SAN DIEGO - A local Marine is undergoing a third round of chemotherapy, but he is not giving up his goal of finishing a triathlon.
"He has a disorder that with traditional chemotherapy is not curable," says doctor Peter Curtin from UCSD.
Clay Treska is undergoing some of the most aggressive and intense cancer treatment around, but he is continuing to train for a 2010 Ironman from his hospital room.
"I definitely feel fatigued. I've lost weight," says Treska.
Doctors at UCSD's Moore Cancer Center used chemotherapy to destroy Treska's bone marrow and then later transplanted his own healthy stem cells so the marrow could recover.
"It's very aggressive therapy. It's very intensive therapy," says Curtin.
The chemo essentially destroyed Treska's immune system to kill the cancer leaving him with painful sores in his mouth and a compromised immune system. "What you see on the outside doesn't reflect what's on the inside. If anything, I feel ten times more ambitious, more inspired to see us through to go to the Ironman."
Treska's friends -- now known as Team Treska -- are helping the Marine train for the triathlon and have now committed to finishing it with him. But first Treska has to undergo another round of the chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant before taking on the triathalon.
"This is a fight to beat cancer, period." says Treska.
His doctor says the next round of treatment will be even more intense, but Treska's chances of survival are good.
"I think Clay is a good example of the heroism that I see everyday," says Curtin about his patients who he says face death with amazing courage.
