CLEVELAND — At the Cleveland Division of Police's Fourth District, 48-year-old Vickie Przybylski at home.
It's easy to see how much her brothers and sisters in blue have missed her. That's because, for the last 13 months, she's been battling stage four ovarian cancer.
"I went to the emergency room, and they did a scan, and they said, 'You have a 21-centimeter mass on your left ovary," Vickie said.
Shocking, to say the least, but Vickie was ready to fight.
"I said, 'What's the plan?'" she recalled. "I'm all about the plan."
A year filled with surgery and chemo can test anyone's faith, but not hers. This mother of three and loving wife stayed hopeful.
"So, I was lucky," she said. "God took away all the anger and the fear, and I just focused all my energy on getting better."
Little by little, Przybylski did get better, but she wasn't just focused on her own healing; she wanted others to feel better, too.
"When I was in the hospital, every room is a private room in the cancer center, and I would just go room to room and ask people, 'Hey, you want a visitor?' she told us. "[It] just gave me an opportunity to encourage other people."
Vickie is not just encouraging; she's tough as nails and inspiring. In fact, she came back to work on desk duty just nine days after her surgery. Then, just last week, she returned to regular duty.
"My dispatcher was like, 'Oh, Vickie!'" Przybylski remembered. "She's like, 'Is it you?' And she was like, 'Oh, she's back, she's back!' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm back!'"
She's back on patrol with a new perspective on life, and purpose for those she serves.
"I try to take that compassion and positivity on the road with me, and you know, we're meeting people sometimes on their worst day, so I'm trying to be the light for them, trying to put them on a better path," Vickie said. "That's really my goal."
Editor's note: The following video is from a previous, unrelated report.
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