After cancer battle, St. Paul survivor completes grueling 100-mile mountain bike race
St. Paul man takes on grueling race after cancer battle
After battling a cancer diagnosis and a rare disease, St. Paul's Matt Sletten celebrated beating cancer by competing in a grueling mountain bike race in Colorado.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - After battling a cancer diagnosis and a rare disease, St. Paul's Matt Sletten celebrated beating cancer by competing in a grueling mountain bike race in Colorado.
The diagnosis
What we know:
Waiting for his turn to start the Leadville 100-mile mountain bike race in Colorado, at an elevation of 12,000 feet, is a journey that, a few years ago, Matt Sletten never thought he'd be up for.
"In hindsight you say, Oh yeah, you can see in those photos I'm looking a little pale, I'm a little thin, and I had cancer and I didn't know it, and should have probably gotten in and gotten that colonoscopy sooner,'" says Sletten.
The backstory:
At just 47 years old, Sletten was diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, which is a unique problem with his DNA, and colon cancer that had spread to his stomach.
"This is, this is like one of the craziest stories. I would always remember Matt's case for the rest of my career," says Dr. Marc Osborne, Chief of Surgery, M Health Fairview Southdale, and colorectal surgeon with Colon and Rectal Surgery Associates.
Not only did Dr. Osborne find a tumor, Sletten had dropped to barely 120 pounds. On top of that, his neighbor's home caught fire, causing Matt and his family to be relocated, for insurance reasons, monthly. And all of this happened during the peak of COVID.
What they're saying:
"It was tough. It was extremely tough," Sletten's wife Courtney Sletten said. "Being his nurse as well, working with nurses that would visit and show me how to do home infusions, and you know we'd get clogged PICC lines, and we'd have to go into the ER or tests came back that we needed to get checked out. There was a lot."
"Ultimately he needed a surgery," says Osborne, "Where his whole colon was removed, his rectum was left in place, the anus was left in place, but he also needed a good chunk of his stomach removed."
The results:
The surgery worked, removing not only his colon and large intestine, but a third of his stomach. Five months later, he underwent a long-awaited surgery to get rid of the colostomy bag and, eventually, a return to life as Matt knew it.
"I'm fortunate… really the only challenge I have is if I skip a meal and I get really hungry, I have to watch my portioning, because I like food, I like to eat, but I can only fit so much in," says Sletten.
Leadville 100:
When a lottery opportunity came to compete in the grueling, 100-mile Leadville bike race, Sletten was determined to give it a try.
"I really want to do something when I'm back and healthy. That sort of seals the deal that I'm back."
Colon Cancer diagnosed in more people in their 40s
Big picture view:
A slight crash early in the race added an extra challenge, but after what he’s been through, Matt realizes life can take anyone off course when we least expect it. He hopes sharing his story reminds others that guidelines have changed in recent years. Instead of waiting to get a colonoscopy at 50 years old, make an appointment when you hit 45.
"Incidence is going up in people in their 40s," says Osborne. "His case is a little unique with the Lynch syndrome, but we're also seeing just regular colorectal cancer kind of increase within 40 year olds."
Needless to say, completing the grueling 100-mile climb with his 13-year-old daughter Chloe beside him, was emotional beyond words for Sletten. His entire family is painfully aware that, when life knocks you off course, that doesn’t mean there are still not plenty of chances to pedal toward the finish line.
"Being diagnosed with cancer doesn't mean that your adventures stop or that your life has to change drastically, that you can still get out and be active and do things," says Sletten. "To be brave and ask for help also, I think is probably a lesson."