EDITORB次元官网网址橲 NOTE (May 3, 2018): Keven Drews has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.

B次元官网网址撯赌撯赌�

KEVEN DREWS ANSWERED the phone a little out of breath.

B次元官网网址淗ey Keven, itB次元官网网址檚 Beau,B次元官网网址� I say, trying to sound cheerful in light of the heavy interview that was about to go down. B次元官网网址淗ow are you feeling today?B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淯gh,B次元官网网址� he grunts. B次元官网网址淕ood enough to muck around.B次元官网网址�

Keven was expecting my call.

I hear music playing in the background and if you didnB次元官网网址檛 know any better, you would get the impression that he was pulled away from mundane household chores, like doing laundry or sweeping out the garage.

Keven was indeed B次元官网网址渢idying things upB次元官网网址� around his Rosemary Heights home on this dreary Thursday morning.

But the kind of tidying up he was doing was anything but mundane.

The 45-year-old former journalist was rounding up all his photos B次元官网网址� thousands of them B次元官网网址� putting them all in one place so his wife and children will have them when he is gone.

B次元官网网址淪o IB次元官网网址檓 busy, but not the kind of busy I want to be,B次元官网网址� he says, slowly starting to catch his breath.

B次元官网网址淓ssentially, IB次元官网网址檓 wrapping my life up.B次元官网网址�

That is the Keven Drews I know, I think to myself B次元官网网址� always doing things to the best of his ability.

Even when preparing to die.

B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�

IF IT WERENB次元官网网址橳 for journalism B次元官网网址� and maybe music B次元官网网址� Keven Drews and I would likely never have been friends.

In the early 2000s, we were just coming from different places. But we worked together at the now defunct Nanaimo Daily B次元官网网址 and we bonded over the many shared experiences and challenges that came with working the night desk. Plus, having a gruff, no-nonsense editor straight out of the whiskey-in-your-desk B次元官网网址�60s also gave us plenty to vent about.

Music also connected us. Keven knew tons about music, and I was a budding guitar player. In fact, our friendship was cemented when KevenB次元官网网址檚 talented wife Yvette B次元官网网址� now a Surrey school teacher B次元官网网址� joined me at the front of a small martini bar in Nanaimo for a three-song acoustic set.

It was my first time playing guitar in public and I remember Keven pushing us to be the best we could be as we rehearsed those three songs again and again.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. That was the Keven I knew in Nanaimo B次元官网网址� it was his mantra about journalism, music, relationships, and life in general.

Later that year, his life changed forever B次元官网网址� and I was with him when it happened.

We were surfing on Long Beach in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, when Keven suddenly screamed out in pain, clutching at his chest and ribs.

B次元官网网址淚t was like being stabbed in the back with a blunt knife,B次元官网网址� he said later.

He went to the emergency room but doctors simply thought it was a slipped disc or he had done something to his back out in the surf.

An MRI in 2003 revealed the unthinkable. He had multiple myeloma B次元官网网址� cancer of the plasma cells.

B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�

CANCER.

The word shocked him.

B次元官网网址淚t really felt like I was disassociated from my body,B次元官网网址� Keven says. B次元官网网址淚 felt like I was not there, like it was a movie. Just a complete loss of control over yourself. I donB次元官网网址檛 mean crying, you just get this sense, what just happened? This force has come into my life and I was just numb.B次元官网网址�

And multiple myeloma?

That type of cancer typically attacks people in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

Regardless, what the disease had in store for Keven was excruciating pain B次元官网网址� 14 years of it.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a disease that starts in the marrow and essentially B次元官网网址渂reaks and buckles bone from the inside,B次元官网网址� as he puts it (at one point, his vertebrae actually came apart).

While itB次元官网网址檚 not clear what causes multiple myeloma, doctors do know that it begins with one abnormal plasma cell in your bone marrow B次元官网网址� the soft, blood-producing tissue that fills in the centre of most of your bones. The abnormal cell multiplies uncontrollably and make more abnormal plasma cells, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. This makes it hard for other blood cells in the bone marrow to develop and work normally.

• SEE ALSO:

Since being diagnosed, Keven has undergone a stem cell transplant as well as multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. After multiple relapses, Keven and his family started raising money near the end of 2017 to send him to a clinical trial based in Seattle.

The trial develops whatB次元官网网址檚 called B次元官网网址淐AR TB次元官网网址� cell therapy. Medical staff would remove from his body and then re-engineer in a lab T cells, the immune systemB次元官网网址檚 killer cells, before infusing them back into his blood stream to attack the cancer.

It was his last chance.

B次元官网网址淭his is it,B次元官网网址� he in early November. B次元官网网址淚f I donB次元官网网址檛 do it, I die.B次元官网网址�

But it wasnB次元官网网址檛 a sure thing. He would have to be accepted B次元官网网址� and come up with about $675,000.

No problem. After all, this is Keven Drews weB次元官网网址檙e talking about, a guy who is using his cancer to teach his two kids a lesson in resilience, about what it means to fight for your life.

B次元官网网址淗ow fast can I raise this?B次元官网网址� he said in November. B次元官网网址淲e just thought we canB次元官网网址檛 sit around because of how quickly things move. You gotta fight.B次元官网网址�

A GoFundMe page was set up and the money started coming in. A Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter account were launched. A fundraiser on Vancouver Island was organized.

As the funds started building, so did his familyB次元官网网址檚 hope.

But another storm cloud B次元官网网址� perhaps the final one B次元官网网址� was on the horizon.

B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淣O CLINICAL TRIAL,B次元官网网址� read the ominous header on one of KevenB次元官网网址檚 Facebook posts in early January.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 like to lose,B次元官网网址� he wrote, B次元官网网址渁nd IB次元官网网址檓 losing my battle against multiple myelomaB次元官网网址攊n a big way. My team of Vancouver-based doctors informed me last week I would not be participating in the clinical trial I had pinned my hopes of survival on.B次元官网网址�

In a heart-breaking turn of events, KevenB次元官网网址檚 out-of-whack calcium and creatinine levels were enough to disqualify him.

B次元官网网址淭hat means there is nothing left, except for some minor medications, to hold the cancer back, and I am running out of time.B次元官网网址�

Looking back, his voice brims with pride over the phone as he recounts all he has achieved, despite everything life has thrown at him.

B次元官网网址淚n 2003, it was death or a transplant, those were the options,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淎nd in those 14 years, I have accomplished a lot. I have no regretsB次元官网网址� I didnB次元官网网址檛 waste any time. I had a business going, I did my Masters in creative writing, I had two kids, a wonderful wife.

B次元官网网址淭here is a lot more I want to accomplish but itB次元官网网址檚 not gonna happen,B次元官网网址� he adds, his voice lowering.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 have the time.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�

KEVEN DREWS has always loved writing B次元官网网址� and heB次元官网网址檚 done a lot of it.

After attending school in Surrey, he graduated from UBC and earned a post-degree certificate in journalism from Langara College.

Over his career, he has worked at newspapers in B.C. and Washington state. Most recently, he worked with Canadian Press.

He even completed an MFA in creative non-fiction at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. while undergoing chemo.

These days, he has been putting the finishing touches on his latest personal essay he titled, B次元官网网址淔ourteen Years of Pain.B次元官网网址�

He also reads. A lot.

But thereB次元官网网址檚 a problem.

B次元官网网址淚 keep ordering books, Beau,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚 ordered three books yesterday and IB次元官网网址檓 wondering if IB次元官网网址檓 going to get the time to read them.B次元官网网址�

ThatB次元官网网址檚 why every day Keven spends with his wife and two boys is immeasurable.

B次元官网网址淵our family is the most important thing in the world,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淢y family is here for me right now. And they will be there for me when I meet the end.B次元官网网址�

By now, you may be wondering B次元官网网址� as I was B次元官网网址� how does Keven keep it all together? After all, Keven has seen people in his situation simply give up and die when their will was gone.

What is it that gives him such strength?

B次元官网网址淚 seem to have this internal drive that you have probably seen in my life, going back to Nanaimo, that just pushes me continually forward,B次元官网网址� he says.

B次元官网网址淚 just cannot get away from that. ItB次元官网网址檚 this weird feeling, that I want to experience more, and IB次元官网网址檓 not talking about money.

B次元官网网址淚 seem to have this drive that makes me want to gain more experiences in life.B次元官网网址�

He also watches movies B次元官网网址� comedies, of course.

B次元官网网址淵ou have to,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭his is as much a psychological battle as it is a physical battle.B次元官网网址�

Finally, Keven shares some advice for people whose lives are being rocked by cancer.

B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 quit,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 waste any seconds. Just because you get that diagnosis doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean youB次元官网网址檙e dead.B次元官网网址�

We end our interview by making plans for coffee B次元官网网址� it turns out their new place is just up the road from the Now-Leader office.

But we had better do it quickly, he adds in an ominous tone.

I start saying my goodbyes with a heavy soul.

But somehow, I also feel uplifted. Maybe it is because Keven reminded me of the importance of family B次元官网网址� and just how minute some of our day-to-day problems really are in the grand scheme of things.

I also feel inspired, knowing that his story is sure to encourage thousands of people, whether theyB次元官网网址檝e just begun their battle with cancer or are near their journeyB次元官网网址檚 end.

Before I hang up, I thank Keven for his honesty and tell him I admire his strength of character.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a scary thing,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淵ou can quit or you can go on. And I didnB次元官网网址檛 quit.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎nd youB次元官网网址檙e going on,B次元官网网址� I say as I reach for the big red B次元官网网址榮topB次元官网网址� button on my voice recorder.

B次元官网网址淵eah,B次元官网网址� he replies.

B次元官网网址淲ell, as far as I can, right?B次元官网网址�

beau.simpson@surreynowleader.com
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