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Man defies odds of rare cancer, plans second ‘Run for the Health of It’

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Lew Borgman, and his wife Mannick, are looking forward to his second annual Fun Run for the Health of It one-hour challenge, in honor of his fight with cancer, Saturday, May 20, at their rural Eastman property. (Submitted photo)

Lew proudly shared photos, including one of himself on a motorcycle trip out west. Lew logged 90,000 miles on his Harley Davidson, most of it with a dog alongside. (Photo by Correne Martin)

By Correne Martin

In the face of his cancer diagnosis, Lewis “Lew” Borgman has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. He’s passed more than two years’ time with regular blood transfusions, natural supplements, a matter-of-fact sense of humor and the gift of gab.

He will celebrate all that—along with family, friends and medical staff at Mayo Clinic and Crossing Rivers Health—at his second annual Fun Run for the Health of It one-hour challenge, Saturday, May 20. The run/walk starts at 10 a.m. and lunch is at 11:30, on his property at 59178 Oak Grove Ridge Rd., in rural Eastman.

“The second annual poster says, ‘Ha ha. I’m still alive.’ Whether it’s just dumb luck, my particular system or something we’re doing right, I’m not giving up,” Lew pronounced.

In 2015, Lew was diagnosed with myelodisplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare, unclassified cancer that he said means his stem cells “don’t produce the goodies they’re supposed to.” Due to MDS, his hemoglobin, platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells have critical values.

“With the numbers I’m posting, I should be on my back someplace all the time. They basically said I’m a dead man walking. But I keep showing up and I’m still walking when I show up,” he said.

A self-described man on the go, Lew first started noticing something was different back in 2012.

“I felt like sh**. I had no incentive to do anything. I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have any pep, for a guy who had always been self-motivated,” he recalled. “Finally, my wife threatened to have some of my friends take me (to the doctor) in the back of a pick-up truck.”

Lew refused to believe anything could get him down—having worked on nuclear torpedos in the Navy and having been a long-distance bicyclist, black belt martial artist and do-or-die Harley rider in his 30s and 40s; a half-marathon and half-ironman triathlete at 62; a cliff diver in Mexico and a snowboarder in France. He and his wife of 41 years, Mannick, purchased 15 acres in rural Eastman upon his retirement at age 55, and they had a good 10 years since then doing whatever they wanted.

However, Lew was admitted to the intensive care unit at Mayo in La Crosse in March of 2015, and, on his 65th birthday, a bone biopsy confirmed he had cancer. That was the beginning of his journey to defy medicine, as he has for two years. In that time, due to his frequent visits, he has met countless nurses, lab technicians and medical staff who’ve become his friends.

Once a week, he has blood drawn at Mayo Clinic to determine whether he can receive a blood transfusion. “I call those ‘stab and gos.’ If I didn’t talk so much, I’d be in and out in 10 minutes,” he joked. Then, if his blood values meet the correct criteria, he’s OK’d for a transfusion on a different weekday. At Crossing Rivers, he said, he doesn’t stand in line.

“They all treat me like royalty,” he said. “The convenience and the people make it tolerable.”

In all seriousness, Lew added, tearing up, “These people actually thank me for making their day brighter. They’re happy to see me come through the door.”

His team of medical staff are part of his support system. They enjoy hearing about his life of adventures, then and now. They are in awe over how he’s beaten the odds and continues regular activities such as traveling in a motorhome, lifting light weights and plainly keeping a positive attitude about his diagnosis. Whether it’s his jovial manner, his “not giving up” attitude or the transfusions and immune system supplements, Lew keeps going.

With his one-hour challenge May 20, he will be on the go again, at whatever pace he can manage. Like last year, he hopes to attempt the three-tenths of a mile circuit himself, as his friends and family enjoy the casual run/walk as well.

“Last year, I had my fellow Legionnaires walking behind me with a chair as I was going up the last hill,” Lew recalled, with a smile. “It’s just real backyard fun; it’s not a competition. We’ll have grilled food and beer and maybe even some cheesecake. That’s the one thing about MDS: there’s no restriction on diet.”

In addition to the run/walk, participants will be reminded of how important blood donation is. People like Lew, who have perpetual blood needs, are ever grateful for those who can donate.

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