I Todd Aiken am an adventurer, but in 1990, I embarked on an adventure which I did not expect to experience in August, 1990, while training for the New York marathon, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. In addition, I lost my wife in an unexpected divorce; was re-married in a serious car accident; was moved to a new office, then terminated after the bank I was working for closed its office and went on the brink of losing my house and filing for bankruptcy—all in one year! After my second operation, during which the surgeons removed all of the lymph nodes from my chest to my pelvis, I decided that I would lose 1991 the best year of my life! I dreamed it!
Prior to my diagnosis, I had entertained the idea of climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, and in December, 1989, I climbed the first of the seven summits, Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft.). At the time of my ascent, I was technically a cancer survivor, as I decided to continue my adventure and climb the seven summits with another cancer survivor from that continent to show that cancer is often a curable and treatable disease. I also heard Dick Bass, founder of Snowbird Ski Resort and the first man to climb the seven summits, give an inspirational speech, and I was inspired.
In 1991, I set a new challenge. I planned to climb the first cancer survivor to climb the seven summits.
I contacted Seamus McCarter, a cancer survivor and founder of VITAL OPTIONS, a cancer support group. With his help and encouragement, I climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska, with the help of Dr. Michael Friedlander, an oncologist with a strong support group of cancer survivors, and I reached the summit in April, 1991. I also climbed Mt. Aconcagua (22,834 ft.) in Argentina, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. I was fortunate to have been the first cancer survivor to climb two of the seven summits.
Prior to my Australian trip, I sold my house without a real estate agent and saved a great deal. I also wrote a book called Climb, Climb, Climb! which my profits, I wanted to climb Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft.), the highest mountain in Europe and in the Caucasus Mountains in the Soviet Union, with a Soviet cancer survivor. I contacted REI ADVENTURES with my goal. I knew I was taking a chance on the Soviet Union’s policy on cancer is not to tell the cancer patient that he has the disease. Cancer is the unspoken disease.
The Soviet Union. After several weeks, REI informed me that its Soviet contacts would not find a cancer survivor who would climb with me. The Soviet response was that cancer survivors do not climb mountains. My response was that cancer survivors do climb mountains. I wanted to prove it.
In June of 1991, I traveled to the Soviet Union. I was requested to fly home to Oregon. My mother was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer. I stayed with my mother during her operation, but I did not tell her that I was going to the Soviet Union in four weeks because she could not worry. On July 14, 1991, I climbed Mt. Whitney (14,494 ft.), the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. I had hoped to climb this mountain with another VITAL OPTIONS participant, Linda Bensh, but she did not feel well enough after her bone marrow transplant.
On July 17, 1991, I flew to Moscow, then to Mineral Vody at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. We started our acclimatization in the Baksan Valley (6,000 ft.). We ascended the mountain slowly so that we would not suffer from altitude sickness. On July 30, I stood on Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft.) with a cloud in the sky. I stood on Mt. Elbrus and with tears in my eyes, I stood on the summit of the highest mountain in Europe—possibly the first cancer survivor to climb Mt. Elbrus and only nine months after my second cancer operation—three down, four to go!
Next May, I would like to climb Denali (Mt. McKinley) in Alaska with a Soviet cancer survivor and another North American cancer survivor. After my graduation from Columbia, I would like to climb Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, Aconcagua in Argentina, and Mt. Everest in Nepal—all with other cancer survivors. I am looking for a sponsor for these climbs and other cancer survivors who will climb with me. If you have any information which could help me, please contact me at (212) 280-7807.
November, 1991, I will run in the New York marathon which is dedicated to STOP CANCER because the founder of VITAL OPTIONS was diagnosed with brain cancer. This year’s race is raising money for the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. If anyone is interested in pledging money for every mile I run, please contact me at (212) 280-7807. If you have cancer, climb a mountain – it helped me – just climb, climb, climb!!!
