However, her chief goal is to spend time with family and friends, especially her 1-year-old granddaughter, Haydyn; her son, Jordan, and his girlfriend, Brittany (Haydyn’s parents); her son, Alexander, and his wife, Crystal; her mother and stepfather, Pat and Dale Peters; her sister, Tara Phelps; her brother and sister-in-law, Todd and Ronda Cooling; her brother, Michael Cooling, and Steve Luce; and her many nieces, nephews and friends.

The bash

The Halfway to January Cancer Bash will include a taco/nacho bar and a bake sale from 4 p.m. until the food runs out, a silent auction from 4 to 8 p.m., a live auction from 7:30 to 10 p.m., and music by MC Sounds from 10 p.m. to midnight.

In the live auction, nine separate drawers of a toolbox will be auctioned off — each with different tools — until the whole tool box is auctioned off later.

Ziegler said they’ve already received many items for the live auction — enough to start it a half-hour early at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re going to try to make this one the biggest and best one ever for her,” Ziegler said.

Like all cancer survivors and people fighting the disease, Ziegler said Schilling’s story motivates LAC leaders.

“She’s one of our inspirations, along with all our cancer survivors,” he said.