4-time Iditarod champ diagnosed with leukemia

DONORS: Susan Butcher is in a Seattle hospital and is expected to need a bone marrow transplant.

By DOUG O'HARRA

Anchorage Daily News

Published: December 9, 2005

Last Modified: December 9, 2005 at 01:19 PM

Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champ Susan Butcher, who battled ferocious Bering Sea storms to dominate dog-mushing in the 1980s and become one of the nation's most celebrated sportswomen, is now fighting for her life in a Seattle hospital.

The retired musher was diagnosed late last week in Seattle with a form of leukemia, a potentially fatal cancer that attacks the blood and bone marrow.

The 50-year-old Butcher, who had experienced difficult-to-pin-down health problems for years, began treatment Tuesday at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington, according to a statement from the family.

Butcher must undergo several months of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant once the leukemia is in remission. She and her family may have to remain in Seattle up to six months.

"Susan will fight this as hard as any person can," said husband Dave Monson, in a written statement. "She loves her family and she loves her life. That will be what keeps her motivated through the hard times."

Acute myelogenous leukemia, also known as AML, develops because of a defect in immature cells in the bone marrow. It's one of the most common types of leukemia in adults, with almost 12,000 new cases expected this year, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. About 50 cases have been reported in Alaska.

A legend in mushing circles because of her intense, meticulous approach to dog training and with a record that put women on the same level as men, Butcher and her husband, Monson, have already worked up a "plan of attack" to beat the disease, said Willow musher DeeDee Jonrowe, one of Butcher's close friends.

"You know, I don't really care what the medical community would say about this particular disease," Jonrowe said Thursday. "I know Susan, and when Susan puts her mind to something -- there is no more formidable pair than Susan and Dave. There's nothing those two united can't accomplish."

As word of Butcher's diagnosis spread, the mushing community began to rally around Butcher with a flurry of e-mails. People have been volunteering to help care for the couple's dogs at their kennel outside Fairbanks, Jonrowe said.

"We're just like everybody else right now -- our prayers are with Susan and Dave," said Chas St. George, director of public relations for the Iditarod Trail Committee. "I think we just want to make sure that if there's anything we could do to help out, we would be there."

Monson said they need to find a donor whose bone marrow is compatible with Butcher's. The hospital has been recruiting donors from her family -- including Monson and their two young daughters, Margarethe Tekla and Chisana. But doctors say the chance that any one individual will match Butcher may be as remote as one in 50,000, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

The Blood Bank of Alaska will hold a statewide drive for potential donors on Dec. 30.

"I think people understand there's a very small chance their bone marrow will be a match, but someone is going to save Susan's life through a bone marrow donation," Monson wrote. "If they go on the register, they have the possibility to save someone else's life. This process is so important, and this call for help is for everybody who needs a bone marrow donor."

The family will post updates on the Web site www.susanbutcher.com with information on how people can donate. Wells Fargo has set up the Susan Butcher Donation Account and donations can be made at any branch in the country.

Butcher's rise as a musher is part of Iditarod lore. After growing up in Massachusetts and working as a veterinary technician in Colorado, Butcher came to Alaska in 1975 and learned dog mushing while living in a wall tent outside of Knik and working for Joe Redington, founder of the Iditarod.

Through careful breeding and obsessive training, Butcher became the most competitive female musher in a sport dominated by men, particularly Fairbanks-area neighbor and rival Rick Swenson.

In 1985, Butcher was widely thought on the verge of her first victory in the 1,100-mile race, but she dropped out after a moose stomped her dogs, the only time she hasn't finished an Iditarod she started. Libby Riddles went on to win, becoming the first female champion.

But Butcher roared back the following season to win in record time.

From 1986 to 1991, dogs fielded by Butcher, in partnership with Monson, dominated the sport. She became the first of only two mushers and the only woman to win three races in a row in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Her fourth win came in 1990. She was poised to win in 1991 and become the first five-time champion, but a blizzard forced her and several other top contenders to turn around, and Swenson mushed through the storm to win the race.

Butcher gradually changed her focus, with gigs as a blunt commentator for television race coverage and as an inspirational speaker. After the births of her daughters, she devoted much of her time to parenthood.

Dealing with cancer can be terrifying, said Jonrowe, who fought breast cancer in 2002 and entered the 2003 race while still undergoing chemotherapy.

"It is a fight, and the more people who come together to your side, the better you feel about it," Jonrowe said. "I know that was the case for me. When you feel like you're fighting alone, that's really bad.

"I know Susan and David are awesome, and they'll surprise any prognosis. But she's not a super cartoon character. They really are going to need our prayers and help."

Daily News reporter Doug O'Harra can be reached at do'harra@adn.com. Reporter Craig Medred contributed to this story.