2023 KTM Sponsorship Packet_3.7.23
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SURVIVOR SPOTLIGHT<br />
Blake Hastings<br />
Blake Hastings went into the clinic for an MRI of his foot for what he was sure was a broken<br />
bone. But sitting in the exam room alone, the then-37-year-old received the news he never<br />
expected to get: he had cancer. It was likely Ewing sarcoma, a type of cancer of the bones<br />
or the soft tissue around them.<br />
A family friend at his diagnosing clinic made a call that would change Blake’s life. Six hours<br />
later, Blake and Carey met with M Health Fairview orthopedic surgeon Denis Clohisy, M.D., a<br />
member of the renowned Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.<br />
“When it comes to Ewing sarcoma, it’s really premature to advise amputation until we’ve<br />
seen the effect of the chemotherapy,” Clohisy says. “In most cases, it shrinks the tumor<br />
and therefore results in a surgical treatment that’s less debilitating than one might have<br />
thought at the beginning.”<br />
Blake spent a grueling nine months in treatment – but at home. For weeks at a time, he’d<br />
barely leave his bed. He spent about 15 days in the hospital total.<br />
In the end, Blake was able to keep his leg, losing only part of his foot. About six weeks after his treatments had ended, he felt<br />
like he was back to “full steam.” And now, one month short of five years later, the Hastings couldn’t be happier about Blake’s<br />
recovery.<br />
“The U of M team really managed the care of the person and the health of the person,” Blake says. “I think the medical care is<br />
as important as providing that hope for someone, a family, that there is an end zone.”<br />
Today the Hastings family is back to life as usual – working, getting the kids to their activities, and going on vacations together.<br />
Blake likes to spend his time golfing, skiing, hunting, fishing, and playing basketball – and bragging that he can still beat his<br />
kids at any of these activities with only nine toes.<br />
<strong>2023</strong> <strong>KTM</strong> <strong>Sponsorship</strong> <strong>Packet</strong>_<strong>3.7.23</strong>.indd 6 3/7/<strong>2023</strong> 2:12:21 PM