Isabella de la Houssaye never saw her lung cancer coming.
The mom of five had never smoked a day in her life, didn’t drink and spent her spare time training for marathons, Ironmans and more. She was so active — and fast, winning her age group in a half marathon just a month before her diagnosis — that de la Houssaye, 54, assumed the severe pain she was experiencing was a running injury, not cancer.
“When I got symptoms last fall, everyone thought it was a sports injury, that I was overdoing it and it was overuse, which actually delayed the diagnosis,” she tells PEOPLE. “I was so active, and it was a good thing and a bad thing. If someone had said to me that lung cancer migrates to the spine, and then to the brain, I would have been more tuned into this level 10 pain that I was experiencing, but I didn’t know that.”
So de la Houssaye, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, kept going, and even competed in an Ironman — which includes a 2.1-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run — a month before her January 10th diagnosis.
“At that point it was stage 4 lung cancer,” she says. “I had a good size tumor, 7 centimeters, in my lungs. My entire sacrum [the pelvis] was cancer. I had six tumors in my brain, I had them in my sternum, I had them in my pelvis. It was a huge wake-up call.”
De la Houssaye started a targeted treatment in February, which managed to shrink the largest of the tumors in her brain and mostly heal her pelvis. And she worked with a physical therapist to rebuild her bones and strengthen them, especially her right leg, from which she had lost all movement prior to her diagnosis.
“Part of what I’m hearing for my doctors is that because I came in so strong and healthy, and that I continued to be, it helped my treatment,” she says. “It helps you tolerate the drugs.”
Over the last few months, de la Houssaye has slowly worked her way back to a point where she could walk — first with canes — and then run, getting up to 26 miles a day.
“Every day I got stronger and stronger,” she says. “It continues to amaze me how the body responds to the load you put on it.”
De la Houssaye then got a “gift” from the Ironman Foundation — the opportunity to race in the World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, a longtime dream of hers.
“We had this big plan that we would wait until my youngest turned 18, and then the whole family could all qualify together. It didn’t happen that way, but I’ve gotten this gift from the Ironman Foundation to compete, which is just a phenomenal opportunity,” she says.
“I’ve struggled a bit this month with the stress that I didn’t want to disappoint anybody, but I found this wonderful quote that I want to use to describe my story. It’s, ‘Failure is not defeat until you stop trying.’ to me, that’s the message, and I’m not going to stop trying, and I might not finish this race, but I’m going to give it everything I have. That’s the only thing I can do.”
And de la Houssaye will apply that same quote to as she continues treatment for her lung cancer.
“As of now, I am still stage 4 unfortunately,” she explains. “The drugs do not make the cancer go away; they just make it stop progressing. The nature of these treatments is that they work for a short while, about 18 months, and then the cancer mutates, so I will have a different cancer. So I can’t even look forward and ahead and prepare for that, because I’ll do a new biopsy, and we’ll just see what we’re dealing with and make a plan then.”
But de la Houssaye says she prefers not knowing.
“I find that that relieves me of the burden of having to think two steps ahead and lets me live in the day, and in this day I feel fabulous, and I’m so excited to be participating in this race coming up,” she says. “Much like running, I know that if I put one foot in front of the other I’ll keep going, and that’s the same with my treatment.”
A Letter from Isabella
My name is Isabella de la Houssaye. I’m a 54 year old mother of five, business owner, triathlete and cancer patient. I am sharing my story in hopes that others, particularly those challenged by cancer or other debilitating illnesses, will be inspired by my story to continue to pursue their dreams despite their diagnoses.
I have so much to be grateful for. I have stage IV lung cancer and my dream of competing in the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships in Kona will be realized on October 13, 2018 thanks to the IRONMAN Foundation and Ventum Racing. The race will also mark completion of my 50th state marathon – one in every state in the United States.
My journey as an athlete probably began about the time I was born. I’ve always been active and participated in sports in one form or another. My triathlon career, however, didn’t start till I was 40 when I first learned about the Ironman. At the time, I couldn’t imagine that such a feat was possible, yet I promptly commenced learning everything I could about swim-bike-run. Fourteen years later, I’ve completed 16 iron distance races, 9 of them IRONMAN races, 5 of them with one or more of my children and 1 with my husband, David Crane. We even had a dream that when our youngest child turned 18 all 5 of the children and my husband and I would train and qualify for Kona. It never occurred to me that I might not be around to see my youngest turn 18.
My journey as a cancer patient began this past January. I felt dizzy and tired and was rapidly losing control of my right leg. By the time I was diagnosed I had a large tumor in my left lung and inoperable tumors in my brain, spine, pelvis, sternum and adrenal gland. I was devastated. The pain in my spine quickly made walking and sitting unbearable. My life as I knew it was over and the future looked short and bleak. Fortunately, I was admitted into a drug trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the drugs that I am taking (a pill every night and infusion via a port every 21 days) have stabilized my disease. I will continue on these drugs until such time as my cancer progresses (usually about 18 months) and then I will try others. I am intent on turning what many consider a “terminal” diagnosis into a chronic disease.
My journey from cancer patient back to triathlete has been challenging and painful but so very rewarding. The first and hardest step was actually mental – letting go of the sadness and suffering brought on by focusing on what I had lost and replacing it with being grateful for all that I still had that cancer could not take from me: my family and friends, my smile and positive attitude.
I then set about learning to reengage the muscles in my right leg once the tumors in my spine had shrunk sufficiently for the bones to regrow and bear weight. I used walking poles at first and every day walked a little further and with increasing confidence. Swimming enabled me to work out aerobically without stressing my bones. Getting back on the bike was a bit more complicated because I was terrified of losing my balance, falling and breaking all that wasn’t already broken. Through hard work, mindfulness, perseverance, and with the overwhelming support of my family, friends, doctors and coach, I managed to become a triathlete again. When the IRONMAN Foundation and Ventum reached out to me in July to say I had a spot in Kona, it motivated me to work even harder to make the most of that opportunity. My body is not what it was – the drugs have side effects, the port is a pain, there are things I’m just not physically capable of doing anymore – but on September 10, 2018 my son David and I completed IRONMAN Korea and I am thrilled to be taking on the Kona challenge in a few weeks.
Lessons learned over the past 9 months—
Never give up. Focus on what you have rather than what you have lost. Stay active. Keep moving. Set goals. It’s not survival of the fittest but survival of the most adaptable. Love freely and be grateful and remember that failure is not defeat until you stop trying.
If my story touches or inspires you in some way please consider making a contribution to the IRONMAN Foundation to support all the wonderful work that they do across a wide range of organizations including those focused on cancer research and support of cancer patients. And please keep me in your thoughts and prayers on race day, October 13th, and beyond.
With tremendous gratitude,
Isabella
Source: Ironman Foundation
