Be Brave: New Mexico State football coordinator reveals wife's breast cancer diagnosis

LAS CRUCES – Be Brave.

Be prepared to see those words more during the New Mexico State football team's 2023 season.

Aggies defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling and players were wearing pink bracelets this week with "Be Brave" in white letters. Dreiling revealed on social media this week that his wife, Alexa, was diagnosed with breast cancer on Aug. 10.

Alexa Dreiling said she was diagnosed with HER2-positive cancer and her treatment plan will consist of chemotherapy over the next four months, followed by surgery.

"It's been an absolute nightmare," said Alexa Dreiling, 31, who is being treated at Memorial Cancer Center. "They tell you what you have, but not other details. I have had nine appointments the last two weeks and the mental turmoil you go through is a lot. I am fine facing the physical parts of chemo. But being a mom of three and it's football season so Nate is not here as much, I just want that strength to proceed like life is normal for them."

Alexa Dreiling said that she felt a lump while breastfeeding her four-month-old daughter, Baisley. Google searches told her mammary ducts can become clogged for any number of reasons and that it resolves one or two weeks following breastfeeding.

It did not resolve and Alexa went to the doctor.

At 31 years old, Alexa Dreiling is nearly 10 years younger than the age women are typically recommended to begin getting mammogram screenings.

"We had a full body scan and it showed that it wasn't in any other areas, but when you are breastfeeding, you are paying more attention to that area," Alexa Dreiling said.

Nate and Alexa Dreiling met in 2010 while they were freshmen at Pittsburg State. They have been married for five years, but Alexa Dreiling said the support from outside of their family has been overwhelming.

"It's the people you would least expect who give you the most profound advice or prayers," Alexa Dreiling said. "You never know the battle someone is facing."

Baisley is the youngest of three children. It was their oldest, three-year-old daughter Baylor, who coined the "Be Brave" phrase the family has rallied around.

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"It was the day before her doctor appointment to find out if she had cancer or not and she was home with the kids and she was crying in the room, and our three-year-old (daughter) walked in and asked what was wrong mommy," Nate Dreiling said. "She said she was scared to go to the doctor tomorrow and Baylor went up to her and whispered in her ear, 'Be brave.'

"That has kind of been our mantra as we attack this thing."

New Mexico State's Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign raised $4.5 million dollars for cancer research from 2007-16 with various events in Las Cruces that included an annual 'Pink' Aggies football game. In 2011, the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign partnered with Cowboys for Cancer Research to establish a $1.5 million endowment with the NMSU Foundation to support cancer research at NMSU.

"I think the big thing is the community outreach we have gotten from Las Cruces to people all over New Mexico has been awesome," Nate Dreiling said. "We will start chemotherapy in the next week or so and get that rolling. She is tough and the outreach has been very positive for us and goes a long way."

The Dreiling family also has support from inside the locker room.

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"It's a tragic thing for his family, but he comes in positive and doesn't talk about it," said Aggies linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, who Dreiling first offered when he coached at Southeast Missouri. "There is always a smile on his face so we stay positive for him and let him know we support him."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State football coordinator reveals wife's breast cancer diagnosis