From Deseret News archives:
Fathers ride 'loneliest road' to raise awareness
Their children are battling rare cancer neuroblastoma
But the magazine got that wrong, according to six fathers who pedaled along it this week on a cross-country trek that will take them from Sacramento, Calif., to Washington, D.C.
The men Alec Oughton, Mike Love, Rick St. John, Randy Monroe, Kevin Sims and Ven Davis are calling their journey "the Loneliest Road Campaign." When they reach Denver, another dad intends to join them.
The loneliest road, they say, is the one traveled by children who are battling rare and potentially lethal cancers. They know this, because each one has been there as his own child fights to survive neuroblastoma. They know well the chemo and radiation and antibody therapy, the seeming cures and relapses and small victories and saying goodbye to other dads whose children didn't make it.
Those moments that make up the road trip through cancer are what they talked about Friday morning during a brief stop at Fire Station One in Salt Lake City, before hitting the road to Denver.
Neuroblastoma is a "relatively rare cancer of the sympathetic nervous system," according to a description by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, where the men all met as their children have undergone repeated treatments. Its cause is unknown, but most doctors believe the tumors result from "accidental cell growth" that occurs during development of the adrenal glands. Tumors appear in different locations. Some go away by themselves, others can be removed with surgery. But half spread to other parts of the body, including the bones and bone marrow.
It's a tough cancer to detect, often unnoticed until it's far advanced. Monroe's daughter, Marissa, 2, of White Pigeon, Mich., had a persistent black eye for no apparent reason. When they found the tumor in her abdomen, it was a "four-pound tumor in a 20-pound kid." But it was tucked away among other organs and not obvious.
Love, from Ashburn, Va., said daughter Taylor, 2, looked as if she had lazy eye. Instead, doctors found tumors.
Codey, 6, son of St. John of Bellaire, Ohio, had abdominal and leg pain. Doctors eventually found a large mass in his abdomen.
As Davis rides, he's acutely aware that the treatment they hope to fund could be his 5-year-old son, Kai's, last hope. The boy, diagnosed in 2005, has undergone nine rounds of chemo, a bone marrow transplant and various radiation treatments. The family is from Faith Hill, N.C.
Recent comments
God bless all of you ,your children and spouses. I know the journey...
Anonymous | Sept. 29, 2007 at 1:19 p.m.
YOU GUYS ARE AWSOME. STAY SAFE, AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU AND YOUR...
kathy | Sept. 21, 2007 at 2:09 p.m.
God Bless You and Keep all of you safe. You are not alone we are...
Donna | Sept. 17, 2007 at 5:59 a.m.
Rick St. John, left, Randy Monroe, Alec Oughton, Ven Davis, Mike Love and Kevin Sims take a break from riding near Camp Williams Thursday. They are on a cross-country trek that will take them from Sacramento, Calif., to Washington, D.C., to raise money for their kids that have neuroblastoma.
- 'SuperFreakonomics' just as fun 1:42 p.m.
- Beck is the new Oprah for thrillers 1:34 p.m.
- Zemeckis on his 'Christmas Carol' 1:34 p.m.
- 'The American house next door' 1:10 p.m.
- Make a printed-palm tree 1:09 p.m.
- Snakeskin makes fashion statement 1:03 p.m.
- Chabon explores manhood in book 12:59 p.m.
- Skateboarder stabbed at park 12:23 p.m.
- USA Today poll: U. 14th, Y. 22nd 11:51 a.m.
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd 11:32 a.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
209 - Dirk does dirty work in Dallas
190 - Lobo suspended
173 - House passes health care bill
167 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
144 - Speed has never been BYU's game
136 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Thousands protest health bill
101 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
99 - Provo company innovating engines
98
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
for the Utes to enjoy their 15 minutes. Next week, TCU stays the same, BYU...
Polygamy was condemned in the BOM, but was said to be ok at special times....
"Hey Annoy monous" When the Cougs win like this, why be such a jerk -...
Utahns have good reason t be depressed if your team can't beat the Kings.
How does providing health care for all interfere with opportunity or freedom?...
Crap. I moved to the US from Canada because it is almost impossible to get...
No Don, there are many posters against gay marriage. Either you're not...
"the water authority retorts that it has a duty to find water in its state...
Thanks again Jim Matheson. I called your office several times as I was...
if we can get the senate on board and President Obama will sign it. ...

