Introduction to Olson Strong
My name is John Olson and I started this blog with the intention of sharing some insight into my family’s life and times. Having retired in 2025, I thought this would be a good use of my time and provide a resource for my friends and family to keep up with our world as we move through it. But first some history!
I was first brought into this world in 1965 as the second born son of two loving parents, Ronald Dean Olson and Mary Lu (Cox) Olson. Ron and Mary Lu met when they were around 15 at a church function and were married in 1962 in Belmond Iowa. My brother Dean was born in 1963 in Belmond and my parents then moved to Bellflower, California to be near my father’s parents. Thus I was born in California, but only lived there for a few years before making our way back to Iowa where I grew up.
Barbara was first brought into this world in1966 as the second born daughter of two loving parents, Darrell Rae Tracy and JuNean Gayle (Womachka) Tracy. Darrell and JuNean met at an A&W Rootbeer where JuNean worked as a carhop. Darrell was on leave from the Air Force at the time and gave JuNean a ride home from work then redeployed to the Air Force, returning a year or so later to rekindle the romance. They married in 1961 in Maquoketa, Iowa. They purchased the farmstead from Darrell’s parents and began a long career of farming. Barbara’s sister, Carla, was born in 1961 in Maquoketa.
Barbara and I grew up in different but similar worlds. She grew up on a farm, raising livestock, growing crops, and living off the land. My father came from the farm life, but instead of going back he became an entrepreneur in the water softener business. Our family moved to a 5 acre plot, where we pretended to be farmers, raising some livestock and growing a huge garden. Different, but similar worlds for sure as our parents were both strongly independent and very self reliant in providing for their families. Both worked hard and instilled a work ethic in their children that would serve them well in the future.
Barbara and I also led somewhat different lives in our early years.. She was a farm girl, basketball player, and a dedicated student throughout high school. I was a faux farm boy, football player, and a lousy student throughout high school. As fate would have it we both ended up at the American Institute of Business, a two year business school in Des Moines Iowa. Who knew that we both grew up a couple hours apart and ended up moving into the same dormitory a couple of hours away from our respective homes.
We first met in 1984 and were married in 1986 to begin our lives together. In 1987 we made the decision to move to Houston, Texas to be near my parents who had moved there in 1983. Our firstborn, a daughter, Courtney Rose, was born in 1988 and our son, Tyler John, was born in 1992. They gave us great pleasure growing up and have both grown into fine adults with great careers that we are extremely proud of. Courtney married George Sanchez in 2016 which added a fine young man and a Marine to our family. George has a daughter named Alexiz which made Barbara and I instant grand parents and she subsequently had a daughter, Octavia, in 2023 officially making Barbara and I Great Grandparents! We all currently live in Texas and spend as much time as possible together.
So how did Olson Strong come to be? In 2012, I was a cycling coach for Team in Training, a fundraising arm for LLS (The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). We would take groups of people through an 18 week training program with the goal of riding a century (100 miles) bike ride somewhere in the country. We rode in Oahu, Hawaii, Tucson, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Lake Tahoe, NV, Hershey, PA, and etc.. raising 100’s of thousands of dollars for patient services and research.
Around July of that year I noticed a painful lump in my right calf muscle, not unusual for a cyclist, but something that my wife, Barbara, insisted on getting checked out by medical professionals. My GP sent me to a surgeon who was convinced that I had a hematoma (bruise) that should be drained surgically. The surgery was scheduled and a few days later I was informed that I had a very rare form of soft tissue cancer (Sarcoma) in my calf. The tumor itself was approximately 4cm x 6cm x 12cm buried deep in the Soleus Muscle of my right calf.
The surgery for the hematoma, as we would later learn, was called an “Oops” Surgery due to the fact that it was found by inadvertently cutting into the tumor to “drain” the hematoma. The surgeon was a young fellow that really meant well and really wanted to help, but when I went to him for a follow up appointment, it became apparent that he’d read the same google pages that I had concerning Sarcoma treatment and potential outcomes. At that point we decided to look into second opinions. Soon after, we found out that there were only two specialized Sarcoma Treatment Clinics, at the time in the entire country, MD Anderson in Houston, Tx and Sloan-Kettering in New York, NY. Since we were already in Houston we chose MD Anderson.
A cancer diagnosis is shocking and unsettling not only for the patient but also the entire family, especially one so rare and aggressive as Sarcoma. I spent a lot of time researching the history, treatments, potential outcomes about what I was facing. Dr. Google became both my friend and my tormentor, unfortunately leading me down sometimes mildly terrifying pathways. Fortunately, Barbara, as the voice of reason, convinced me to listen to what the MDA doctors had to say. They moved relatively quickly, forced me to take a break from coaching cycling, cancel our Hawaii and Las Vegas trips to begin treatment as soon as possible.
Treatment started out with the AIM protocol of Chemotherapy in early September. It was a harsh treatment and I was hospitalized for the initial session so that they could monitor how it was tolerated. 5 days of being infused with Doxorubicin, Ifosfamide, and Mesna along with fluids and constant monitoring and blood tests. I survived that session and was given a two week reprieve before starting it all again. The following treatments I was outpatient at a clinic near our home for daily infusions and then provided a backpack pump to keep the “Red Devil” infusion continuous for 4 days. I would endure 7 more sessions of one week on and two weeks off to recover.
My last treatment, #8, would again see me hospitalized over my birthday with a Neutropenic fever, making me very susceptible to infection. It wasn’t until I was in the hospital that I finally broke down and realized how bad this cancer was. If it weren’t for Barbara being by my side I probably wouldn’t have survived. I then began radiation treatments to ostensibly shrink the tumor prior to surgery.
Radiation consisted of daily trips to the downtown MD Anderson radiation center, as my Doctors preferred a radiologist with a background in Sarcoma treatments that wasn’t available at the satellite clinics. I would arise and leave the house Monday thru Friday at 5:00 am and make the 40 mile trip downtown. Once there, they would spend about 30 minutes or so getting me positioned on the table precisely. Once that was done the radiation machine was turned on and treatment lasted less than 5 minutes. The treatments weren’t painful and the only symptoms I experienced was some fatigue and skin irritation at the treatment site on my calf. I endured approximately 45 days of radiation
During the recovery phase of the chemo treatments I was determined to ride my bike to maintain some level of fitness. Most weekends a group of friends would join me on bike rides ranging from 20-50 miles at a time. As the treatments progressed, the ‘recovery time” became tougher and rides became shorter. My employer was a great support to us both during those times and I was also able to work remotely. That latitude combined with cycling kept me somewhat sane throughout the process and made the treatments somewhat bearable.
I’ve always been a big fan of Lance Armstrong, having read his books and followed his cycling career. He’s a cancer survivor of course, and had come up with the “LiveStrong” foundation, which provided a lot of information and support for my own psyche during this time. That’s where I came up with the name of “Olson Strong” and borrowed the term “Fight Like Hell” to help me and my family stay strong and focused on facing whatever head winds came along. That inspired my daughter, Courtney, to purchase wristbands with those terms on them and it has became our calling card. Not real sure where this is going to lead us. Thanks for reading this far and check back if you wish to read more.
.
Leave a Reply