BBy Dainne Gooch Shaw
Daniel Khoury has crossed the finish line at Asheville’s Bele Chere 5K Race 25 times, but the difference between his 2009 and 2010 finish is striking. In 2009, a month after being diagnosed with gastric cancer, he walked the race course with a feeding tube, a chemotherapy pump, and NC Cancer Hospital physician assistant John Strader by his side. By 2010, he was back to his usual form.
Khoury, a lawyer with Vandeventer Black and Manteo town attorney, and his best friend, Dr. Michael Rogers, an Asheville pharmacist, have run the July race together for 25 years, since Khoury first challenged his friend to get in shape for the 1985 event.
Khoury recalls being in UNC Hospitals 3 days before the 2009 race. “I was recovering from a second surgery, getting chemotherapy, and telling everyone I couldn’t miss this race. But I had lost 25 pounds and was so weak I could barely get out of bed.” UNC exercise and sport scientist Dr. Claudio Battaglini, who is involved in several studies of cancer and exercise, discussed the benefits of exercising while on chemotherapy. “He offered me pointers as though I were going to be in the race.”
Three months earlier, Khoury had experienced abdominal discomfort, but thought it was indigestion. As the symptoms increased, he underwent tests in Norfolk. When he learned he had gastric cancer, Jean Sellers, administrative director, UNC Cancer Network, called to say he had an appointment with Dr. Richard Goldberg.
“While in the hospital, I felt very strongly that we couldn’t break our Bele Chere tradition. I think in part my recovery was linked to that determination not to give up. Dr. Goldberg, Jean, and John are all runners. They did everything they could to make it happen. In fact, John offered to go with me. At the race, friends and family were there to cheer me on.”
“Every step, I was thinking about what was happening to me. When I crossed the finish line, I just knew that I was going to be OK.”
But a few days after the race, he learned the cancer was Stage 4. “The odds weren’t good. But I recall thinking, ‘I know which side of those odds I want to be on.”
Khoury made changes in an already healthy lifestyle, altering his diet, reducing stress, and continuing to run. Oncology nutritionist Aimee Shea advised him on complementary supplements. And each time he saw Dr. Goldberg and nurse navigator Delma Armstrong in the clinic, he says, “I must have asked a thousand questions. They patiently answered every one.”
UNC surgeon Dr. Michael Meyers agreed that feeding tubes and chemo pumps aren’t designed for the physically active. Teresa Sadiq, nurse practitioner, repeatedly restitched the feeding tube. “Dr. Meyers agreed to let me try a lower profile tube. After that, no more stitches.”
A frequent visitor was someone who has known Khoury since he was a student at Asheville Catholic School. Monsignor John A. Wall, Pastor and Campus Minister at UNC Newman Catholic Center, was headmaster at ACS when he and Mike Rogers were students there. “He would come to see me and tell my wife, Angel, stories about us. He really got us laughing. Laughter is great medicine.”
Of UNC, he says, “From the first person you see at registration to the check-out person in the clinic, everyone is helpful and encouraging. They have a great team approach and are positive and supportive. That attitude pervades throughout.”
Khoury is now in remission and looks forward to running his usual four races this year.
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Dianne Gooch Shaw is deputy director of communications at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and has been with the Center since 1984. She is a seventh-generation Chapel Hillian who enjoys contra dancing and yoga. She can be reached at dianne_shaw@med.unc.edu.
