October 24, 2007

As we woke up this morning in our spartan rooms in the town of Pheriche at 14,107 ft, 4,300 m, it was a thrill NOT to see your breath from the cold air outside of our sleeping bags. This was the first this had occurred in four days. Even though we were at this extremely high altitude, it seemed to be minimal compared to where we had just been. The “Altitude Lottery” which had caused so much difficulty for some of us appeared to be over! This random lottery is similar to the way that cancer strikes some, but not others, without discriminating due to age, race, nationality or religion.

Once again, we started our day with crystal blue skies as we set off to continue our highly anticipated downward journey. As we began our morning trek, we crossed a wobbly tilted bridge without handrails which only had a rushing water and disaster below. The bridge was a ‘one yak’ bridge, in that the herders would only allow one heavily laden animal to cross at a time. They obviously didn’t want to lose more than one yak in case of a problem. How reassuring.

As we continued our decent along the river, the tundra and barren conditions began to change to a more temperate climate. We were now retracing our route back towards the wonderful Tashinga lodge, where we had stayed previously. Along the way, we stopped at Pangboche and were rewarded with a view of six climbers inching their way up Ama Dablam. We continued on to a lunch at Tengboche and a few of the group met with the lama, who had earlier blessed our trip and was most pleased to hear of our success. We continued to traverse the river as the flora changed from grass to shrubs to trees as the temperature rose and the altitude fell. We finished our day with a steep hike from the rushing river and the valley floor on a “Stairway to Heaven” and our evening’s accommodations. It is truly hard to imagine that at 11,600 feet and 3,535 meters, this seems like low altitude.

Upon our arrival, we have just found out that our journey has been on the cover of the Life Section of USA Today, MSNBC Music, SKY News, BBC and countless others. The news has hit papers worldwide and the local television stations. We hear that this is only the beginning as Karyn Maletzky and her team are busy fielding calls from all over the world. (Thank you, Karyn!!) Needless to say, the team is thrilled with the exposure this fight against cancer has received. Our mission has been to announce to the world that cancer is a global issue in need of global support, it seems the world is listening.

As I type, the group gathers in the dining room to hear some emotion filled songs from Glenn, Alex, Cy, Jamie and Mike as they fire up a concert to round out yet another amazing day. Each person’s reason for coming to Mt. Everest and trekking was different prior to this adventure. The stories from the people on our team have been extremely moving and emotional. My trip has been dedicated to two people. The first is Sergio Libman. He was a two time cancer survivor and a true Horatio Alger story and an amazing person. He was tragically murdered at the age of 43 in a car jacking after beating the disease twice.

The second is my father who died of lung cancer. Some forms of cancer are not subject to the “Cancer Lottery” and are preventable. This was the case with my father. My father was a smoker, who wouldn’t quit in spite of all of the medical warnings or our constant pleadings. When he was diagnosed with cancer, he quit immediately. Unfortunately, it was too late. My message is: If you smoke, please quit. If you don’t smoke, please don’t start. Your family and friends will be glad you did.

As we sit halfway around the world in the Himalayans, I continue to be amazed at the size of our world and the vastness of these mountains. I have also have witnessed how small the world can be and how interconnected we all are. We may have heard that there are six degrees of separation among us. In the past few days, outside of our group, I have met four people in which there was only one degree of separation.

With the world being so vast, but so connected, it reminds me that we can, and should, do things to help each other. As humans, our time is finite, but our possibilities are infinite. There may be many rock concerts, but there are no dress rehearsals in life. There are things that we can do to make a difference. If you have a cause you believe whether it is Love, Hope, Strength, education, the environment or whatever it may be, I urge you contribute your time or money. It may be the best investment you can make for the future. Each person can make a difference. It is up to you to take that step.

P.S. If you would like to contribute your time or ‘strength’ to Love Hope Strength, please join our army at www.lovehopestrength.org

All my best,

Peter Braun
pbraunski@yahoo.com
Love Hope Strength
October 24, 2007
Tashinga, Nepal
11,600 ft, 3,535 m

Final note from Shannon:
To the world, the amazing, brave, talented, strong, unbelievable Sean Swarner flew to Kathmandu nearly a week after all of us with the plan of catching us on day 4 of our journey. As many of you know, Sean is a 2 time cancer survivor. He was first diagnosed at the age of 13 with (Advanced Stage 4) Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was given 3 months to live. He bravely beat the disease only to be diagnosed at the age of 15 with Askins Sarcoma. He was given 2 weeks to live. 16 years later he is the first cancer survivor to summit Everest and all 7 summits (The highest point on each continent). He is the only known person in the world to have been diagnosed with both of these diseases, and beat them. I learned of Sean at ASCO, the annual Oncology Conference in Chicago, by another amazing guy named John Imerman (www.imermanangels.org). I emailed Sean to invite him to become part of our Everest Rocks team only to learn that he was on Denali attempting to summit. He was successful, we met, and he and his manager Ben Metzker agreed to help us raise funds, join forces and come to Everest. This would be Sean’s first return since summitting May 16, 2002. He would also return to Bhaktapur, the first hospital amongst hundreds that he would visit and support over the past 5 years. (www.cancerclimber.org)

Each day, we anxiously radioed for him on our ‘walkie talkies’ in the hopes of hearing his voice. We were sure each day that he would be waiting for us with a smirky grin and a hot cup of tea at our days end. Sean followed our footsteps for days, getting within 2 hours of us on October 19. On Oct 20th, we searched the faces of every trekker on the trail, knowing that Sean’s beaming face would be amongst them. Sadly, later that day, we learned that Sean came down with a chest cold. At 15,000 feet, and with only one functioning lung, a chest cold to Sean can be like pneumonia to you and I. Wisely, and bravely, Sean turned back to Namche to heal.

Sean, we know you are now waiting for us in Lukla. Please hop on a plane and get back to Kathmandu and Yak and Yeti. Rini Andres, Amy Chippendale, Garrie Renucci and Slim Jim are already there and very anxious to meet you! We brought you with us in the form of your name on a prayer flag, it now flies at Base Camp in your honor. Sean Swarner, you are here with us every second of the journey and you are such a stud and a hero in my book! I cannot wait to see you on Oct 27th and neither can Dr. Baral at Bhaktapur! Keep Climbing!!

Quote of the day:
Cy to Jamie after playing a beautiful emotional song: “Cry, cry, cry, let it out.”
Jamie: “But I’m English?!”