The Maddie Angelino Story

Madeleine “Maddie” Angelino is our 2024 Happy Smackah.

She is a first-year English teacher at Longmont High. She is vibrant, energetic, positive, charming, down to earth, quick to laugh and smile. She is the epitome of a Happy Smackah. And, she is in the midst of her battle with breast cancer.

Meeting her, hearing her tell her story, she is honest, open, reflective, and what is most obvious, is her warrior spirit. She sat with us, telling her story, and there was no self-pity, no blame or anger. She is upbeat, actually, almost cheery. She is excited and honored to be nominated as the Smackah and appreciative of all of her support.

We are well used to brave, modest, humble fighters in our Smackah community. We have found another to inspire.

Maddie student taught at LHS and was hired for the fall of 2023 while she was still student teaching in the spring. Maddie started her first-year last fall full of excitement, having secured her dream job, at a place that had quickly become her dream school, a place where she felt overwhelmingly supported. In addition to landing her dream job, she also got engaged. Her life was what she’d dreamed.

But, in August of 2023,after routine doctor’s visits and tests and assurances that her symptoms were likely “nothing,” she got a call from her primary care physician that she had breast cancer. She had left school to run errands and was returning for a big parent community night. Her phone rang while she was driving back to school, and she sat in the parking lot, taking that call – she got the news – it was cancer. She spent all of 10 minutes absorbing that and getting the names of all the specialists she would need to contact.

Because she was so new to the school, she wasn’t sure who she could turn to at that moment… Maddie walked into the school and greeted families and staff, and went about doing her job. That is who she is.

Maddie’s original diagnosis was Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, but after the mastectomy, it was determined to be Stage 1B. Her first impressions from the initial diagnosis was that her cancer was contained, and she would need a surgery that was minimally invasive. Maddie’s parents, who live in Maryland, are both physicians, and as her news unraveled, they also believed she would be okay.

Time, more tests, more doctors, and her prognosis changed. She needed a mastectomy. Doctors said she needed a single mastectomy, but that she could choose to have a double mastectomy. Maddie’s initial feeling was single, because she had and has had, a purposeful, positive outlook. In every step of this, doctor appointments, tests, more tests, she felt she would be fine. Then, she realized she didn’t want to go through this again, so she knew, within four days, that she should have the double mastectomy.

During all of the tests, and the most difficult of procedures and surgeries, Maddie’s parents were by her side, supporting her, being, in her words, “the best parents ever”. They must be, to have raised such an amazing person. And Maddie is doubly blessed by having the best future in-laws, who were also by her side, bringing her homemade stew and being with her during chemo. Blessed and grateful were words that spilled from Maddie’s lips throughout our meeting. Her gratitude for her whole family was evident and compelling.

More tests, more bad news, almost at every pivot. One of the biggest concerns was what would happen to her reproductive eggs with the intense chemo. Because she and her fiance want to have a family, the doctors harvested her eggs to freeze. This slowed down all the procedures, but it was necessary. Maddie’s practical spirit rose when she quipped that she “had a freezer” at home and could save money that way. The expense of this is significant.

Another pivot of bad news was that her cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. A few suspicious ones were removed, tested, and one demonstrated that the cancer was on the move. Then, Chemo made her hair fall out after the first treatment. So, she shaved her head.

Her fiance, Kieran, shaved her head for her. He also shaved his head, as did her younger brother and others. Maddie spoke matter of factly about how Kieran has been with her through all of this, taking time off work to sit with her during her chemo treatments, to help her sip water while her hands are needing to be iced down (her feet also). She spoke of his support as she speaks of all things: with gratitude, passion, and an underlying and unspoken awe… and a steady pragmatism that belies her 25 years.

Maddie just began her last round of a less toxic chemo treatment that is once a week. Her previous treatments had her home bound for a month. During that time, she felt she’d go out of her mind with boredom. To know this woman for more than ten minutes is to know that she is tenacious, action driven, motivated, energetic, inspired to create, and completely miserable not working.

And somehow, outside of one month of not being able to work, Maddie has pushed through working through all of this. Her energy is unworldly. Her biggest complaint is that she feels like she teaches 70% of the time, and has to be on the phone with doctors 30% of the time. When she articulated this, it was the closest she’d seemed upset about anything she was going through. She is thrilled to be a teacher, has found her passion, and she is frustrated that she cannot do it to the fullest extent right now.

It’s hard to describe how forceful a human Maddie is. Her road to teaching started with her working for her tuition at the University of Vermont as a teacher of composition to non-literature undergraduate students. She loved it but realized that she knew nothing about teaching. Her journey began and brought her back to Colorado to get her masters in teaching.

Her energy and passion exude from her entire being, and it’s inconceivable that she is in the midst of this new round of chemo. It’s inconceivable that she’s fighting this battle with a pragmatic outlook, and a less than pragmatic hope. But Maddie came to a realization that she would not let this define her. And that is who she is.

Maddie expressed that she is in the best year of her life. She got her dream job at Longmont High. She and Kieran are planning their wedding in October. Last week, she tried her wedding cake from a local vendor. She is so excited to implement more ideas into her classroom. She won a grant for innovation in education, and she’s exasperated that it’s taken her this long to see her plan through. Exasperated. While battling cancer. While being a first year teacher.

Madeleine Angelino is a Happy Smackah.

We thank you for your help and support in any way that you are capable – by participating in our Happy Smackah 5k Fun Run on May 11th, through a General donation, or by Volunteering.

We are also seeking Sponsors!  If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please visit our Sponsors Page or contact us by email.  Register for the 5k Fun Run Today!