Cancer survivor, doctor to climb Mount Kilimanjaro together
As a survivor of pancreatic cancer, Ken Brown believes that with the help of his doctor he's already climbed the highest mountain he'll ever encounter.
Now, Brown and Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria of Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights plan to climb another mountain together - literally - as they plan to depart later this week for a six-day trek up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Brown, a 68-year-old lawyer from Highland Park, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four years ago. Bilimoria performed surgery on him in January 2014.
"I have absolutely no concern about whether or not I get to the top," Brown said during a news conference at the hospital Monday, the four-year anniversary of his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. "It's about the journey. It's not about the destination."
During a follow-up visit to the Arlington Heights hospital last April, Brown asked Bilimoria whether the doctor was planning any upcoming trips overseas. The oncology surgeon has taken more than 15 medical mission trips, performing surgeries and teaching doctors in Bolivia, China and Russia. Bilimoria just got back from India last month.
But Bilimoria told Brown about a different trip - this one to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania - with a group of eight others, including fellow doctors at Northwest Community and their friends.
"I said, 'You can't go without me. That's my dream,'" Brown told his doctor.
Brown has wanted to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 19,341 feet above sea level, since a 2011 safari. From afar, he snapped a photo to the mountain and kept it in his office as a reminder ever since.
In the days after that conversation with his doctor, Brown started to give a trip to Kilimanjaro more serious thought, getting some encouragement from his daughter-in-law.
"I think it was just meant to be," he said.
Brown was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. It is the most common form of pancreatic cancer, afflicting some 55,000 people a year in the United States, and symptoms include the yellowing and itchiness of skin and darkening of urine.
It progresses quickly and has a survival rate of just 5 percent.
But Brown's cancer was detected early, and he's been cancer-free since surgery, which removed the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, gallbladder and part of the bile duct.
"I could see when I first met Ken that he was a real fighter - a guy who said, 'Listen, I got dealt a bad hand. Can you help me with this bad hand?'" Bilimoria said.
Both have been busy training for their journey up the mountain, which begins Sunday. With four guides leading the way, the entire trek up and down the mountain is expected to cover 49 miles.
The duo's doctor-patient relationship has quickly turned into a friendship.
"We develop special bonds with our patients," Bilimoria said.