Challenges aren't new to EOU football coach
Jim Fenwick, but having been diagnosed with leukemia, he's now in the

FIGHT OF HIS LIFE

By Pierre LaBossiére
The La Grande Observer

Published: April 12, 2004

University Advancement/C.J. Gish Mountaineer football head coach Jim Fenwick, on medical leave from EOU, is awaiting a bone marrow transplant in Seattle.

It's a waiting game for Eastern Oregon head football coach Jim Fenwick.

Only it isn't a game. Fenwick, on a medical leave of absence from EOU, is currently living in Seattle, preparing for the day a match is found for a bone-marrow transplant.

After coaching Eastern to a 4-6 record, the team's best record since 1999, Fenwick discovered in November that he has leukemia. After undergoing chemotherapy over the winter, it was decided that the chemo protocol of his treatment would have to be changed, and that a bone-marrow transplant was necessary.

Finding an appropriate bone-marrow donor takes more than just matching Fenwick's blood type. Bone marrow matching Fenwick's marrow "markers" has to be found through the database of the National Marrow Donor Program.

"I have some pretty unique markers that are hard to find. It's (finding an appropriate donor) tougher than most people realize," Fenwick said. Doctors are hoping to find a donor for him within a month.

Recently, a donor drive was held in La Grande, and more than 100 people participated. A similar donor drive in Southern California, where much of Fenwick's family lives and where he coached for several years at Los Angeles Valley Junior College and California State University, Northridge, garnered more than 500 participants.

Fenwick and his wife, Gayle, are living in an apartment annex of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in Seattle while he undergoes more aggressive treatment. The rest of his family joined him in Seattle for the Easter holiday.

He hasn't drawn attention to himself or his illness, but he said that after hearing about the response to the bone-marrow drive in La Grande, he was overwhelmed by the community support. He said a lot of the credit goes to Gayle, family friend Brenda Jackson, and Eastern Oregon Athletic Director Rob Cashell.

"I'm very grateful. I'm very blessed," he said.

Being such a long way from La Grande, "it's very reassuring" to hear about the response in the community, he said.

Fenwick has only lived in La Grande for four years, taking over the position of offensive coordinator in 2000 and the head coaching job in 2002. He said that while he hasn't lived in town that long, the response from the community has been enormous. Since La Grande is "a smaller community, it's enabled us to meet a lot of people," he said.

There are four major types of leukemia, and Fenwick has acute lymphocytic leukemia, which more commonly afflicts children. Advances in treatment in the past several years have given children an excellent chance of recovering from ALL if the disease is caught early enough. Eighty-five percent of children afflicted by ALL stay in remission for more than five years after treatment.

Fenwick said he started feeling run-down toward the end of last football season.

"You get run down and tired anyway," from the toll of the long hours required in coaching a college football team, he said. But he felt more tired than usual, and also seemed to have symptoms of a stubborn flu.

"My wind ... my endurance wasn't there. I was getting more and more tired and fatigued," he said. Fenwick went to a doctor, thinking he needed treatment for a sinus infection or a perhaps at worst mononucleosis. Instead, when the results of a blood test came back, he received shocking news.

"To hear ‘leukemia' was pretty unbelievable," he said.

He began cancer treatment the following day in Walla Walla. "After the diagnosis, it was ‘what can we do, and let's get going.' I've been in the fast lane ever since," he said.

Fenwick is now on a 27-day chemotherapy program in preparation of a bone marrow donor being found. While undergoing chemo, he will have to avoid areas where he might be susceptible to infections, and he will have to wear a surgical mask in some public areas.

He also said his assistant coaches have done a great job of handling the situation. Fenwick was involved in recruiting over the winter, and the Mountaineers had a great recruiting season, picking up the Idaho 5A high school player of the year and other prized recruits. He planned to take part in spring drills, but had to take a medical leave of absence to move to Seattle. Defensive Coordinator Travis Baker has taken over as interim head coach.

Fenwick also said the response at the EOU campus has been fantastic. He isn't sure if all of his players completely understand the full magnitude of what he is going through, but said, "They've been pretty resilient." However, the support he's received from his players and other Eastern Oregon students has left him impressed.

"We're surrounded by so many great student-athletes at Eastern. They're just some really neat kids at that school," he said. "These kids make me want to do my part and help the community ... that's why we're all in this profession to begin with."

Contact Information

University Advancement Eastern Oregon University One University Boulevard La Grande, OR 97850 phone 541.962.3740 fax 541.962.3680 email University Advancement