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• Aerial spraying set for tonight in Lodi

• Pointing the way for Lodi? Riverbank revitalizing its look with redevelopment

• Many ways for local parents to be involved in a child's education

• Regional Roundup

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (165)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (71)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (49)
• Public health care is a Christian option (31)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (18)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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Lodi's Karly Krueg is a champ on the field, a leukemia survivor off it

Winning pitcher Karly Krueg stood on the mound at Louis Park in Stockton, smiling excitedly as her Lodi Lady Lightning teammates celebrated their recent Western States World Series 10-and-under championship.

Turning her head toward the dugout, Krueg's searching eyes met the proud, misty gaze of her parents, Korey and Angie.

The joyous expression that passed between the exultant trio revealed a deeper, more significant meaning than just winning the World Series. It was a poignant moment that emphasized the true meaning of life, death and survival.

For Karly Krueg, it symbolized the 10-year anniversary almost to the day of her dramatic triumph over a deadly adversary — acute lymphocytic leukemia — the same disease that claimed the life of former 49ers head coach Bill Walsh earlier this week.

Karly's rise to prominence as one of the area's top softball players has coaches and fans talking.

"She is absolutely an amazing girl considering just how far she has come after what she has been through," Lightning coach Darin Yray said. "It is incredible for her to be the caliber of player that she is after nearly losing her life twice and then undergoing all the chemotherapy treatments. She is one of the best out there on the diamond every single game."

Facing the specter of such a lethal disease, one that was considered an early death sentence for infants just a decade ago, might have seemed insurmountable to any family, let alone the Kruegs.

It was former Lodi High School sweethearts Korey Krueg, a muscular 6-footer who was a star football player in the late 1980s, and his wife, Angie Peterson, now both 36, that brought the infant Karly to Lodi Memorial Hospital after she grew feverish and had trouble breathing on June 30, 1997.

A routine exam by emergency room physicians concluded with an initial diagnosis of pneumonia. Puzzled by the diagnosis, Korey Krueg asked the emergency room doctor a fateful question.

"Before she got really sick, I noticed Karly had a lot of bruises," said Krueg, an engineer/EMT for the Mokelumne River Fire Station. "I asked the emergency room doctor about it. He said he would do some blood work."

It was that last-minute request posed by her father that ultimately led to Karly's accurate diagnosis of leukemia, and likely saved her life.

Karly Krueg lost her hair as an infant during more than two years of chemotherapy. According to research, leukemia has a mortality rate of nearly 80 percent in patients 5 years old and younger, but Krueg is now at the 10-year remission mark with a survival rate of nearly 97 percent. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

The blood work revealed that Karly's white blood cell count had soared well beyond the normal level.

"I am sorry to tell you that your daughter is extremely sick," the doctor said. "Karly needs to be airlifted to Sutter Children's Hospital in Sacramento immediately."

Stunned, Korey Krueg asked the doctor if Karly was going to live.

"He said he honestly could not tell me that," Korey Krueg said. "He said the next few hours were critical."

A shocked father rushed home two blocks away to grab some personal items for the trip, but when he arrived back at Lodi Memorial just minutes later, his wife and daughter were already gone.

The paramedics had strapped Angie onto the ambulance gurney with Karly on top of her, and the emergency transport sped to Sacramento, sirens blaring the entire way.

After surviving six days in the children's intensive care unit, Karly was moved to a regular room as she continued the grueling chemotherapy treatments that left her swollen and bald, but alive.

During the early stages of battling the disease, Karly suffered through three extremely painful lumbar punctures, also known as spinal taps. Later, as it became apparent Karly was at least temporarily out of danger, her doctors approached the family with a question Angie Krueg remembers well.

"They asked us if we were planning on having more children, and we said yes. They said it might not be a bad time to have another child," Krueg recalls, explaining that the doctors wanted to use the blood stem cells from the umbilical cord when the baby was born as a precaution against a leukemia relapse for Karly.

A year later, a healthy baby girl, Korina, was born. The cord blood was salvaged, cryogenically frozen and then stored at a private clinic in Arizona. And the Kruegs are grateful that it's never been needed.

Karly Krueg talks with a fellow Lodi Lady Lightning softball player on Thursday during the World Series Tournament held at a softball complex in Sacramento. Krueg is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her victory over acute lymphocytic leukemia. Not only has she survived leukemia, but she has also become one of the area's top softball players. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

Korina, who will be 9 this month, is now teammates with her big sister on the Lady Lightning, pitching, swinging a mean bat and playing the outfield with the World Series champions.

Now 11, Karly Krueg has been in remission for the past 10 years and has shown no symptoms of a disease with a mortality rate of nearly 80 percent through the first 5 years of age.

According to the National Cancer Institute, survival rates for female patients with Krueg's type of leukemia at the 10-year remission mark stand at nearly 97 percent.

In fact, Krueg has no medical restrictions in playing fastpitch softball. Very few people other than her parents, sister and coaches, know that Krueg had leukemia. Hardly any of her young teammates do, either.

"It does not factor into the game at all from a coaching or strategic standpoint," Yray says. "Anyone watching her play would quickly focus on what an outstanding ballplayer she is and have no idea she had such a terrible disease."

But all is not perfect in Krueg's recovery. Treatment of leukemia patients with chemotherapy — which Karly endured for two-and-a-half years — can be followed by unpleasant side effects, months or even years later.

Young patients may experience difficulties with problem solving, focusing or memory lapses, and Karly, who finished her last chemotherapy treatment over seven years ago, is no exception.

Angie says Karly, who attends Vinewood Elementary School, receives private tutoring and special instruction at school to help overcome struggles with math and reading comprehension.

Korey Krueg, also an assistant coach for the Lady Lightning, said his daughter will occasionally lose focus on the field.

"I will notice that and remind her to get back on her game," he said.

And as her opponents can attest, Karly, the team's ace pitcher who won three games and slugged four home runs in the Western World Series, is almost always on top of her game.

In fact, her game is so good that despite her young age, Karly was picked up by the Lodi Lady Lightning 12-and-under squad this week to play in its own World Series tournament in Sacramento.

"I love playing softball and being out there with my family and friends," Karly said. "Winning the World Series championship with my Lady Lightning teammates, that was an awesome feeling."