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Inspired by a friend’s battle with liver disease, Tracy’s Chuck Cardamon will lead a team of climbers this weekend up the 14,000-foot Mt. Shasta to raise money and awareness for the illness — just as he’s done for the past three years. As of Thursday, Cardamon has raised more than $123,000, exceeding his goal of $100,000. By Chuck Cardamon
 - Courtesy of Chuck Cardamongoing up: While the trail starts easy, bodies are adjusting to the weight of the packs and legs are getting used to the uneven trail conditions. Mountain: A land mass that projects conspicuously above its surroundings and is higher than a hill.
Molehill: A little mound or ridge of earth pushed up by a mole.
People often make the former out of the latter. Sometimes, people are afflicted with a medical problem that starts with a “molehill” and turns into a “mountain” over time. Day to day, they trudge through life with increased difficulty as their mountain grows.
Stigmas associated with diseases make personal mountains higher and harder to climb. Dealing with a long-term ailment is different from a car crash, where quick action is needed. Early diagnosed but slow to grow, a disease wears on a person as they climb higher against increased resistance.
Our group is climbing a real mountain this weekend — 14,179-foot Mount Shasta — to support those who struggle with metaphorical mountains.
A friend of mine was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease of the liver when she was 28. She learned that her disease was a long-term, chronic problem that would last for years. At first it was a blip on a medical chart, but over time, as her personal mountain grew, she experienced some of the same challenge we will while climbing Mount Shasta.
As we drive to the mountain, we will have only an idea of the true conditions and weather we will encounter. My friend knew what symptoms her disease would produce, but never knew when she might experience them.
We will walk away from the trailhead with full packs weighing on our shoulders, just as the weight of a newly discovered disease weighed on my friend.
Mild pain in our shoulders and weakness in our legs as we begin our climb are similar to my friend’s pain and weakness that developed as the disease took hold.
The climb was rocky, snowy and covered with ice. As conditions and gradient change, safety gear such as ropes, ice axes and crampons are used. Victoria sits at Helen Lake — 10,400 feet above sea level — in the dark after four hours of climbing. The ascent gets steep at Misery Hill, and the summit is nowhere in sight. The elevation is about 13,000 feet above sea level.
During our journey, our bodies and minds will learn to adapt as our legs become stable along the trail. My friend also learned to deal with her new condition, one step at a time, understanding that early on it would have little effect, and she soon returned to a daily routine.
Arriving at base camp, we will set up our tents and learn new skills to deal with Mount Shasta. My friend, over time, began to feel the effects of the disease, so doctors gave her medication to deal with her mountain.
As we start up the mountain in the dark, climbing will become progressively harder. At times, the gradient will decrease, but with the increased altitude and weary muscles, the climb will only get tougher. My friend had some times that should have seemed easier, but as her personal mountain became bigger, she became weaker and dealing with symptoms became harder. Atrophied muscles, dry leathery skin, uncontrollable itching, brittle bones, weight loss, decreased energy and mobility all took their toll on her and her family.
Climbers lean on eachother for support. Courtesy of Chuck Cardamon
At any time, we will have the chance to turn around should it become too difficult. But if we continue, we might get to the summit — a lofty goal.
Those afflicted with liver disease do not have the option to turn around, and the only summit is a transplant. Today, 16,000 people in this country are on the liver transplant list, and their only options are: Receive a liver from a deceased person; receive a partial liver from a live donor; die.
Fellow climbers take a break for a photo op.
My friend made it to her summit with option number two, from me. The surgical procedure and life-saving transplant I was able to give changed me from an outsider to an organ donor advocate and activist. I am climbing Mount Shasta for the fourth time to offer a way to the summit for 16,000 people like my friend.
The liver is the largest internal human organ and performs more than 500 known functions within the body, but might perform as many as 2,500. There are no artificial means that can replicate what the liver does, and humans cannot live without those functions.
Money raised through this event is used for education, research, training and supporting families dealing with liver-related diseases. Only awareness and education will help to make these personal mountains turn back into molehills.
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