Our patient stories

Bob Holdsworth

Stage III oral cancer

“I might have put it off, but after cancer, I said ‘Do it now,’” says Bob Holdsworth. So, at the age of 50, Bob set off to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Bob Holdsworth spent New Year's Day of 2009 at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Bob had been diagnosed with stage III oral cancer that had metastasized to a lymph node. He quickly joined a VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center clinical trial that would treat the tumor with high doses of radiation while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue. The treatment was successful and eliminated Bob’s cancer.

“It sounds trite, but the smell of flowers, the sunrise, it all takes on a new dimension after cancer,” says Bob, “and I don’t want to take it for granted.” Five years after surviving cancer and an eight-day grueling climb, he reached the summit of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

“Unlike many of my fellow climbers for whom the suffering was part of the journey, for me it was all about joy. I told them, ‘I’ve done my suffering and made it to the other side — this is fun.’”

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