Instructional Coach Nikki Vohl discovered a “glowing golfball” in her head in, or as scientists would call it, an Astrocytoma, in (MONTH) and her entire life changed instantly.
Vohl got an MRI after noticing some odd symptoms she had been having and it showed an abnormal thing in her brain. She had more tests done and it was diagnosed as a brain-stem tumor by a radiologist.
Her neurologist had her go see a neurooncologist who looked at it and said she needed a biopsy, where they stick a needle in the back of her head and use imaging technology to get a sample of it. A pathologist looked at the sample of it and made the call that it was an Astrocytoma.
“My symptoms were my face getting numb, and I had rapid breathing and heart rate,” Vohl said. “The tumor was in the pons and the pons is a part of the brain that literally means bridge and it’s what does involuntary actions like breathing, heart rate, sleep, temperature, and things like that. So my symptoms were pretty minor.”
Before she was diagnosed, she taught four sections of biology and two sections of AP Environmental Science, but once she learned she had to have a biopsy, she became an Instructional Coach.
“As soon as they diagnosed it, I was put on radiation for thirty days,” Vohl said. “It was at 2 o’clock. So I had to leave at 1:30 every day because it was Monday through Friday for six weeks. So it was just a huge change in work.”
Vohl is married to ex-swim team coach Aaron Vohl and has two children, an eight year-old girl Annabelle and a four year-old boy named Gavin. Since she has been diagnosed, the Vohl family has grown closer.
“I took Annabelle out to eat, and I explained exactly what was going on,” Vohl said. “I told her that there were cells in mommy’s brain that weren’t doing what they were supposed to and they were copying each other and growing and putting pressure and making mommy not feel good. And then I have to take medicine that makes mommy not look right.”
Students and teachers ran for Vohl’s team “Vibes for Vohl” at the Head for the Cure on March 30 at Camp Mabry. Several teachers and students have taken it upon themselves to get as many people to support Vohl as possible.
“Breast cancer and other cancers have a lot of support and money raised for research and brain cancer doesn’t, so it is to try to bring awareness and to raise money for research and clinical trials and stuff like that,” Vohl said.
Science teacher Hope Lozano was the team captain of the “Vibes for Vohl” team, and senior Clayton Ngyuen was in charge of the student side.
“It is tought to see something difficult happening to a close friend,” Lozano said. “There’s a lot of ‘why’ questions – Why her? Why now? Why is this happening to someone who takes good care of her body? Early on I wanted to be a positive force in her life. She’s taken on a great attitude that says ‘I’ve got a lot more life to live and cancer will not beat me.”
Ngyuen and a few of his friends organized the tent for her team with food for the runners.
“When Mrs. Vohl got diagnosed with brain cancer, I asked her if she needed anything to make this difficult journey tolerable,” Ngyuen said. “She told me about how there was this race called Head for the Cure and that it raises money for brain cancer research. I decided to make this my student leadership project and move forward with her wish.”
Ngyuen has done countless other things for Vohl including redoing her cubicle and creating a countdown calendar for radiation.
“It was really sad, especially because Mrs. Vohl is one of the nicest teachers here at Bowie,” Nyguen said. “I wanted to help her as much as possible. Not only is it affecting her and her health but her family as well.”

Taking it one step at a time
Regardless of the hard times, she is staying positive, knowing that she has a support group to help her with anything.
“I just didn’t know so many people would be so supportive and so loving,” Vohl said. “It’s completely amazing how much love I have felt.”