Help Victor and Diane Gerdin beat cancer

My name is Martin Gerdin, and Victor and Diane (D.D.) are my parents. I am

starting this fundraising campaign to help them with a dual cancer diagnosis journey.

Victor and D.D. are incredibly special people.

They have lived an adventurous life and have given so much to every community they have been a part of over the years. Victor has been a professional skier for his entire career, which included a role as mountain planner for Aspen Snowmass for the past 25 years. Having taught thousands of people to ski, he has ignited a passion for the mountains in countless people. My older sister Theresa and I were practically born on skis. D.D. chose a nurturing career path

and followed my sister Theresa and I through the various schools until we graduated.

She then spent more than a decade as a chef at Colorado Rocky Mountain School.

They have touched many lives through their work and many more besides. D.D. was a

Girl Scout leader and saw a group of young girls through to their Gold Award

(the equivalent of Eagle Scout) and Victor did the same with the Boy Scouts. They have

always valued powerful experiences over material things. Having a wide array of

outdoor skills beyond skiing, Victor has always compelled people to push their physical

limits, which is reflected best in my sister. She has followed in his footsteps, climbing

mountains, rafting whitewater, teaching skiing, becoming a firefighter, and the list goes

on. D.D. is an artist at heart. Whether creating delicious dishes for the young

students at CRMS, or her mastery of beading, she instills the urge to create in those

she encounters. I am a professional glassblower, and that is due to her influence and

learning craftsmanship from her over the years. My parents always urged us to follow

our dreams and see where it takes us.

At the end of 2021, it looked as if they were about to embark on a very exciting

chapter. Having just returned from rafting the entire length of the Grand Canyon on a

private trip organized by Theresa, they looked forward to spending their newfound

retirement embarking on meaningful adventures. The first leg of these adventures was

completed this February, a trip to Chamonix, a world-class skiing destination that they

had dreamed of visiting for decades.

Upon returning from France, Victor had a persistent cough that wouldn't subside.

He made a visit to the emergency room in Glenwood Springs, and that night he was

airlifted to Denver. He was diagnosed with Hurthle cell Carcinoma, a type of thyroid

cancer that had caused a 7-centimeter mass to grow in his chest, compressing his

trachea. Due to this life-threatening situation, he spent 3 weeks in the hospital in Denver

where a 6-hour surgery was required to remove the tumor and thyroid glands. Although

he is recovering from this very invasive surgery well, he still requires radioactive iodine

treatment to hopefully control the further spread of the thyroid gland based cancer.

Shortly after Victor’s surgery, D.D. was also experiencing some mysterious

health complications causing Ascites, a condition where the abdominal cavity fills with

fluid. After having 5 liters drained, a biopsy on the fluid, indicated it was malignant. At

this point, her doctors knew it was cancer but did not know what kind, or where it

started. Consequently, she was advised to immediately see specialists at Swedish

Medical Center in Denver, where a 7-centimeter mass was discovered behind one of

her ovaries. Upon receiving this news, my parents couldn’t contain their laughter. The

oncologist was understandably puzzled at this response, and they explained that Victor

had a 7-centimeter mass as well. In their words, “we’ve done everything together for the

last 40 years, we might as well do this together also.” This response speaks volumes for the kind of people my parents are. Able to find the ray of light in what seems to be

pervasive darkness.

Upon finding the tumor location and suspected size, the doctors at Swedish

scheduled a surgery to remove it. Once the surgery began, they realized that the mass

was much more extensive than initially thought. They aborted the surgery, and D.D. is

preparing for chemotherapy to shrink the mass and reduce the remaining fluid so

surgery can be performed at a later date.

I am starting this GoFundMe campaign to help with all the expenses that their

insurance will not cover. Between airlifting, hotel stays for D.D. while Victor was in the

hospital and vice versa, medications, chemo, the cat scans and MRIs, this double

diagnosis has financial challenges. I am asking that everyone who has had their lives

touched by D.D. and Victor to consider donating so they can focus on healing and

recovery, instead of the significant unexpected medical bills that will ultimately whittle

away at their hard-earned retirement “nest egg”. Theresa and I will sincerely appreciate

anything you can do for them in this regard … in addition of course to keeping them in

your thoughts and prayers.