Climb for Cancer 2013 - Update

In the summer of 2011, my dad fell asleep at his desk at work without realizing and not feeling great and thinking it a little strange, drove himself to the local clinic (where he was living in Romania). They found his blood count so low that they were surprised he could still stand. They gave him a life saving blood transfusion (which ironically gave him hepatitis which he would later, almost die from), and he was on the next flight to London, to try and figure out what was going on. He almost didn't make it through the flight and was rushed to the hospital upon landing. After some initial tests he was finally diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

He has found being ill challenging. I don't recall him ever being sick or going to the doctors in his life (although that could have been something more to do with his fear of needles). He likes to keep busy and lying in a hospital bed doesn’t really work for him. So he fought his way through septicemia, hepatitis (and every other infection that comes from being neutropenic), and into remission. 

Since he was forced to retire, he has been spending his time out of the hospital either at the bottom of his garden in “Grandad’s station” (aka a shed filled with the model railway he has painstakingly built), or riding his bike. He has always (much to our dismay as kids) been an avid watcher of the Tour de France which translated into so many hours of watching bikes cycle up hills, down hills, through rain and through sun (it goes on and on...and as a child I had no appreciation for the beautiful scenery!). 

This summer, he had planned with James (our eldest brother, who is the only one of us to catch the cycling bug) to follow the last few days of the race in France, and then cycle the final climb, the mecca of the race, Alpe D’Huez. For those not in the know that’s a grueling 9 mile, 3,670ft (height difference) on a 7.9% slope (for those of us who have no idea what any of that means...well it's not something you could do in fifth or even fourth gear depending on your car - which is supposing you have a car with gears! Just interpret as: it's hard, very hard!). 

Flights were booked, hotels were paid for, and training was well underway, but in April at a routine checkup, Dad was told that the Leukemia had returned. Dad’s first question was “will I still be able to ride in France in July?” Given the chance (if he could somehow sneak away from mum), I am sure he’d still like to attempt the mountain. The reality is, it’s just not possible. He is back in the care of Dr Robinson – working together to do what they do best – beat this thing. So far he has gone through one round of chemo (and came as close as you can come to dying from an infection), but still has Leukemia cells. He has just started on a second round of chemo. The hope is to push him into remission again and then try a stem cell transplant.

Dad can’t ride Alpe D’Huez (at least not this year). He is currently climbing different mountains. 

James sent us all an email back in April...

" Dear FamilyI had been planning a bike ride with Dad this summer in the Alp's. Given his training regime and discipline every morning, I think he was working on the principle that he was going to beat me up Alp D'uez! 
Given his recent excuse it looks like I will be going it alone, however Dad set me a challenge, raise money for Cancer Research! His oncologist is doing some very interesting and cool studies on fighting cancer and helping patients recover. 
I thought about what I could do that would be significant and challenging to help raise money. Something that for most people would represent the physical and mental challenge of fighting cancer. I thought about Dad and his determination to keep going and not give up, his want to keep fit and healthy which has enabled this latest round of chemo to go ahead. So I have decided that in the summer when I am over I will get up early every morning for 5 days and ride up 10,000m of climbs in 5 days."

So we came up with a plan.....Dad is going to beat the AML into remission for a second time, James is going to cycle the 10,000m of mountain climbs in just FIVE days and the rest of us are planning (much smaller) bike rides and runs and car boot sales and movie nights and bake sales and pretty much anything else we can come up with to help raise the profile (and hopefully, lots of money) for this life saving research in the hope that it can be the answer to beating AML for all the other dads, brothers, mums, sisters, kids everywhere.

We would appreciate any donation, or better yet, come and support any of our events this summer!! Check the facebook page and donation website for more info! Thank You!!