TAMPA, Fla. — We all go through journeys in life – some long, some short, and some that test us beyond what we ever thought we could handle.
Tampa Bay 28 anchor Lauren St Germain sat down with a Florida man who’s journeys span thousands of miles.
Frank Carter is used to long journeys.
“I was 60 when I did my first long trip and I hiked the Appalachian Trail – Georgia to Maine. That took five months. That was a five-month trip. Incredible. I started on my 60th birthday. So even for me at that age, it was a life-changing event,” said Carter.
Carter continued, “I think it was the year after that I rode a bicycle from San Diego, California to New Smyrna Beach. Did that on my own, by myself. That trip was about 3200 miles and that took about a little over two months."
More recently, Carter went through a journey of a different kind. Tampa Bay 28 met Carter at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa.
“I was walking the trails and hiking and just enjoying the environment out here,” said Carter.
“A nice, peaceful break from treatment and the reason why you’re over here?” asked St. Germain.
“Absolutely, yeah, yeah, ” said Carter.
That treatment was at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Carter told St. Germain it all started one day when he couldn’t recover from a run, so the next week he saw his doctor.
“Two weeks later, I started chemo. So honestly, if I hadn’t been a runner, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here. So, if I had waited a couple more months after when I was diagnosed, I probably wouldn’t have made it,” said Carter.
After the chemotherapy, there was still cancer left in his body, so he came to Moffitt for a newer treatment called CAR T-cell Therapy.
“What it is, is like we all have immune cell types in our body called the T-cell and the T-cell is supposed to be the quarterback of our anti-tumor immunity,” said Dr. Michael Jain. He is the medical director of the Immune & Cellular Therapy Program at Moffitt.
“If we get a mutated cell or we get a cancer, the T-cells are supposed to go around and get rid of it. For any of us to have cancer, it means that that process has failed. Either the cancer is fighting off our T-cells or it’s learning to hide from our T-cells,” said Dr. Jain.
Dr. Jain tells St. Germain that doctors take T-cells from a patient’s blood, genetically modify them to identify and destroy cancer cells, and then infuse them back into the patient as CAR T-cells.
“I’m not sure which was worse, the CAR T stuff or the 15 rounds of chemo, but a journey no doubt,” said Carter.
Even during that tough journey, Carter’s positivity was shining through and after the treatment, the miles returned.
“But since the cancer thing, I embarked on a big project again, something I have wanted to do for a long, long time. I built a cedar strip canoe,” said Carter.
Carter continued, “So while building the canoe, I thought, I’ve got to have a great journey for this wonderful canoe. So, the Missouri River is the longest river in the United States. It’s 2300 miles."
Last year, Carter paddled the entire Missouri River from southwest Montana to St. Louis, with his golden retriever in his hand-made canoe.
“And that was a two-month trip. I took Amos with me. Famous Amos, say hello! So yeah, that was a great trip,” said Carter.
“Who enjoyed it more? Dog or human?” asked St. Germain.
“It might have been a tie. We talk about that all the time,” said Carter.
“What was it like for you to finish that Missouri River journey after you had also finished your cancer journey?” asked St. Germain.
“I would say through that trip compared to the other ones, I might have had a better and more defined appreciation for getting up in the morning and getting started,” said Carter.
Carter still gets infusions to amp up his immune system and checkups once a year, but he says the adventures will keep coming,
“I’m four years out and glad for every day,” said Carter.
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