Boulder – As news of his lung cancer circulated among friends and colleagues, Colorado men’s golf coach Mark Simpson realized one of his toughest challenges would extend beyond beating the disease.
It would come in staying upbeat when he saw the doleful expressions on the faces of family and friends. In staying positive when there didn’t seem to be a reason.
“One coach told me that he had a sister who fought lung cancer but passed away,” Simpson said. “His heart was in the right place, but I certainly didn’t want to hear that.”
Lately, the news surrounding Simpson, 54, has given everybody around him a reason to smile. He left Wednesday with his golf team for the Big 12 championship tournament just north of Houston 16 days after surgery to remove two tumors in his lungs. He was sent home from the hospital six days after surgery, but not before being proclaimed cancer-free.
Family members have called it a miracle. The deeply religious Simpson agrees. Before the surgery, his oncologist at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center told Simpson and his wife, Valorie, that he had never seen tumors shrink so dramatically after four sessions of chemotherapy.
“I know I had people praying for me all over the world, and I know how much that helps,” said Simpson, who has recruited several foreign players during his 29 years as CU coach.
Following his initial scare after the Dec. 3 diagnosis, Simpson formulated a strategy to beat the cancer. He and Valorie began interviewing surgeons and specialists to find out everything they could about lung cancer.
“I only wanted people around me who were positive,” Simpson said. “When I first got the news I had lung cancer, I wondered how much time I had to live.”
One surgeon told Simpson he had a 20 percent chance of survival. Shaken, Simpson got in a fender-bender on the way home from the doctor.
“Obviously, I tossed that doctor aside,” he said.
He found another surgeon, Richard Parker, who was convinced the battle could be won. Simpson told his wife there would be no talk around the house of contingency plans or mortality in his presence. And he wasn’t shy about asking others to pray for him.
Simpson read six books on cancer but made a vow not to let the disease rule his life. He attended his Jan. 12 induction into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in New Orleans. He missed only one 6 a.m. workout with his team and accompanied the Buffaloes to tournaments in six states.
“Being as competitive as he is really helped,” Valorie said. “It became a competition for him. It was something he was going to win.”
It was as if Simpson was coaching himself, said CU golfer Kenny Coakley.
“He tells us to be prepared and be ready to handle anything,” Coakley said. “He took his own advice.”
Simpson blamed himself for not acting upon advice to kick his smoking habit years ago. A native of Durango, he began smoking in the early 1970s while a golfer at CU.
“Smoking is such an insidious habit,” Simpson said. “Even during all this I was tempted to light up.”
Problems first surfaced last July, when Simpson began spitting up blood. Afraid of what he might be told, Simpson couldn’t summon the courage to see a doctor until October. An early diagnosis revealed a tumor one-tenth the size of a fingernail. A subsequent examination discovered a much larger tumor, three-fourths the size of a golf ball, that had metastasized outside the lung near the thyroid gland. His recent surgery removed the lower left lobe of his left lung, about one-eighth of his lung capacity.
Simpson said he couldn’t have made it through the past few months without support from Valorie and their two grown daughters.
“I was really careful to be upbeat around him,” Valorie said. “But I was afraid I’d lose him.”
As with most cancer patients, Simpson will not be considered cured until at least five years have elapsed without any setbacks. But all signs are pointing to a full recovery.
At the Big 12 Tournament, assistant coach Brad Neher will lead the team, with Simpson along for emotional support.
“There are a lot of parallels to what he has gone through and his coaching,” said Neher, who played for Simpson in the early 1990s. “A lot of it is attitude. When you’re positive, good things happen in life.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
