Area man’s illness serves as motivation for One Hour Challenge
Lew Borgman was diagnosed in January of 2015 with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a bone marrow failure disorder. A former marathon runner, Lew battled through his weakened state to walk nearly one mile during his One Hour Challenge.
Friends, family and acquaintances of Lew and Mannick Borgman participated in the One Hour Challenge at the Borgman property in rural Eastman May 21. The goal for participants was to accomplish whatever amount of exercise they could in an hour. The challenge was planned and faced head-on by Lew, who has a bone marrow failure disorder, in order to raise awareness for the importance of blood donation. (Submitted photo)
This poster hung at the challenge event reflects Lew’s sense of humor and speaks for itself.
By Correne Martin
Lewis Borgman, an ironman triathlete from Eastman, was diagnosed in March 2015 with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a bone marrow failure disorder. Just over one year later, despite undergoing both blood tests and blood transfusions at least once a week, and feeling very weak, Lew pushed himself through a personally-organized One Hour Challenge at his rural property on Oak Grove Ridge Road. About 50 people, including his doctor, clinic and hospital staff, joined him and witnessed his inspiring drive to walk three laps on the three-tenths-of-a-mile course.
Myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of diverse bone marrow disorders in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells, according to mds-foundation.org. Low blood cell counts are a hallmark feature of MDS and are responsible for some of the symptoms that patients experience—infection, anemia, spontaneous bleeding or easy bruising.
Lew, who is 66 years old, believes his disease started in 2012. Since he was 30, Lew has competed in marathons, biathlons and ironman triathlons.
“I was always active, but for two years, I felt slow and lazy,” he said.
In January of 2015, Lew and his wife, Mannick, both became very ill with colds that just didn’t seem to go away. Lew’s lasted longer and, after months of being sick, his friends from the Seneca Legion finally encouraged him to go to the doctor. That is when a bad blood test indicated something more serious might be wrong. He was diagnosed with MDS.
After the diagnosis, Lew remembers feeling relieved that he had a physical problem and not a mental one.
“It was time to adjust and adapt to my current situation,” he said. “My hemoglobin, platelets, white blood cells and blood cells have critically low values. Taking different supplements can help these values, but the best way to raise and maintain these values is through blood transfusions.”
According to Mannick, Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Michael Rogge has said Lew is basically a medical miracle. She pointed out that normal hemoglobin levels for men are supposed to be between 14 and 18 grams per deciliter, but Lew’s are at 2.6. His white blood cell count is supposed to be between 3.5 billion and 10.5 billion cells per liter, but Lew’s is at 0.9. Normal platelet counts are supposed to be between 150,000 billion and 450,000 billion per liter, yet Lew has no platelets at all.
Lew is thankful his blood tests are performed at Mayo Clinic and his transfusions given at Crossing Rivers, both in Prairie du Chien.
“We are very grateful for the support he’s received from the ladies at Mayo Clinic and Crossing Rivers. They make this disease more bearable,” Mannick said.
“Everyone is very professional. My experiences have all been excellent. Through my frequent visits, they have become friends,” he added. “I told them I was going to run/walk the PdC Half Marathon/5K (this spring) and they volunteered to do it as well.”
“When he started talking about doing the 5K, I told him that I like to run and that I would do it with him,” said Teesha Smethurst, a medical lab technician at the local Mayo Clinic. “Then more of our staff decided to participate.”
Tammy Smith said surgery staff and lab techs at Crossing Rivers Health were excited to join their patient and his family and friends as well. “We had gotten to know him so well. We wanted to do it in support of Lew.”
But when the 5K was canceled, Lew decided to plan his own event on May 21, the One Hour Challenge, at which friends could help friends through a private, grass circuit course, while bringing awareness toward the importance of blood donations.
The day came, and in addition to his loved ones, 10 of his clinic and hospital friends showed up with their families to challenge themselves alongside Lew. They included Smethurst, Dr. Michael Rogge, Gail Dowd, Julie Bulawa and Megan Hundt, from Mayo, as well as Smith, Ashley Voss, Kelsey Schnuelle, April Laufenberg and Betsy Hudson from Crossing Rivers.
“He walked three rounds in the hour of his little course,” Smith said of Lew. “We’ve come to care for him so much. We were so proud of him.”
Smethurst added: “The strength and the inspiration he gave all of us was just overwhelming. We were super excited to see what he was able to do.”
Also joining the group for the challenge, live music and picnic were some employees from Southwest Vet, where Mannick works, and Lew’s fellow members of the Seneca Legion, who walked behind him during the challenge with a chair and other necessities. Green Room Spa, of McGregor, even provided free massages to participants.
Everyone was simply asked to accomplish what they could in one hour, or as Lew tagged the event, “Run for the health of it. Sweat for yourself, donate blood for others.”
As for Lew, he’s happy to have brought awareness to the need for blood donations. He wouldn’t be where he is today without them. “I encourage anyone who can to donate,” he said.
“Blood transfusions are very important for Lew. They’re keeping him alive,” Mannick said. “That’s why he believes so strongly in blood donation.”
