JOHN O'CONNELL
Idaho State Journal

Richard Nelson's prostate cancer likely would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the Pocatello Fire Department's health and wellness program.

An annual wellness test of fire department employees turned up irregularities in his blood in 2007; a subsequent biopsy led to Nelson's cancer diagnosis.

Though his cancer is now in remission, Nelson, a driver/operator with the fire department, has heeded his diagnosis as a wake-up call that life's goals shouldn't be put off until later.

He'd long planned on someday getting a master of business administration degree. Cancer pushed him to enroll in an online university in Utah, where he went on to earn the elusive MBA.

Though it's a common euphemism to describe patients as "battling" cancer, it seems an especially fitting verb in Nelson's case. He's studied the enemy in great detail, found allies to help him with his fight against cancer, and now that he's licked it, he's a source of support for other firefighters coping with cancer, and he travels to departments to offer tips for limiting staff members' exposure to carcinogens.

Nelson is now active in the Firefighter Cancer Support Network , a mentoring organization that provides firefighters with basic information and support. Typically, the program pairs firefighters afflicted with cancer with other firefighters who have had the same type of cancer.

Nelson's mentor was a prostate cancer survivor with a fire department near Los Angeles. The mentor's advice to Nelson was to learn everything he could about his cancer and the resources available to help him beat it.

"I became more an expert on my cancer than the doctors. When I went in to get a second opinion, I had a list of questions to ask," said Nelson, whose mother died of breast cancer in 2000.

The program also helped him to realize "you're not just by your lonesome out there."

He also wears a pink ribbon on his helmet as a tribute to a New Hampshire woman with cancer.

When he visits other fire departments in the state, he reminds them of techniques to protect skin from chemicals at fire scenes that may cause cancer. He also suggests they clean their gear to limit exposure to toxins and to always wear their breathing apparatus. At the Pocatello station, Nelson notes an exhaust system pulls out diesel fumes when the fire engines start.

Nelson is one of two cancer survivors working at the fire station. The other employee is still fighting his brain cancer but recently returned to work.

Nelson credited his coworkers at the fire department for helping him in his recovery. For two months, when he had to miss days, his coworkers would volunteer to fill his shifts so he wouldn't use up his sick leave.

And more recently, every member of the department has started participating in a Breast Cancer Awareness Month program called Care Enough to Wear Pink. As part of the program, led by Pocatello Firefighters Local 187, Union President Curtis Smith explained engine companies, ambulance crews and office staff will all wear T-shirts featuring a pink ribbon, the symbol of breast cancer awareness, and the sentence : "Pocatello fire and EMS cares enough to wear pink."

They're also selling the shirts to raise money for breast exams and mammograms for low-income women. Shirts sell for $15 each and can be purchased at local fire stations, though Smith said the union has sold out of its first order of 175 shirts.

"Our goal was $1,000, but we've well eclipsed that," Smith said.

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Copyright 2010 Idaho State Journal
October 17, 2010