Kayak camp is good medicine for young adult cancer patients

It's been a long day, spent fly-fishing in the morning and kayaking 8 miles of the North Fork in the afternoon.

Outside, the evening is cool and inviting - but the 14 campers at First Descents kayak camp are crammed in the living room of a guest house at Glacier River Ranch outside Coram, debating where to go tomorrow.

Their options: a relatively tame paddle on the lower Middle Fork or a slightly wilder ride on the upper Middle Fork. Though they've already traveled the latter on rafts, a few are eager to try it in kayaks. They've had a few days of gentle river and are ready for rougher water.

Some also want to soften the memory of losing to a particularly wicked rapid at last year's camp in Vail, Colo.

"We all swam, so we want redemption," one camper said.

Others aren't so sure the more challenging stretch would be the best way to wrap up camp. It might be better to take on something they are all more likely to conquer and end on a positive note.

Katie Collupy, a 20-year-old camper from Boston, points out that the rapid that bested some of them last year was just one gnarly spot on the river, as opposed to a succession of rapids.

"If you have a really bad experience at the first rapid, there's always the possibility that the rest of the day is going to suck," she said.

Collupy is, however, trying to see both sides. Maybe the challenge would be worth it.

"It's kind of like having cancer," she said. "It sucks so much while you have it, but look at us now."

That comment elicits murmurs of agreement. The campers know

firsthand the truth of her statement. Cancer is the one thing they all have in common.

It's why they're at camp in the first place. First Descents is a camp for young cancer patients and survivors.

Some are only recently out of treatment. Others have been in remission for years. But all know the horror that comes with the disease in its manifold forms.

Kalispell native and professional kayaker Brad Ludden, 25, founded First Descents in Vail in 2001. The camp was held in the Flathead Valley for the first time June 24-30.

When he began, Ludden didn't have a clear idea what a paddling camp should look like.

"I just knew it helped me," he said, "and I wanted to help them."

The original plan was to start a paddling camp for kids, Ludden said, but the first group of campers were primarily teens too old for other camps.

"It was an incredible success," he said. "It was only after that that we realized that young adults were the demographic that need attention."

According to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, cancer is the leading disease killer among 20- to 39-year-olds. In contrast to younger and older patients, survival rates for young adults with cancer have remained static for over 30 years.

Each year, 12,000 people between the ages of 15 and 40 die from cancer. In that same age group, there are approximately 500,000 cancer survivors.

"They're a really underserved population in the cancer world," said Jamie Corder, First Descents' operations manager.

Ludden attributes this to young adults' lack of marketability. It's an ugly fact, he said, but it's the truth.

"It's easy to market a child with cancer," he said.

As for older people, most tend to be somewhat established, settled and insured. Young adults, on the other hand, are just beginning to live on their own. Getting cancer at this stage of life can be particularly devastating.

"Most don't have a job or are in school," Ludden said. "You don't have insurance, and if you do, it's not good."

That's where First Descents comes in. Thanks to corporate sponsorship and private donations, campers attend free of charge.

The camp can't take away the cancer, but it can provide survivors age 18 and older a chance to meet people like themselves. It can also inspire confidence - if they can tackle the rapids, they can tackle the disease.

More often though, the opposite is true. Kayaking and rafting are no match for people who have already endured so much.

"We've had cancer," said Travis Martin, 20, from Shipshewana, Ind. "What worse can happen to us?"

Martin was just 9 years old when doctors found a malignant tumor in his brain.

"The doctors told my parents I wasn't going to live. Shows how much they know," he said laughing. "I have fought it, beat it, conquered it."

It wasn't easy. Martin had three major brain surgeries. Other surgeries followed when the cancer began to spread down his spine. After that came radiation and chemotherapy.

He's been cancer-free for over a decade now. Part of the tumor is still embedded in his brain, but it's benign.

"I'm glad I had cancer," he said. "A lot of people might say, 'You're an idiot for saying that,' but I'm glad I had cancer.

"I wouldn't change a thing. I'd go through everything, because so many good things have come out of it."

Because of his cancer, Martin got to see how close his family really is. The night he learned about the tumor, all his relatives on his mother's side came over. His grandfather flew from Texas to stay with them in Indiana for a while.

Martin is also grateful for the people he's met. He has made friends with doctors, nurses and hospital volunteers.

And without cancer, he might never have learned to kayak.

"Last year was my first time, and now I'm hooked," he said. "Here I'm getting to do it because I have cancer."

More cancer survivors will have the opportunity to experience First Descents in the future. There are four camps this summer, two in Kalispell and two in Vail. They strive to have 15 campers at each camp, Corder said, which means they'll see about 60 young adults this year.

The goal, though, is to eventually run 1,000 campers a summer and to expand the camp across the nation. They're currently exploring the idea of a camp in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Ludden said.

He also hopes First Descents will become a resource for young adults with cancer, with a focus on what they're going through mentally.

"We realize that we can't touch everyone with cancer," he said, "but hopefully through marketing and research we can help."

For more information about First Descents, visit www.firstdescents.org.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.