Austin

Determined to Beat Cancer and Pay it Forward

Fourteen-year-old Austin Peterman of Boulder knows exactly what he wants to do when he grows up. He dreams of someday scrubbing in, placing on gloves and a facemask and walking into an operation room to save a life. After all, it was the doctors at The Children’s Hospital that saved his life. And now he’s determined to “pay it forward.”

In April 2005, Austin Peterman, then 12, was diagnosed with the same type of highly malignant cancer Lance Armstrong beat. Austin’s golf ball-sized tumor, however, developed in his brain and caused severe migraines and double vision. One tough kid, Austin still refused to sit out his last soccer game of the season, so he played with an eye patch!

At The Children’s Hospital, Austin underwent 18 weeks of aggressive chemotherapy followed by six weeks of radiation. He had five surgeries, including complex neurosurgery to relieve pressure on his brain from the accumulating fluid the tumor blocked from draining. By February 2006 Austin was cancer free. Bald for six months, now his curly blond hair is back. Very cool!

Austin had to give up his beloved soccer because he can’t do “headers” anymore. But he’s on to other things. Just a few months after his treatment ended, Austin rode his first Courage Classic. Now he has his own cycling team-- “Wheels of Fortune”--and he’s become a very persistent fundraiser for the hospital. He’s also into drums, tennis, competitive swimming and hanging out with his friends.

Nick Foreman, MD, is Austin’s neuro-oncologist. When he launched Children’s neuro-oncology program in 1995, the survival rate for his patients was only 10 percent. He has fought to improve that rate to 66 percent today—and he’s not satisfied. Dr. Foreman holds the Tanner Seebaum & Zachary Tschetter Endowed Chair in Neuro-Oncology at Children’s, which helps support the research that may provide new and better treatment possibilities for brain tumor patients.

Austin’s dad Doug is all about supporting research to make treating cancer less unpredictable. Doug reflects that Dr. Foremen knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish with Austin’s chemotherapy but the combination of chemo and radiation was trickier with possibly severe side effects. A rider on Austin’s Courage Classic team, Doug says he rides “to ensure that future generations don’t have to guess. They don’t have to weigh the options. They just know based on great research.”

Beating cancer. Austin and Dr. Foreman, each in his own way, are determined to reach that goal.

PAY IT FORWARD AND SUPPORT PATIENT S LIKE AUSTIN