Alumnus' nonprofit helps cancer patients

On a recent Friday afternoon, the California Lutheran University soccer team welcomed its newest and youngest member: 8-year-old Dylan Roslauski.

Dylan is taking part in the MVP Sports Draft program through Cancer Fit Inc., a nonprofit that connects young cancer patients and their family members with local high school and college sports teams. The organization received its nonprofit certification in February but has been operating for about a year and a half.

“We’re proud to have you as one of us. Whatever we do, you’re welcome: practices, games, whatever. You’re one of us,” said Kingsmen head coach Dan Kuntz. Then the team lined up and made an aisle for Dylan to run down to receive high-fives, marking his membership as official.

After being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma in July 2012, Dylan underwent about 10 months of weekly chemotherapy that rid his body of the cancer, as well as his appetite and strength. Now, with a clean bill of health, his goal is to get his strength back. Cancer Fit is helping him do that.

The organization, the brainchild of executive director Robb Bolton, offers exercise and wellness programs, education and resources for both adult and child cancer patients. Chemo and radiation therapies that kill the cancer leave patients physically weak. Bolton and his team at Cancer Fit aim to help patients regain their strength.

“We’re trying to address quality of life for people going through cancer. There is a void in the cancer community in the quality-of-life area. . . . We’re addressing things nobody else is really doing,” Bolton said.

What Dylan and his parents experienced reflected that need.

According to Rob Roslauski, Dylan’s father, his son’s weight dropped from about 60 to 45 pounds during his chemotherapy treatments, and his muscles atrophied. Once their son was cleared of the cancer, there was no help available in terms of getting him strong again, Dylan’s mother, Christa, said.

The Roslauski family heard about Cancer Fit while networking with other cancer patients at a support group. The patients had such good things to say about the program, Christa and Rob decided to give it a try.

Working out with Bolton has given Dylan more than renewed use of his muscles.

“For Dylan, it’s given him confidence to get back out there. He’s had a mentorship with Robb, and it’s made a huge difference,” Christa said.

Bolton connects so well with his cancer patients because he has shared many of their issues firsthand.

The Newbury Park resident, who played soccer at CLU and has a master’s degree in sports business from the United States Sports Institute, is also a cancer survivor. He’d already formed the idea for the organization and was enrolled in a program to become a cancer fitness trainer and patient advocate when his doctor discovered Bolton had nodules on his thyroid.

“For me, it was a blessing that the type of cancer I had was treatable, but having gone through it, I know all the things people go through. For example, when I have classes and people tell me they have a checkup or are waiting for test results, I understand the anxiety that’s involved,” he said.

His free classes, which run about five weeks and are made up of a dozen people, address specific problems his patients face. For example, peripheral neuropathy, which can manifest in pain, tingling or spasms in hands and feet, is often a side effect of chemotherapy and other treatments, Bolton said. In April, Cancer Fit launched a pilot class focused on exercises for the feet.

The MVP Sports Draft program is another aspect of the organization.

“The idea is we try to create camaraderie and a distraction from the cancer battle,” Bolton said.

It helps the team, too, according to Kuntz, who coached Bolton at CLU.

“I think a lot of times we get more from it than anyone else. (The players) can look up to him and the strength he has,” Kuntz said.

On Aug. 22, cancer was the last thing on Dylan’s mind as he kicked the ball back and forth with Kingsmen co-captain Alex Wardle, who serves as Dylan’s liaison with the team.

Armed with a team photo, T-shirt and gloves, the fourthgrader, who plays goalie for the AYSO Piranhas, said he was excited and happy to be out with the team and looks forward to attending more practices.

“But not all of them,” he said.

While some team members ran the ball up and down the field, Dylan stood on the sidelines being one of the guys, nutmegging his teammates—a practice involving kicking a ball between someone’s legs. According to team tradition, if you’re nutmegged, you have to do push-ups.

Dylan wasn’t immune. He fell victim to nutmegging and found himself on the ground as the guys counted out his push-ups—pushups he was able to complete because of the strength training he’d received.

--- Published in the Thousand Oaks Acorn on Sept. 4, 2014