Send some good vibes for Pepe

[Don Losee]

Our friend Chris " Big Air Pepe" Sherwin is really sick. Please send some prayers, good Qi and good vibes his way. He said he was going to post about it but, I am in tears thinking about my friend. Get well Pepe!

[Mark Johnson]

Sorry to hear this. Get well Chris. I hope this illness is not from drinking Utah Lake water. Hope to see you out on the lack of snow soon.

[AndyBlunt]

We love u Pepe. Get better buddy!

[Ralph Morrison]

Hey Chris, really sorry to hear about this. We're pulling for you man! Let us know if there is anything we can do.

[Todd Jacques]

You are one of the strongest dudes I know.. so get better soon so we can rip around strawberry again if it ever snows again.

[John Guay]

Pepe is one tough and mentally strong individual. I have no doubt he'll be out ripping it up in due time. Get well soon!

[Kenny]

Chris, we are all pulling for you, you are a beloved member of the tribe. I will remember you in my prayers.

[ChrisPSherwin]

Hey guys,

Do send some good vibes, prayers, Qi my way. I'll take whatever I can get.

Here's the short version. I have stage 3 kidney cancer that has spread to my lymph nodes. I go under the knife on Tuesday. It should be a 2-5 hour surgery. They will remove my right kidney and a bunch of lymph nodes. Recovery is 4-6 days in hospital, then a few weeks at home, followed by the "kitchen sink of toxic soup."

And of course, if you have ever read my posts, a long version. Last winter I could kite 3-4 hours at a time and be tired but ok at the end of it. In March, I went to Spain and slept 5 of 10 days on the trip. When I got back I just didn't feel right. Very tired, mild flu like symptoms, but no flu.

In April I had a blood test done, and everything looked fine. As summer progressed, I could kite, but for less and less time. I didn't want to ride a bike on non-kiting days, and I always wanted to take a nap. Sometimes 1-3 hours in the middle of a day off. Kiting was really the only activity that required high energy that I was stoked enough to do, largely thanks to you guys.

I am allergic to Utah Lake and Deer Creek. When I kite there and get a nose full, I can't breathe out of my nose at night for about 48 hours. I also have some other allergies that aren't super bad, but I had a dermatologist tell me that I was allergic to the plate in my ankle. So I figured getting rid of the plate might wake me up. I had the plate taken out on November 10th. On November 6th or so I kited with Billy for a little over an hour and was TRASHED at the end. I didn't even kite hard since there were so many rocks.

They took some blood samples and in November my hematocrit (how much oxygen your red blood cells carry) had dropped from 49 to 30. I was officially anemic. I was sent to a GI specialist to look for ulcers and other things that might be causing me to lose blood. An upper and lower GI probe found nothing. But they did another blood test. While I was on the table - pre procedure - I heard the doc say "118, that's got to be a mistake, have them run the test again. I've NEVER seen a value that high." He was talking about my CRP (C Reactive Protein) test number - a value that should be around 1 on a normal person. A value of 2 or higher suggests that you are fighting severe inflamation or infection. People that are losing their limbs are usually around a 7. The retest actually confirmed my number of 118.

After finding nothing, the GI specialist wanted to drop a camera housed inside a capsule through my GI tract. In order to do this, he would need an abdominal CT scan to see if my body would accommodate the size of the camera. When a doc read the CT scan they found a 5cm mass on my kidney and what looks to be a 2.5cm mass in my lymph nodes near my heart. This was confirmed with an MRI.

Kidney cancer usually presents itself in stage four, having spread to various parts of the body. At that point, it's usually too late. I am lucky enough to find this stuff in stage 3. It has spread, but not very far. Since the lymph nodes are in between the vena cava and aorta, I have to have full open surgery, in case they hit my heart and have to repair it, they need to be in there and ready to go.

Recovery is 4-6 days in the hospital if all goes well, then a few weeks at home, and no lifting more than 10 pounds for two months. We won't know what kind of chemo or radiation I get until that pathology comes back in mid Jan. It will suck, but I have the best chance of returning to normal compared to anyone who gets this crap.

Huntsman Cancer Hospital is one of the tops in the country, and I am luck enough to have a kick ass surgeon who gets me. He's one of the best in the country, if not the world. All of my docs have either been good friends or direct referrals from docs that are good friends. When I started the ball rolling, they found this crap SO fast and rearranged so many schedules, staying late to see me etc. it was amazing. We have phenominal health care in Utah.

I will post on Facebook as often as I can. Friend me as Chris Pepe Sherwin if you want updates. Kathy has bailed on her pro cycling career to take care of me, and she will probably need more support than myself. We have a great network of friends including you guys to look after us. If you want to visit, Huntsman only "allows" 2 visitors at a time in the hospital. Drop a line on Facebook to see if we can even have people in. I am hoping to have people over to watch movies and do stupid things at the house while I do home recovery, I really don't know how coherent I will be in the Hospital.

Thanks to so many of you for calling and sharing your concern. I have been happily overwhelmed with phone calls, texts, and emails. It's great, thanks. But I have been working at the resort during our busiest time of the year, and am demolished when I get home, plus I have had to "get my things in order" and that has been taxing / time consuming. You can contact me, but I might be a while getting back to you.

As far as help goes, we might need some people to drop in from time to time when I start the drugs, but I really don't know exactly what that will be like yet.

In the meantime, keep sending the good juju, prayers and vibes our way. It is my full intention to get towed around by a kite at full force within the next year --- maybe sooner.

Thanks guys
Chris Pepe Sherwin

[Marty Lowe]

So sad to hear this Chris
Best wishes, I'll be thinking of you daily.
Get well. Please,,,

[jason morton]

Chris-
Couldn't think of a stronger individual than yourself to battle this thing. I work at Huntsman half time. I will be coming to see you!

[rizzle]

Your in our prayers brotha... We are all here for anything you need

Ry..

[salvador]

cancer suck .you are strong men,get beter pepe u the only guy i can talk in espanol.

[David Kyle]

I had no idea, I overlooked this post for the last couple days without reading it.
Now I feel horrible for calling you a qweer at DC that one day (jokingly). I am afraid to read your entire post
at this time but I'm sure everyone is behind you whatever the severity. I'd offer you one of my kidneys but they are probably
not holding water right now. Would a liver interest you at all? No No bad idea, mine would'nt even get you around the block, Sorry.......
Well, I've missed seeing you this season. You are one of those guys who's absents is definately noticed.
Hope to see you back with us soon.

[bradsaxe]

Chris,

You are the one guy I know that can face this head on and come out on top. We are pulling hard for you and think of you everyday. Here to help you both whenever.

Brad

[bordy]

Pepe big day is today!!!! Let all hope his surgery goes well!!!!