Just over a week to go before I start my climb! I’m feeling pretty excited, also a bit nervous as the big moment approaches, and there has been some drama just to keep things exciting! In the last couple of weeks I’ve put in as much training time as I can, mostly hiking up Mt Sentinel with my 30 lb backpack and doing strength training at the Peak. My brother in law and I hiked Trapper Peak last week and then camped out on the ridgeline below the summit to help me acclimatize for the Rainier climb. Sleeping at altitude is supposed to help your body adapt ahead of time to the effects of being up high on the mountain. We had pretty good weather for the climb itself, but gale force winds blew all night making it hard to sleep.
Over the weekend my wife Sarah and I headed into the Pintlers for an overnight backpacking trip. It was a good opportunity for me to get in some more hiking and camping time up high, and we just wanted to get out of the heat for a while. We had a great time hiking up and over Warren Pass and our campsite at Upper Carpp Lake was just beautiful. The next morning I hiked up onto the ridge below Warren Peak, and then we headed back to the car. This is where the drama starts! On the way down I took a nasty fall when I slipped on a wet log. My right thigh hit a rock with my full weight and the weight of my pack. The pain was pretty intense and I had a really hard time hiking out the last 4 miles, even after Sarah took some of the gear from my pack.
Back in Missoula I was still having a hard time walking, and with just 10 days or so before the Rainier climb I was really worried. I contacted Sam at Alpine Physical Therapy and she told me to come in for some treatment. She used ultrasound to loosen up the fluid in my thigh muscle and followed that with some pretty intense massage (ouch) to get the fluid moving away from the injury site. Finally some electrical muscle stimulation therapy and some hot and cold muscle packs and I felt a lot better. Today I just got back from another round of treatment on my leg with Leah, and I can tell that my leg is on the mend. So a big thanks to Sam, Leah and all at Alpine Physical Therapy for fixing my leg so I can continue with preparing for the climb! Thanks also to Michael Moore at the Missoulian for a really nice article on the climb and on Fit to Fight. The donations are coming in and I really think we can meet that fund raising goal! In this final week I’ll be cutting back on my workouts and focusing on getting lots of rest, staying hydrated and eating well. Then we just have to hope for good weather for the climb!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Scott in the Missoulian "UM professor fights cancer to top"
UM professor fights cancer to top
http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_20addca2-8fa1-11df-ad4a-001cc4c002e0.html
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
ATOP MOUNT SENTINEL - At least twice a week, Scott Woods comes up here carrying a 30-pound pack that is mostly full of water.
It's also full of dare-to-dream dreams.
That he will make it to the top of an icy volcano in a couple of weeks.
That the cancer that infiltrates his body will cease its ceaseless invasion.
That he will live.
Scott Woods, who never smoked, has lung cancer. By the time it was discovered in 2008, it was advanced enough to make a cure impossible.
"Right now, I do chemo every three weeks, and that's been keeping me relatively stable," said Woods, a 43-year-old professor of hydrology in the forestry school at the University of Montana. "Obviously, it's not the way you'd choose to live. But it's far, far better than the alternative."
If it seems incongruous that a man doing chemo every few weeks is humping a 30-pound backpack up Mount Sentinel a couple of times a week, try this.
In a month, Scott Woods will climb Mount Rainier, elevation 14,411 feet, the highest peak in Washington and the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states.
He's climbing in part for himself.
"I've realized how much time I've spent working on goals that I deemed important and that now seem less important," Woods said. "I am trying to live every day to its fullest. I climbed mountains when I was younger, then I let myself get carried away with things like getting tenure. I need to get back to doing more of these things that make me alive."
But Woods also has a greater goal, and that is shining a light on cancer through a program developed at Alpine Physical Therapy and Peak Health and Wellness Center by Sam Schoeneman and Mary Lynn Eiseman.
The program is called Fit to Fight, and the goal is to help those battling cancer regain some of the physical strength and fitness they had before the disease struck. In doing so, they often gain mental strength, as well.
"Sam and everyone there have been very good to me, so I definitely want to do something to give back to that program," said Woods. "It's so important for those of us with cancer to continue living with a sense of purpose."
***
Right now, Scott Woods' purpose is living fully and climbing Mount Rainier.
He's not some Johnny-come-lately when it comes to big mountains. He's already climbed Mont Blanc, at 15,782 feet, and other peaks in the Alps, and he's trekked up endless hills in England's Lake District where he was born. He's also trekked in the Karakoram range in Nepal, and across the High Atlas of Morocco.
"I've done some mountaineering, but long-distance hiking is really what I've always loved," said Woods. "I love it as an activity and I love it for the opportunity to see the countryside."
Although he grew up in England, Woods fell in love with the United States, and eventually found himself earning a doctorate at Colorado State University. With that degree in hand, he took his first academic job at UM.
"I feel very lucky," said Woods. "It's good to be in Missoula, Montana."
Two years ago, while on vacation in Mexico, Woods developed severe chest pains and grew nearly breathless. On return back home, he went to his doctor, who found fluids in his lung. Oftentimes, that is the body's response to cancer.
A CAT scan came next, and a six-centimeter tumor was found in his lung. Because of the fluid, through which the cancer had spread, removing the tumor wasn't an option.
"So I started a round of very intensive chemotherapy for six months," Woods said. "I have to say that that knocked me down a few notches. I lost my hair and my nails, and I really didn't have much of an appetite."
Still, two weeks into the regimen, Woods jogged around the block.
"I was determined to maintain some level of fitness, but I also had to be careful about how I lived my life," he said.
The tumor eventually was knocked back to about a tenth of its size, and an ongoing course of chemo has kept it there. There has been some spread of the cancer, but Woods said he's generally responded well to treatment.
"It's not to the point of being treated like a chronic illness, but they can control it for longer periods of time," he said. "It's about quantity of life and quality of life. And right now I am maintaining a reasonable quality of life."
***
Sam Schoeneman sees lots of cancer patients as a physical therapist.
"I realized I was seeing a lot of people who had become very focused on their treatments, and their overall well-being was sort of being put to the side," she said. "The research says there's really a benefit to exercise as an aid to treatment, from helping with nausea, appetite, energy, pain and your mental health. So we put together a program that would look carefully at where people were physically and get them moving again."
Thus was born Fit to Fight, in February 2009. The program has now served more than 50 people, including Scott Woods.
"I'm not really a support group sort of person," Woods said. "I was totally reluctant to go, but my wife talked me into it. I told her I'd go once, and if I didn't like it, I'd quit."
Not surprisingly, Woods enjoyed the program's physical exercise and the care that was taken in assessing just how far a participant could go. But what brought him back to the second and subsequent classes was the fellowship.
"I have to say that I benefitted greatly from hearing everyone else's stories," he said. "There was an excitement to the idea of fighting back, and a real comfort in knowing the stories of these people who were fighting the same fight I was."
Fit to Fight is a program run entirely on volunteer time, and Schoeneman realized after a while that the program could do more with a little financial backing. That led to some fundraising, and Woods did a local triathlon in May to benefit the program.
"I got in better shape than I thought I would ever be in again," said Woods. "It was a great experience."
In a way, that race pointed toward the summit of Rainier.
"When I finished the triathlon, I needed another goal," Woods said. "I wanted to shoot for one of my major life goals, something I'd always wanted to do.That was Rainier. I set that as a personal goal, then decided to do it as a fundraiser for Fit to Fight."
"Scott's been really incredible in his willingness to work for us," Schoeneman said. "I am so proud of what he's been able to do, and I do think he's going to the top of Rainier."
Mount Rainier is just a mountain, but for Scott Woods, it's also a symbol.
"All I need is the next thing to keep going," he said. "None of us knows when he's done here, so I plan to keep doing the things I've always wanted to do. Rainier is just one of those things. I really draw a sense of purpose from being in the mountains, and that's very important to me these days."
http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_20addca2-8fa1-11df-ad4a-001cc4c002e0.html
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
ATOP MOUNT SENTINEL - At least twice a week, Scott Woods comes up here carrying a 30-pound pack that is mostly full of water.
It's also full of dare-to-dream dreams.
That he will make it to the top of an icy volcano in a couple of weeks.
That the cancer that infiltrates his body will cease its ceaseless invasion.
That he will live.
Scott Woods, who never smoked, has lung cancer. By the time it was discovered in 2008, it was advanced enough to make a cure impossible.
"Right now, I do chemo every three weeks, and that's been keeping me relatively stable," said Woods, a 43-year-old professor of hydrology in the forestry school at the University of Montana. "Obviously, it's not the way you'd choose to live. But it's far, far better than the alternative."
If it seems incongruous that a man doing chemo every few weeks is humping a 30-pound backpack up Mount Sentinel a couple of times a week, try this.
In a month, Scott Woods will climb Mount Rainier, elevation 14,411 feet, the highest peak in Washington and the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states.
He's climbing in part for himself.
"I've realized how much time I've spent working on goals that I deemed important and that now seem less important," Woods said. "I am trying to live every day to its fullest. I climbed mountains when I was younger, then I let myself get carried away with things like getting tenure. I need to get back to doing more of these things that make me alive."
But Woods also has a greater goal, and that is shining a light on cancer through a program developed at Alpine Physical Therapy and Peak Health and Wellness Center by Sam Schoeneman and Mary Lynn Eiseman.
The program is called Fit to Fight, and the goal is to help those battling cancer regain some of the physical strength and fitness they had before the disease struck. In doing so, they often gain mental strength, as well.
"Sam and everyone there have been very good to me, so I definitely want to do something to give back to that program," said Woods. "It's so important for those of us with cancer to continue living with a sense of purpose."
***
Right now, Scott Woods' purpose is living fully and climbing Mount Rainier.
He's not some Johnny-come-lately when it comes to big mountains. He's already climbed Mont Blanc, at 15,782 feet, and other peaks in the Alps, and he's trekked up endless hills in England's Lake District where he was born. He's also trekked in the Karakoram range in Nepal, and across the High Atlas of Morocco.
"I've done some mountaineering, but long-distance hiking is really what I've always loved," said Woods. "I love it as an activity and I love it for the opportunity to see the countryside."
Although he grew up in England, Woods fell in love with the United States, and eventually found himself earning a doctorate at Colorado State University. With that degree in hand, he took his first academic job at UM.
"I feel very lucky," said Woods. "It's good to be in Missoula, Montana."
Two years ago, while on vacation in Mexico, Woods developed severe chest pains and grew nearly breathless. On return back home, he went to his doctor, who found fluids in his lung. Oftentimes, that is the body's response to cancer.
A CAT scan came next, and a six-centimeter tumor was found in his lung. Because of the fluid, through which the cancer had spread, removing the tumor wasn't an option.
"So I started a round of very intensive chemotherapy for six months," Woods said. "I have to say that that knocked me down a few notches. I lost my hair and my nails, and I really didn't have much of an appetite."
Still, two weeks into the regimen, Woods jogged around the block.
"I was determined to maintain some level of fitness, but I also had to be careful about how I lived my life," he said.
The tumor eventually was knocked back to about a tenth of its size, and an ongoing course of chemo has kept it there. There has been some spread of the cancer, but Woods said he's generally responded well to treatment.
"It's not to the point of being treated like a chronic illness, but they can control it for longer periods of time," he said. "It's about quantity of life and quality of life. And right now I am maintaining a reasonable quality of life."
***
Sam Schoeneman sees lots of cancer patients as a physical therapist.
"I realized I was seeing a lot of people who had become very focused on their treatments, and their overall well-being was sort of being put to the side," she said. "The research says there's really a benefit to exercise as an aid to treatment, from helping with nausea, appetite, energy, pain and your mental health. So we put together a program that would look carefully at where people were physically and get them moving again."
Thus was born Fit to Fight, in February 2009. The program has now served more than 50 people, including Scott Woods.
"I'm not really a support group sort of person," Woods said. "I was totally reluctant to go, but my wife talked me into it. I told her I'd go once, and if I didn't like it, I'd quit."
Not surprisingly, Woods enjoyed the program's physical exercise and the care that was taken in assessing just how far a participant could go. But what brought him back to the second and subsequent classes was the fellowship.
"I have to say that I benefitted greatly from hearing everyone else's stories," he said. "There was an excitement to the idea of fighting back, and a real comfort in knowing the stories of these people who were fighting the same fight I was."
Fit to Fight is a program run entirely on volunteer time, and Schoeneman realized after a while that the program could do more with a little financial backing. That led to some fundraising, and Woods did a local triathlon in May to benefit the program.
"I got in better shape than I thought I would ever be in again," said Woods. "It was a great experience."
In a way, that race pointed toward the summit of Rainier.
"When I finished the triathlon, I needed another goal," Woods said. "I wanted to shoot for one of my major life goals, something I'd always wanted to do.That was Rainier. I set that as a personal goal, then decided to do it as a fundraiser for Fit to Fight."
"Scott's been really incredible in his willingness to work for us," Schoeneman said. "I am so proud of what he's been able to do, and I do think he's going to the top of Rainier."
Mount Rainier is just a mountain, but for Scott Woods, it's also a symbol.
"All I need is the next thing to keep going," he said. "None of us knows when he's done here, so I plan to keep doing the things I've always wanted to do. Rainier is just one of those things. I really draw a sense of purpose from being in the mountains, and that's very important to me these days."
Friday, July 9, 2010
Scott’s Mount Rainer Training Blog
This has been a pretty eventful and busy last couple of weeks! Since I’m now in the last month before I start the climb I’ve ramped up my training to six days a week, sometimes with two training sessions a day. The big focus has been on hiking uphill with a heavy pack, as I need to maximize both my aerobic capacity and the strength in those muscle groups that will carry me up the mountain and back down again. Our dog, Lupie, is loving it as she gets to go out with me on my training hikes on Mt Sentinel and Jumbo. She’s never had it so good! I mix in some long (10+ mile) trail runs and a couple of strength training workouts each week, and I can feel myself getting stronger and fitter. A week or so ago I got the final go-ahead from my oncologist, Dr. Thomas, to attempt the climb. He’d given me preliminary approval a while ago, but we needed to do one more CT scan just to make sure things were stable and headed in the right direction. Everything looks good, which is great, but it was incredibly nerve wracking (as always) to have to wait on the results of that scan. Dr. Thomas gave me some good advice on how to deal with the effects of altitude, and prescriptions for medications I can take to help me out if need be. I’m not sure if he’s ever had to prepare any of his cancer patients for climbing a big mountain, but he did a great job and I really appreciate his support and advice! We’ve gotten some pretty good media attention for the climb, thanks to Jen’s press release and Sam’s Mom, who contacted every reporter at the Missoulian about the story! Ed O’Brien from Montana Public Radio did an interview with me that aired on Montana Evening Edition on Monday July 5th, and today I met with Michael Moore from the Missoulian for a piece that will appear in the Outdoor section of the paper next Thursday (July 15th). In addition, Ruby Kikkert of the Fit to Fight board wrote a great letter to the editor, which appeared in the Missoulian on July 4th. So the word is getting out about the climb and about Fit to Fight, which is really cool. The website is up and running thanks to Jen’s efforts, so hopefully the money will start coming in! In the coming week, in addition to continuing with my training, I’ll be meeting with Leah Versteegen from Alpine Physical Therapy, who is going to help me with figure out a strength training program that will focus on the core muscle groups I’ll use on the climb. It’ll be great to get that kind of professional advice and support! I’m also going to be writing e-mails and letters asking for support and posting flyers in local businesses, and Sam and I are going to be talking with some local businesses about sponsoring the climb. Finally I’m planning to do a training hike on Trapper Peak down in the Bitterroot. So it’s all going well. All I need to do now is climb that darn mountain!
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