EDITOR91裸聊视频橲 NOTE (May 3, 2018): Keven Drews has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.

91裸聊视频撯赌撯赌�

KEVEN DREWS ANSWERED the phone a little out of breath.

91裸聊视频淗ey Keven, it91裸聊视频檚 Beau,91裸聊视频� I say, trying to sound cheerful in light of the heavy interview that was about to go down. 91裸聊视频淗ow are you feeling today?91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淯gh,91裸聊视频� he grunts. 91裸聊视频淕ood enough to muck around.91裸聊视频�

Keven was expecting my call.

I hear music playing in the background and if you didn91裸聊视频檛 know any better, you would get the impression that he was pulled away from mundane household chores, like doing laundry or sweeping out the garage.

Keven was indeed 91裸聊视频渢idying things up91裸聊视频� around his Rosemary Heights home on this dreary Thursday morning.

But the kind of tidying up he was doing was anything but mundane.

The 45-year-old former journalist was rounding up all his photos 91裸聊视频� thousands of them 91裸聊视频� putting them all in one place so his wife and children will have them when he is gone.

91裸聊视频淪o I91裸聊视频檓 busy, but not the kind of busy I want to be,91裸聊视频� he says, slowly starting to catch his breath.

91裸聊视频淓ssentially, I91裸聊视频檓 wrapping my life up.91裸聊视频�

That is the Keven Drews I know, I think to myself 91裸聊视频� always doing things to the best of his ability.

Even when preparing to die.

91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频�

IF IT WEREN91裸聊视频橳 for journalism 91裸聊视频� and maybe music 91裸聊视频� Keven Drews and I would likely never have been friends.

In the early 2000s, we were just coming from different places. But we worked together at the now defunct Nanaimo Daily News and we bonded over the many shared experiences and challenges that came with working the night desk. Plus, having a gruff, no-nonsense editor straight out of the whiskey-in-your-desk 91裸聊视频�60s also gave us plenty to vent about.

Music also connected us. Keven knew tons about music, and I was a budding guitar player. In fact, our friendship was cemented when Keven91裸聊视频檚 talented wife Yvette 91裸聊视频� now a Surrey school teacher 91裸聊视频� joined me at the front of a small martini bar in Nanaimo for a three-song acoustic set.

It was my first time playing guitar in public and I remember Keven pushing us to be the best we could be as we rehearsed those three songs again and again.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. That was the Keven I knew in Nanaimo 91裸聊视频� it was his mantra about journalism, music, relationships, and life in general.

Later that year, his life changed forever 91裸聊视频� and I was with him when it happened.

We were surfing on Long Beach in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, when Keven suddenly screamed out in pain, clutching at his chest and ribs.

91裸聊视频淚t was like being stabbed in the back with a blunt knife,91裸聊视频� he said later.

He went to the emergency room but doctors simply thought it was a slipped disc or he had done something to his back out in the surf.

An MRI in 2003 revealed the unthinkable. He had multiple myeloma 91裸聊视频� cancer of the plasma cells.

91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频�

CANCER.

The word shocked him.

91裸聊视频淚t really felt like I was disassociated from my body,91裸聊视频� Keven says. 91裸聊视频淚 felt like I was not there, like it was a movie. Just a complete loss of control over yourself. I don91裸聊视频檛 mean crying, you just get this sense, what just happened? This force has come into my life and I was just numb.91裸聊视频�

And multiple myeloma?

That type of cancer typically attacks people in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

Regardless, what the disease had in store for Keven was excruciating pain 91裸聊视频� 14 years of it.

It91裸聊视频檚 a disease that starts in the marrow and essentially 91裸聊视频渂reaks and buckles bone from the inside,91裸聊视频� as he puts it (at one point, his vertebrae actually came apart).

While it91裸聊视频檚 not clear what causes multiple myeloma, doctors do know that it begins with one abnormal plasma cell in your bone marrow 91裸聊视频� the soft, blood-producing tissue that fills in the centre of most of your bones. The abnormal cell multiplies uncontrollably and make more abnormal plasma cells, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. This makes it hard for other blood cells in the bone marrow to develop and work normally.

• SEE ALSO:

Since being diagnosed, Keven has undergone a stem cell transplant as well as multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. After multiple relapses, Keven and his family started raising money near the end of 2017 to send him to a clinical trial based in Seattle.

The trial develops what91裸聊视频檚 called 91裸聊视频淐AR T91裸聊视频� cell therapy. Medical staff would remove from his body and then re-engineer in a lab T cells, the immune system91裸聊视频檚 killer cells, before infusing them back into his blood stream to attack the cancer.

It was his last chance.

91裸聊视频淭his is it,91裸聊视频� he in early November. 91裸聊视频淚f I don91裸聊视频檛 do it, I die.91裸聊视频�

But it wasn91裸聊视频檛 a sure thing. He would have to be accepted 91裸聊视频� and come up with about $675,000.

No problem. After all, this is Keven Drews we91裸聊视频檙e talking about, a guy who is using his cancer to teach his two kids a lesson in resilience, about what it means to fight for your life.

91裸聊视频淗ow fast can I raise this?91裸聊视频� he said in November. 91裸聊视频淲e just thought we can91裸聊视频檛 sit around because of how quickly things move. You gotta fight.91裸聊视频�

A GoFundMe page was set up and the money started coming in. A Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter account were launched. A fundraiser on Vancouver Island was organized.

As the funds started building, so did his family91裸聊视频檚 hope.

But another storm cloud 91裸聊视频� perhaps the final one 91裸聊视频� was on the horizon.

91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淣O CLINICAL TRIAL,91裸聊视频� read the ominous header on one of Keven91裸聊视频檚 Facebook posts in early January.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 like to lose,91裸聊视频� he wrote, 91裸聊视频渁nd I91裸聊视频檓 losing my battle against multiple myeloma91裸聊视频攊n a big way. My team of Vancouver-based doctors informed me last week I would not be participating in the clinical trial I had pinned my hopes of survival on.91裸聊视频�

In a heart-breaking turn of events, Keven91裸聊视频檚 out-of-whack calcium and creatinine levels were enough to disqualify him.

91裸聊视频淭hat means there is nothing left, except for some minor medications, to hold the cancer back, and I am running out of time.91裸聊视频�

Looking back, his voice brims with pride over the phone as he recounts all he has achieved, despite everything life has thrown at him.

91裸聊视频淚n 2003, it was death or a transplant, those were the options,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淎nd in those 14 years, I have accomplished a lot. I have no regrets91裸聊视频� I didn91裸聊视频檛 waste any time. I had a business going, I did my Masters in creative writing, I had two kids, a wonderful wife.

91裸聊视频淭here is a lot more I want to accomplish but it91裸聊视频檚 not gonna happen,91裸聊视频� he adds, his voice lowering.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 have the time.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频�

KEVEN DREWS has always loved writing 91裸聊视频� and he91裸聊视频檚 done a lot of it.

After attending school in Surrey, he graduated from UBC and earned a post-degree certificate in journalism from Langara College.

Over his career, he has worked at newspapers in B.C. and Washington state. Most recently, he worked with Canadian Press.

He even completed an MFA in creative non-fiction at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. while undergoing chemo.

These days, he has been putting the finishing touches on his latest personal essay he titled, 91裸聊视频淔ourteen Years of Pain.91裸聊视频�

He also reads. A lot.

But there91裸聊视频檚 a problem.

91裸聊视频淚 keep ordering books, Beau,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淚 ordered three books yesterday and I91裸聊视频檓 wondering if I91裸聊视频檓 going to get the time to read them.91裸聊视频�

That91裸聊视频檚 why every day Keven spends with his wife and two boys is immeasurable.

91裸聊视频淵our family is the most important thing in the world,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淢y family is here for me right now. And they will be there for me when I meet the end.91裸聊视频�

By now, you may be wondering 91裸聊视频� as I was 91裸聊视频� how does Keven keep it all together? After all, Keven has seen people in his situation simply give up and die when their will was gone.

What is it that gives him such strength?

91裸聊视频淚 seem to have this internal drive that you have probably seen in my life, going back to Nanaimo, that just pushes me continually forward,91裸聊视频� he says.

91裸聊视频淚 just cannot get away from that. It91裸聊视频檚 this weird feeling, that I want to experience more, and I91裸聊视频檓 not talking about money.

91裸聊视频淚 seem to have this drive that makes me want to gain more experiences in life.91裸聊视频�

He also watches movies 91裸聊视频� comedies, of course.

91裸聊视频淵ou have to,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淭his is as much a psychological battle as it is a physical battle.91裸聊视频�

Finally, Keven shares some advice for people whose lives are being rocked by cancer.

91裸聊视频淵ou can91裸聊视频檛 quit,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淒on91裸聊视频檛 waste any seconds. Just because you get that diagnosis doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean you91裸聊视频檙e dead.91裸聊视频�

We end our interview by making plans for coffee 91裸聊视频� it turns out their new place is just up the road from the Now-Leader office.

But we had better do it quickly, he adds in an ominous tone.

I start saying my goodbyes with a heavy soul.

But somehow, I also feel uplifted. Maybe it is because Keven reminded me of the importance of family 91裸聊视频� and just how minute some of our day-to-day problems really are in the grand scheme of things.

I also feel inspired, knowing that his story is sure to encourage thousands of people, whether they91裸聊视频檝e just begun their battle with cancer or are near their journey91裸聊视频檚 end.

Before I hang up, I thank Keven for his honesty and tell him I admire his strength of character.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a scary thing,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淵ou can quit or you can go on. And I didn91裸聊视频檛 quit.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淎nd you91裸聊视频檙e going on,91裸聊视频� I say as I reach for the big red 91裸聊视频榮top91裸聊视频� button on my voice recorder.

91裸聊视频淵eah,91裸聊视频� he replies.

91裸聊视频淲ell, as far as I can, right?91裸聊视频�

beau.simpson@surreynowleader.com
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