2025 SACS HONOREES
Individual honoree blurbs' copied from Monroe County Herald.
BENNY MAILMAN
Posted Monday, April 28, 2025 12:00 am
Garrett Benzing
Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma
Garrett is familiar with the responsibilities of an honoree. He was a SACS honoree back in 2014 after he had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive pediatric cancer, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, at the age of 22, not long after graduating from UW-Platteville. A cancerous tumor were found in his left leg, so after they amputated above the knee a mid-thigh level, Garrett thought it would be over. “We thought I was cancer free the first time I did an amputation,” said Benzing. “We went through a year of treatment and then it was gone. Then after about a year plus it came back, or never left.” The rest of Garrett’s leg was removed, leaving just a hip. “That was a bit of an adjustment, as an understatement,” said Benzing. He went through treatment for about five years before being told he was in the clear. Then another five years later, while in the midst of planning a wedding with his fiancée and just after buying a house, he was diagnosed with cancer again in July of 2023. Garrett said he’s not sure if it was ever specified, but in general it was known as pleatomorphic sarcoma – another rare and aggressive cancer – which was caused by the radiation treatments he received during his first fight. He said that his body had formed a cyst-like mass in the empty spot where his femur had once been in his hip and the radiation caused a “rind” of cancer to develop around it. “The good news, in a way, was that they’re just kind of able to open the cookie jar and take it out,” said Benzing. “The bad news is it seems minor but it was actually a lot of damage internally.” Garrett said that even though it didn’t look like much was done on the outside, the surgical work on the inside led to a long recovery and a hefty invoice – on top of all the treatments and travel back and forth to La Crosse – which is where SACS came in. “What I think is so cool about SACS, some of these bigger groups you don’t see where the money is going or how much of it is going,” said Benzing. “[With SACS] it’s all right here. It’s going to the community. You’re seeing the people that it’s helping.” Garrett said that SACS has helped him in so many ways and he’s honored to be able to represent them again for a second time. “It’s an honor that they would even think of me,” said Benzing. He’s now been cancer free since September 19, 2024 and works as a loan technician for the USDA Farm Service Agency in Monroe and Jackson counties.
Catherine Brueggeman
Type of Cancer
Cathy remembers the day she first found out she had cancer. She especially remembers the date she got the call that it had returned two years later. ‘They called me on the 23rd of December,” said Brueggeman. “So, yeah, Merry Christmas.” Cathy was first diagnosed back in late 2021. She went in for a regularly scheduled mammogram in Sparta but something was wrong. “They couldn’t feel anything,” said Brueggeman. “They saw something and they didn’t like how it looked.” She was then referred to La Crosse for a more detailed scan. A biopsy was also collected and just a few hours later the same day, Cathy was told she had cancer. “But they caught it in time,” said Brueggeman. “It was stage zero.” A couple weeks later, Cathy had her first surgery and went through radiation for four weeks. She was eventually given the good news by her doctor: “cancer free”. Cathy, who has lived in Cashton since 1997, eventually retired from Northern Engraving in 2023. She said she and her husband Owen were enjoying life and freetime until one year later,at a regular checkup, herdoctors said they didn’tlike how one of her lymphnodes looked. A biopsy was done, andtwo days before Christmason December 23, 2024,Cathy got the call again. “This last time aroundhas been really hard,” saidBrueggeman. “I shouldn’thave got it but I did.” This time the cancer wasat stage one, which Cathysays is still early and that she“is very lucky they caught itin time.” Cathy credits her family asthe reason she has been ableto bounce back from cancertwice. She said that herniece’s husband drove herto La Crosse every week fortreatment, while the rest ofher family provided supportthrough other ways likeconversation and company.Owen has also been thereevery step of the way. “Family has been therefor me,” said Brueggeman. “Nobody knows until they’vebeen through it.” Cathy looks forward to representing SACS and giving back to a group that’s helped her and many others. “They’ve helped so much,” said Brueggeman. “They mean the world to me. It’s an honor to be part of this group.”
Joe Tadisch
Stage 3 - Melanoma
Joe went in for a routine mole removalone day in 2022. “Thought nothing of it,” said Tadisch.“And it turned into a lot more.” On Good Friday of that year, he receivedthe not-so-good news: he had stage 3melanoma. This was 18 months after cominghome from Kuwait and Afghanistan, wherehe served in the Wisconsin Army NationalGuard’s 829th Engineer Company asa captain and company commander incharge of 155 soldiers. Joe is unsure if hehad the cancer before deployment or itdeveloped while he was overseas, but whathe does know is that one mole led to 18rounds of treatment, surgical removal ofskin and lymph nodes, and a whole lot ofuncertainty. “You go through the range of emotions ofgoing through the treatment,” said Tadisch.“Because everybody is asking you howyou’re doing, when you don’t even knowhow to process the question yourself.” Joe has been in remission for four yearsand goes in every sixth months to check ifthat is still true. “I’ll never be cancer free,” said Tadisch.“It’s always in the back of your mind:‘when am I going to go to the doctor?,’ saidTadisch. “When are they going to say ‘hey,it came back’?” Joe lives in Sparta with his wife and threekids and will celebrate 18 years with theNational Guard this September. He recentlyreturned home from a 13-month stint atthe U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, and heworks as an electrician while being at theready for wherever his next deploymentmight take him. Joe has mixed emotions about being aSACS honoree because of how he filled theprerequisite of having cancer, but he knowsit’s for a good cause. “I’m truly honored about being asked,but being a private person, it’s hard,”said Tadisch. “I do think their missionis important because helping others isimportant to me as well.” He’s taking the opportunity of beingan ambassador to provide closure toan unpleasant and uncomfortablecircumstance. “Things happen for a reason,” saidTadisch. “Maybe it’s the final chapter Ineed to close the book and move on.”