BAILEY — While attending a family reunion in Dumont, Texas, last July, Isaac Conrad found it difficult to sit.
Nine months later, after several series of tests and multiple visits to doctors, the Platte Canyon High School junior and his family finally were given an explanation: Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, or ARMS.
Conrad is fighting an aggressive cancer that usually affects teens or young adults and usually begins in the torso, arms or legs. In Conrad’s case, it was in his perineum, between his anus and scrotum, where a grapefruit-sized tumor developed. The cancer also festered into a lymph node. A biopsy confirmed it, and he was presented with the news upon waking up from anesthesia in early February.
When talking about what he’s going through, the three-sport athlete is amazingly calm. He’s focused on the extensive treatment he needs to undergo that will last at minimum into November.
“To me, getting worried about it and upset about it won’t help me get any better,” Conrad said. “I realized I had a long journey. To let it make me unhappy would have only made it worse.”
Residents of this small town aren’t surprised by Conrad’s attitude. At a fundraiser last week, everyone from school officials to alumni to townspeople to the local sheriff praised Conrad, further tightening what already was a close-knit community. A 3-on-3 basketball tournament was played in conjunction with the fundraiser.
Huskies athletic director Chris Hendrick said everyone was uplifted “by the super turnout” that covered most of the school’s two gymnasiums.
“Absolutely,” said Platte Canyon boys basketball coach Dean Carlstrom, who handled most of the organization. “This is what we do.”
The fundraiser drew locals such as Doug Bode, a contractor and Platte Canyon graduate, Class of 1977. He was named all-state by The Denver Post and his son, Hank, was named a first-team all-state linebacker last season. He acknowledged the Conrad family “was devastated” by the news, but has expressed its appreciation at how much the community has come together to support Isaac.
Conrad, who played in the 3-on-3 tournament, was moved. “The love and support isn’t something I was expecting,” he said.
Conrad has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments at Children’s Hospital Colorado and at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. He has had 23 bouts of radiation, with five more to go, and by the time he completes the chemo treatments they will number more than 40.
He misses competing in cross country (he qualified for the state meet three times) and track and field (he’s a pole vaulter), but the benefit 3-on-3 tournament helped him get over not having played basketball.
Platte Canyon principal and football coach Mike Schmidt knows Conrad can count on the community.
“This community rallies when people need assistance. We’ve seen it time after time,” Schmidt said.
This particular instance doesn’t require much effort, he added, “because Isaac’s not a good kid, he’s a great kid. He’s what you would want your kid to be.”
Ben Conrad, Isaac’s father, said Isaac’s “attitude has made it lot easier on me mentally. It was difficult when we first found out, but seeing how strong he is … there’s no other way to go about it. Just like anything else, you can lay down and cry about it or buck up and make the most out of it.”
The last time Isaac’s tumor was measured, a couple of weeks ago, it had shrunk. That was viewed as significant progress.
“The way I saw it was, it would work or it wouldn’t,” he said. “I just assumed it would work. I can’t say that it boosts my confidence. That’s because I’m about as confident as you can be.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
