The Oprah Winfrey Show, May 4, 2001
As a result of a presentation Alan made April 6, 2001, for the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach, CA, Alan appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
"From my point of view, the experience only highlighted further the number of people we can touch with the CAN/WILL message now that we've combined the lessons of Everest with the lessons of life-threatening illness," Alan says.
"Courage is not the absence of fear," he explained during the show. "It is composure amidst fear."
Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2001
Excerpts from "Conquering His Medical Mountain" by Ann Conway, Los Angeles Times Orange County Edition, Orange County People/Achievements and Celebrations, Metro Section, Page B-9. Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times. For a copy of the entire article please visit their website: www.latimes.com.
The following are excerpts from the Los Angeles Times article that appeared in the Metro Section of the Orange County Edition of the Los Angeles Times following Alan Hobson's presentation at the Circle 1000 Founders' brunch on behalf of the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach.
"'The courage that Alan brought to [the benefit] was extraordinarily inspirational and compelling,' event chairwoman Hyla Bertea said."
"'I've discovered on my medical mountain that there are few greater challenges than a life-threatening illness,' said Hobson, 43, a nine-time All American gymnast and author of the book From Everest to Enlightenment, an inspirational account of his successful ascent in 1997 of the world's highest peak."
"Illustrating the challenges of an Everest ascent with dramatic photographs, Hobson spoke of the comparisons he has made between the mind-sets that can be employed by mountaineer and cancer patient.
"A mountain climber tells himself: 'I can climb Mt. Everest; I will climb Mt. Everest,'...And a cancer patient should employ a similar mantra: 'I can get better; I will get better,' he said. 'The mind is a powerful thing'."
"Besides suffering the losses of health and control, cancer patients might also struggle with profound cases of the jitters when they undergo treatment. During those times, Hobson said he focused on 'healing.' 'When we run from our fears, they get bigger; when we address them, they shrink,' he said."
"Hobson received a standing ovation at the 14th annual event..."
Excerpt from the Chicago Daily Herald Business Section, April 3, 2005
©2005 Daily Herald
Hospira comes of age
By Anna Marie Kukec
After Mount Everest climber and summiteer Alan Hobson was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000, he felt shackled to a hospital IV pole that delivered his chemotherapy treatments. By the second day of treatment, the Canadian athlete grew so restless, he asked a nurse if the IV pole could be dismantled so he could move around.
She returned with a mobile pump called GemStar Infusion System, then made by the hospital products division of Abbott Laboratories, which is now a separate company called Hospira Inc. “The psychological and physical freedom that mobile pump provided was just huge,” Hobson said. “It was like a ball and chain had been released, like someone cut the shackles. It was totally liberating.”
Last month, Hobson was the keynote speaker at a medical association luncheon, where he was introduced to Hospira Chief Executive Officer Christopher B. Begley. During his speech, Hobson stopped and acknowledged Begley and his team for helping to develop the mobile pump that was key to his recovery.
“That shows how technology and health care have value,” Begley said. “It was a powerful moment to realize that.”
After nearly three decades in the health care industry, Begley said meeting Hobson had strengthened his connection between the work in the labs and its impact on human life. And that’s what he wants to continue as Hospira marks its first year this May as a new company that uses technology to deliver medications to patients, to help eliminate errors and to improve the quality of life.
Global News, November 6, 2003
 Interview of Alan
You will require WindowsMedia Player for most video.
Ó Everest Climber adds voice to stem cell research
By Erica Simpson
"I think cancer is the Everest of illnesses. It is critical that we start to approach this challenge with a proper mental mind set. All the skills that I learned on Mount Everest are directly applicable to the cancer experience." -----Alan Hobson
Alan Hobson probably never anticipated that he would need a stem cell transplant three years after reaching Mount Everest's summit.
The climber and cancer survivor spoke at the third annual stem cell transplant patient and staff reunion at the Circle Drive Alliance Church on Saturday. About 160 cancer survivors and caregivers gathered to hear about the hiker's experience climbing both the Nepalese mountain and his "inner Everest" - cancer. The event was organized by the Saskatchewan Stem Cell Transplant Advocacy Group (STEM).
Hobson relayed a hopeful message. He said the same positive psychological skills that helped him climb Everest accounted for his beating the disease. "I think cancer is the Everest of illnesses," he said. "It is critical that we start to approach this challenge with a proper mental mind set. All the skills that I learned on Mount Everest are directly applicable to the cancer experience."
Hobson and his wife, Cecilia, wrote Climb Back from Cancer, a book about his route to remission. During his treatment, Hobson took steps to distance himself from the institution. He wore his work-out clothes when he went for chemotherapy instead of the hospital attire.
"I stunk," he told the audience, showing a picture of himself in athletic black shorts and a white jersey. But it helped him retain a positive attitude. He also envisioned the chemotherapy solution as a bag of clear, white grape juice, instead of a destructive serum.
Hobson attempted the Everest climb twice before actually reaching the top in 1997, three years before his diagnosis with leukemia.
Dr. Michael Vralia, director of the provincial hematology-stem cell transplant program, says a lack of local infrastructure means some patients have to go elsewhere for the treatment. A stem cell transplant is a complex medical procedure used to treat advanced blood diseases as well as many cancers, such as leukemia. There are different forms of transplants depending on where the stem cells are from. Bone marrow or blood stem cells give rise to a new blood system. The cells can be from the patients themselves or from a donor.
"The process involves harvesting the stem cells and then infusing them, just like a blood transfusion through a vein," he said. "Pretty much that's about it - it's very anti-climatic." But he noted there's a tremendous amount of pre- and post-procedure preparation crucial to the patient's survival.
Not a new procedure, the first bone marrow transplant in Canada was performed in Saskatchewan in 1958. Saskatoon is the sole location in the province where about 50 transplants are performed annually; the demand calls for 70.
Margaret Tompson, STEM co-convenor and a transplant surivor, said the group was formed to aid and promote the provincial program. Many of the members were patients themselves who want to give back to the physicians who helped save their lives. "Last year I was only three months out of my stem cell transplant, and I was still kind of thinking, 'oh, I'm not going to make it,'" she said. "And then I came here and I saw (the survivors) stand up and I thought, 'I am going to make it - look at ll these guys ahead of me.' It was very inspirational."
Real Survivors
Written by Louise Hodgson-Jones.
Photographed by Gary Senkowski & Brett McEwen
©Impact Magazine, July/August 2001
Reprinted by permission Impact Productions Inc.
  Alan Hobson doesn't do anything in half measures. Whether it's scuba diving in cold Canadian winters, writing best-selling books, presenting powerful motivational presentations or reaching the summit of Mt. Everest in 1997, Hobson thrives on challenge and beating the odds. The self-styled professional adventurer is now facing his biggest challenge - overcoming leukemia. Diagnosed in August 2000, Hobson underwent intensive chemotherapy at Calgary's Tom Baker Cancer Centre, followed by a successful stem-cell transplant (Hobson's brother, Eric, was the donor).
"The doctors said I had a 70 percent chance of going into remission. In fact, after the first wave of chemo I was already there," he says. Chemotherapy took a lot out of Hobson. With a slightly built frame, he always had low body fat, so maintaining his strength by eating was critical to his recovery. "There were so many skills I used in this situation that I used on Everest, like eating when you feel nauseous." He attributes his recovery to one person: his wife, Cecilia. "This is really her story, she took over everything - my personal life and our business - and she made me eat." Hobson uses a lot of analogies when discussing the latest expedition. "It's like facing a crevasse. It can be 15 stories deep, and you have a ladder to climb across to get over the abyss. You need to take one step at a time, focus on the ladder, and get over the abyss."
It took Hobson thirty nine years to reach the summit of Everest (two previous attempts were in 1991 and 1994). This challenge will take three to five years to overcome. "It's certainly my biggest challenge," he says stoically. "Everest never threatened my sense of self-identity, but drawing on my past experiences has helped considerably. I'm positive this expedition will be better."
April 12, 2001
Excerpts from "The Crowd" by B.W. Cook, the Daily Pilot, Society Section, Page A11. Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times. For a copy of the entire article please visit their website: www.latimes.com.
The following are excerpts from the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa Daily Pilot that appeared in Society Section following Alan Hobson's presentation at the Circle 1000 Founders' brunch on behalf of the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach.
"If you are persistent, you can do the dream"
"Hobson has learned that it's OK to fail in life, but not OK to fold. Today, Hobson climbs medical mountains. 'I have learned from cancer that we do not survive the disease by fighting it. We must instead flow with it with the force of a river, 'he said."
"Hobson is also a journalist and writer who has recently published a book on his Everest experience titled From Everest to Enlightenment...An Adventure of The Soul.
"The book, as a reflection of the man, is a highly spiritual romp, a coming of age for an athlete in search of self and finding pieces of life's meaning on the road to the pinnacle of the Earth."
"'There are few challenges in life greater than a life-threatening illness,' Hobson said. 'Perhaps the biggest lesson learned under such circumstance is that if we are what we do in life, then when we don't do it...we aren't.'"
"For this man, the challenge in life is on the inside. 'Seventy-five percent of what we accomplish is due to the aspect of mental achievement, even the realm of physical challenges,' said the man who has mastered many mountains in life. He claims that his mantra is simple. Just two words - 'can' and 'will'."
"If you are persistent, you can do the dream,' he added, 'Summits are not places far away. Life can change in a moment. Every day is a gift. Make it a celebration.'"
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