11/26/2025 11:30:00 AM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
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Lopes soccer player's neck lump was misdiagnosed before GCU arrival in January
By: Paul Coro
When Addie Vali's irrational fear of carrots was stoked by finding them covering her Grand Canyon apartment floor, she rationally believed the prank by Lopes soccer teammate Payton Fisher would be the worst part of April Fool's Day.
A few hours later, Vali's phone rang for a call that shook her to the core and sent her sobbing into Fisher's shoulder.
"I don't have the best news ... it's Hodgkin lymphoma cancer," the doctor told Vali over the phone.
Now that it is Thanksgiving week, Vali is free of cancer and full of thanks for how a January move to GCU feels like it was God's plan.
Vali wound up with a more memorable ring than the daunting call – the relieving ring of the bell she rang at Mayo Clinic to signify the end of her radiation treatments as GCU soccer teammates and staffers surprised her to cheer the moment.
Prior to arriving at GCU, two sets of doctors examined an overnight growth on her neck from 13 months ago and diagnosed Vali with mononucleosis upon conducting bloodwork and ultrasounds.
"I thought we were completely in the clear by the time we got to GCU," Vali's mother, Kristen, said of her daughter's January transfer.
But just as Vali was alarmed when she could feel a 2 1/2-inch lump grow in the wee hours of Halloween 2024, a warning sounded in GCU team physician Dr. Kareem Shaarawy's mind when he saw the lump during her entrance physical exam in January.
"It's nothing," Vali told Shaarawy after seeing two other doctors previously..
"No, it's something," Shaarawy responded.
"She had a friend peeking out of her neck," Shaarawy said. "I had some concern for the size of the lymph node from unfortunately being down this road before."
The ultrasound showed a lymph node large enough to warrant a biopsy in early March, but those initial results were inconclusive. Vali was playing spring exhibition matches with her team until a second biopsy at the end of March led to the April 1 call that she was dealt a rare form of cancer at age 19.
"I started balling my eyes out," Vali said. "I was so scared. I started screaming because I thought I was going to die. I had no idea what it meant."
Vali's fears were calmed by learning that it was stage 1A, the earliest possible time to catch the cancer of the lymphatic system, and that a former club teammate in her home state of Colorado had survived it.
A plan of treatment was forming and the proverbial carrot that she did not fear was that Shaarawy provided her the hope of returning to training with her team this fall. It was just the sort of execution plan a Division I athlete needs for motivation.
Vali already was coming off a redshirt season at SMU for knee surgery and rehabilitation and did not want to miss more time away from the sport she has loved since she played for the Ladybugs at age 3.
"We really view Dr. Shaarawy as an angel," her mother, Kirsten, said. "We view her going to GCU as a bigger plan in the whole swing of things. Her teammates were a billion percent in."
Vali immediately went into a series of tests at The Mayo Clinic with Fisher and teammate Grace Bartlett accompanying her each time. Another teammate and roommate, AJ Loera, injected her daily fertility shots.
The instant support was validating the choice she made in late November, when she went from emailing GCU coaches to visiting and committing within 72 hours because of the sisterly love she sought.
"I can't imagine my life without her," said Fisher, who did not know Vali before they instantly bonded as new roommates in January. "I love my soccer family, but I told our coaches that if I have to miss practice to go to Addie's appointments, I am going to do that. She is more than a teammate to me. She has this positivity that is irreplaceable."
Bartlett organized a group of about 200 students, including athletes she did not know, who circled Vali with prayer on a Finals Week night on the sand of GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium.
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Vali with brother and parents
Shaarawy's connection enabled Vali to be treated at the renown Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale by oncologist Dr. Allison Rosenthal, who coordinated her chemotherapy to be done in Vali's hometown with oncologist Dr. Luke Mountjoy of the Colorado Blood and Cancer Center.
Vali drove home to Highlands Ranch, a Denver suburb, and had her PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line installed a day later on April 26.
There were four rounds of pain-inducing, energy-draining chemotherapy that lasted six to eight hours each round.
During the week of her 20th birthday, she suffered excruciating jaw pain and nausea from the first treatment. The second treatment triggered a 103-degree fever and a three-day hospital stay.
"It was so scary," Vali said. "I had no idea what was going on. I was on the bed shaking so bad to where my mom and the doctor had to hold me down."
There were back aches with bone pain after the third and fourth rounds. Each time, Vali would recuperate for a week, often sleeping 21 hours per day and digesting only apple juice, and then train the other week.
"I am not losing muscle during this," Vali said she thought.
Vali had watched her mother survive breast cancer seven years earlier, but seeing her parents endure her serious medical trial at an age of greater understanding was more trying.
"That was the hardest thing to see," Vali said. "When I saw my dad cry, that was heartbreaking. His little daughter was going through chemo, and they couldn't do anything but be there for me."
When she returned to Phoenix in July, she began 10 rounds of radiation – one each weekday for two weeks at Mayo Clinic.
"Addie's a special person," Shaarawy said. "She's driven and goal-oriented and a high-character young lady.
"She wanted to be like the other girls. She didn't want to be the girl with cancer. She wanted to do every rep, every lift, because she just wanted to be part of the team."
Vali woke up at 6 a.m. each day to participate in the soccer team's conditioning in summer heat and then would go crosstown to Mayo Clinic for radiation that only added to her fatigue.
"If I dropped because I was getting tired or dizzy, I'd make sure that I got back up and finished my reps no matter how long it took," Vali said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to come back. I've learned to give myself grace for what I just went through."
On her final day of radiation, Vali ran a mile with the team that morning.
"She is stronger than any other 20-year-old I know," her mother said. "She mentally has the fortitude now to get through anything."
While she was at Mayo Clinic, her GCU teammates and coaches turned off their phone notifications and headed 35 miles to the Scottsdale hospital to join her.
When Vali finished her final radiation treatment on July 18, Rosenthal redirected her to a different room for "a bigger bell."
"I turned the corner and it was my whole team and all of my family," Vali said. "It was so beautiful. And there was a bell in there ... a smaller bell."
The sight of the purple-clad group toting signs, balloons and flowers prompted Vali to cover her mouth with tears flowing. She rang the bell to a roar that only will be topped by the roar for her first GCU goal.
With the optimism that her treatment creates by having a 94% lifelong remission rate, Vali returned to soccer practices and built back her stamina. Her skill progressed to the point that she had back-to-back bangers in an October practice. It made the midfielder feel like she was back to form.
With three seasons of eligibility remaining, Vali will return to action during the spring schedule after being an inspiring fall teammate.
"I don't know how she did it all," Fisher said. "Addie's a dog.
"Even if she left a room in tears, she somehow always had a smile on her face. She told me, 'I'm glad God gave this to me because I wouldn't want anyone else to go through that.' She's selfless and so amazing."
One bell remains for Vali.
It was attached to the women's soccer locker room wall at GCU Stadium and accompanied by a sign that is titled with head coach Chris Cissell's encouragement, "BE A SHARK ... ADDIE'S FIGHT, OUR FIGHT."
"The bell stands as a symbol of her victory over cancer, over fear and over every obstacle that came her way," the sign reads. "Let it ring as a powerful reminder of strength that is built through perseverance, battles won with heart and the most significant victories come when we keep moving forward, no matter how hard the fight."
Vali wound up with a more memorable ring than the daunting call – the relieving ring of the bell she rang at Mayo Clinic to signify the end of her radiation treatments as GCU soccer teammates and staffers surprised her to cheer the moment.
The ultrasound showed a lymph node large enough to warrant a biopsy in early March, but those initial results were inconclusive. Vali was playing spring exhibition matches with her team until a second biopsy at the end of March led to the April 1 call that she was dealt a rare form of cancer at age 19.
"That was the hardest thing to see," Vali said. "When I saw my dad cry, that was heartbreaking. His little daughter was going through chemo, and they couldn't do anything but be there for me."
With the optimism that her treatment creates by having a 94% lifelong remission rate, Vali returned to soccer practices and built back her stamina. Her skill progressed to the point that she had back-to-back bangers in an October practice. It made the midfielder feel like she was back to form.
