Full-court shot against cancer

In a twist of determination & destiny, one of Pacific Urology's own employees summons the will to win at the final buzzer against cancer's longest odds.

Hiker, skier, camper, gym rat, three-times-a-week basketball player – at age 51, Jon Jardine was the picture of health and fitness. A one-time college athlete, for more than 30 years Jon had lived an always-on-the-go lifestyle despite the demands of a business career in banking, technology and health care administration.

Even family hobbies and vacations revolved around physical activity. With two athletic daughters three years apart, for the better part of two decades Jon and wife Terri spent evenings and weekends making the rounds of volleyball and basketball games, both as spectators and – in Jon's case – as sometime coach. 

In the spring of 2009, with daughters now grown, Jon and Terri looked ahead joyfully towards their oldest daughter's wedding set for that summer. That's when Jon's finely attuned physical-feedback system began sounding muted alarms.

The symptoms arrived slowly. After 25 years of steady body weight, Jon lost 10 pounds, then 15, and then 20. A persistent cough followed. All this came with a mild fatigue he couldn't shake. In the midst of growing symptoms, an annual physical indicated perfect health. Two rounds of lab tests later, everything still looked normal. But Jon still didn't feel normal. "Intuitively, I knew something was wrong," he says. His doctor then recommended a chest X-ray, at last yielding answers.

"It looked like a snowstorm"

Ironically, Jon had a new job that would play into his story. Less than a year earlier he had become chief administration officer at Pacific Urology. He took his X-ray results to co-worker Dr. Brian Hopkins, a Pacific Urology physician highly experienced in urological cancers. The film revealed masses of black splotches in his lungs.

"It looked a snowstorm – blotted everywhere with tumors," Dr. Hopkins says.

The extent of tumors was confirmed in a CAT scan – a medical imaging system that merges X-ray and computer technologies to render cross-sectional pictures of the body. 

In addition, the images revealed a four-inch tumor on his right kidney. "Not only did Jon have wide metastatic lung cancer," Dr. Hopkins recalls. "He also had a kidney tumor invading a major blood vessel, presenting a very difficult surgical challenge."

In a visit to an oncologist, Jon asked the doctor, on a scale of one to ten, to rank the severity of his condition. "He said it's a ten-plus," Jon recalls. "I said, 'What does that mean?' He said, 'We're talking two to six months. Get your affairs in order.'"

Jon returned to his family with the grim news. The family consensus was that the scheduled wedding should go forward. Meanwhile, Jon scheduled a radical nephrectomy – removal of the cancerous kidney – days after the wedding.

As days ticked by, Jon started in earnest on what he initially considered to be a process of acceptance.  "My first reaction was that I've had a good life with no regrets. I was preparing to face whatever might come."

But then competitive juices began flowing, perhaps springing forth from the days as a basketball guard at Sonoma State University: "It wasn't long before I started thinking, "Wait a minute. I'm not so ready to give up yet."

A plan spelled with four A's

Jon hatched a new game plan, steeling himself to square off against the opponent. He decided to apply what's known as the Four-A Methodology, which stands for "awareness, assessment, attitude, and approach."  

Before long, Jon, Terri and their two daughters had invested hundreds of hours on Internet research into the second A, assessment of his condition. Much of the new information they gleaned was discouraging. Yet he refused to bow to the statistical odds of mortality.

"If I went on the statistics I found, I wouldn't be here today," he says.

Daughter's wedding day arrived, and friends and family enveloped the Jardines in a shimmering sea of love and support. Two days later, surgeons removed the swelling tumor. The next day, Jon was back on his feet, taking short walks at first, but lengthening each gradually.

A few weeks later came a round of new chemo drugs designed to stabilize the lung tumors. The effects of surgery and chemotherapy were harsh, sapping Jon of nearly all appetite and energy and forcing him to sleep for hours during the daytime.

But slowly he gained strength and endurance, venturing to the stage of short, ever-so-light jogging for seconds at a time, then minutes. At the same time, Terri pushed snacks at him endlessly, hoping to restart his appetite.

Three weeks after surgery, Jon returned to work part time. By Thanksgiving, a scan showed the treatments had not only slowed the growth of lung tumors but had also shrunk some of them.

By December, Jon was back to work full time. By February, he was up to one-hour workouts every day, including 7 a.m. basketball games in a city league every Saturday and Sunday with other former college players.

New life, new outlook

Today, many months after the closest of calls, Jon still maintains a regimen of pill therapy, with three weeks of medication followed by two weeks off.

The approaching end of each medication cycle brings symptoms of fatigue, feet soreness, and a metallic taste sensation. Jon's black eyebrows and moustache have turned a blondish grey. Yet, due to a new exercise discipline, "I'm in some of the best shape of my life since my college playing days."

Otherwise, to even the closest of friends and colleagues, from outside appearances little has changed.

As Pacific Urology physician Dr. Judson Brandeis puts it, "Not only is it miraculous that Jon is still here; he's also at work every day making a valuable contribution. If I were a gambling man, I would have lost a bet on this outcome."

Jon's story is indeed evidence of the power of personal determination, notes Dr. Hopkins. "Jon's been very positive about all this. He's an athlete, a fighter. That competitive spirit affected all this."

Listen to a radio interview with Jon Jardine and Dr. Hopkins on KZER

Seizing every moment

Internally, of course, everything about Jon Jardine's view has changed. First is a stronger belief in the role of destiny. 

"People say things happen for a reason. I'm a firm believer in that," he says. "How I ended up in this job and diagnosed with the disease I had...I'm baffled. I am surrounded by experts that have guided my treatment and my recovery."

Second, both Jon and Terri have a change in their outlook on life as a well as a change in lifestyle. They now make a plan every month for a special time together, whether it's merely a dinner out or, as was the case in May 2010, a Hawaii vacation.

"I know I'm not out of the woods," Jon says. "This stuff could take me out next week, next month or in 10 years. So I take nothing for granted, and I don't sweat the details any more. Things that would have pushed me over the edge five years ago, I just take in stride now. 

"I enjoy life. I enjoy my job and my time off from work. It's all in the attitude you bring to it."