Article content Josh Lombardi was out for a walk last fall when, over the phone, he heard the words desmoplastic small round cell tumours for the first time. Known as DSRCT, it’s an extremely rare form of cancer, a soft-tissue in which tumours grow in fat, muscles, tendons, lymph and blood vessels, and nerves. had noticed an increase in urinary frequency, which had led him to his initial consultation with his family doctor last October.
“Vague symptoms,” Lombardi said. “Being more sore after exercise, occasional headaches, nothing one would think is too serious.” On Aug.
24 and 25, Lombardi and his “team” will take part in the , a 200-kilometre cycle from Cloverdale to Hope that since its inception in 2009 has raised almost $125 million for the . His wife Sophie, mother Val, siblings Lyndsay and Joey, Dr. Torsten Nielsen (a B.
C. cancer researcher who specializes in sarcomas), and several friends will ride for Team Josh, along with roughly 2,000 other riders in the Tour de Cure. One in two British Columbians will face cancer at some point in their lifetime, according to the B.
C. Cancer Foundation — more than 30,000 people in B.C.
are diagnosed each year, and rates are rising due to an aging population. DSRCT, first noted in 1989, occurs mostly to white males between the ages of 10 and 30. Many patients remain symptom-free when the cancer begins.
As the tumours grow, symptoms can include pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal swelling. Lombardi, a 33-year-old Vancouver dentist, is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the B.C.
Cancer Foundation. The rare cancer has turned the world for himself and Sophie, practically still newlyweds, upside down. It began with a physical by his GP, during which a mass was detected in his abdomen.
Rushed to an urgent ultrasound, several abdominal masses were discovered. “I was shocked, and Sophie was stunned,” Lombardi said. “It did not make any sense to me because I was otherwise healthy and my symptoms were not very bothersome.
” A CT scan revealed it could be a type of he was dealing with. “The biopsy results came about a week later. We learned the name of this cancer over the phone while I was out on a walk with my brother.
” A meeting with sarcoma specialists at B.C. Cancer confirmed it was an ultra-rare and aggressive disease.
“My initial thoughts were, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ “It just seemed so unfair. I felt scared and confused, but ready to fight.” Lombardi played competitive baseball and several high school sports growing up.
He’s a skier, hiker, recreational hockey player, and remains active. He completed a Bachelor of Kinesiology and then his Doctor of Dental Surgery at the University of Western Ontario in London, then returned to Vancouver. He and Sophie first met in 2018 through Bumble, an online dating service.
He was 28, she 27. They had attended neighbouring high schools and both did the outdoor-education program at Prince of Wales Secondary. Finding common ground was easy, Lombardi said.
They have taken some nice vacations during the past few months. “We were married just six months before the diagnosis. Sophie was devastated, but she has come a long way to feeling okay, even happy, most days now.
” He refrains from asking doctors for a prognosis. “I am aware that my prognosis has never been good. I have consciously not asked my doctors for their opinion on prognosis because I don’t think it matters.
“What matters to me is doing everything I can to live a good and healthy life, one day at a time.”.
