COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A lifelong Council Bluffs educator battling nasal cancer is being treated by a doctor he helped educate.
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Ken Schreiber was diagnosed with cancer five years ago and referred to an oncologist at Methodist Jennie Edmundson.
"I immediately says 'Wow! He was a student of mine and that's going to be awesome," Schreiber said, recalling the moment he discovered Dr. Andrew Coughlin would be treating his cancer.
"Do you call them by their first name, do you call them by their last name, is it still 'Mr. Schreiber?'" Coughlin said.
Schreiber spent decades in education, eventually becoming a coach, assistant principal, and athletic director at St. Albert — his alma mater.
"I knew from an early age that I wanted to do that," he said.
The connection to St. Albert, and working with youth, never faded.
"To be perfectly honest, I never got sick of it at all," Schreiber said.
Coughlin, who also practices at the Estabrook Cancer Center in Omaha, said he always wanted to return to Council Bluffs.
"You want to come back to the place that you had a lot of good memories," he said.
Practicing in his hometown means neighbors, mentors and family friends sometimes become patients.
"You know how important they are to their community and the gap that would exist if they were gone," Coughlin said.
Schreiber said his confidence in Coughlin was rooted in what he witnessed on the soccer field at school. Coughlin was part of a state champion team in 1999.
"And I knew Andrew would do just a fantastic job because he's so focused and hardworking and involved with everything he does," Schreiber said.
Coughlin said his education inspired him to pursue a career that would give back.
"I love practicing in my hometown," he said.
Schreiber says watching a former student now help him through cancer is something special.
"It makes me feel very proud. You know, it's beyond proud I guess you would say," Schreiber said.
Schreiber is doing well. In January, he will hit a milestone — five years cancer free.
