Monday, Jul. 07, 2008

Despite developing rare cancer, Merced man still playing ball

By CAROL REITER
creiter@mercedsun-star.com

Like a lot of young men, Grant Kuhr loves baseball.

The 26-year-old plays on two softball teams and coaches junior varsity baseball at Merced High. He has been playing since he was 5, when the ball he hit was balanced on a T-ball stand.

But unlike a lot of young men, Kuhr is battling a rare form of cancer that may have dealt him a hard blow but certainly hasn't kept him off the diamond.

Bethany Kuhr, Grant's wife of four years, said that in September 2005, Grant went on a diet and starting losing a lot of weight.

From almost 300 pounds, the Merced man went down to 220 pounds in four months.

But it wasn't the weight loss that scared Bethany -- it was the lump she felt in his stomach.

"I put my hand on his stomach, and it felt like a rock," she said. "I woke him up and told him he needed to go to a doctor."

Grant admitted that he knew the lump was there, but "I'm kind of stubborn, I didn't worry about it."

When Grant's cancer was found, he was working 60 to 70 hours a week as a dispatcher at Central Valley Concrete and playing baseball and golfing in his spare time. He didn't feel sick.

"It was out of nowhere, for the most part," Grant said. A trip to a doctor resulted in biopsies and a diagnosis of a rare follicular dendritic cell tumor on his liver. He was started on chemotherapy, underwent surgery and then a bone marrow transplant.

Bethany said that when her husband was diagnosed, his employer kept him on the payroll and allowed him to keep his health insurance. "They have been so amazing. Grant couldn't have had the health care that he's had without Central Valley Concrete."

And despite battling cancer and the side effects of chemo, Grant hasn't lost his love of sports. He started coaching high school baseball with his best friend, Steve DeVaurs, after he was diagnosed.

Grant and DeVaurs were friends since they were both about 8, DeVaurs said. They played ball together at Merced High and then softball. The two still play together in a wood bat league on Monday nights and on the Dream Team on Wednesday nights in slow-pitch softball.

DeVaurs said Grant is one of the most positive people he has ever known.

"He doesn't take life for granted. I have never once heard him say anything bad about the cancer he has," DeVaurs said.

Lou Souza, the head baseball coach at Merced High School, said that he got to know Grant when Grant played for Merced High.

"He was a tremendous hitter, one of the best in the area," Souza said.

But it's not Grant's skill at playing that has impressed Souza, it's his coaching.

"Grant has a passion for the game and genuine concern for the kids," Souza said.

The kids that Grant coaches appreciate him, according to Souza and DeVaurs.

Souza said the high school players can relate to Grant because he's young. DeVaurs said that Grant is a player's coach.

"He's there to help, not to run a kid down. He's trying to help any and every kid he can," DeVaurs said.

Grant said that he believes that sports have helped him deal with the cancer that he's fighting. "When I first started chemo, I didn't have anything to look forward to. But when I started coaching, I couldn't wait to get out and get back to the field."

It's not just getting back on the field that has helped Grant. The lessons he learned during years of playing have also helped him deal with the cancer.

"In sports, when things aren't going your way, you have to find a way to work through it and persevere," Grant said.

Grant's wife Bethany said that sometimes her husband plays ball when she doesn't think he should. "He missed only a few practices during the baseball season, and I don't think he missed a game. He goes when I don't want him to, when he doesn't feel good."

Whether or not he feels good isn't that important to Grant. "My whole mentality through this thing has been whatever we have to do, let's get it done, let's get on with life."

DeVaurs said he believes that smacking that baseball as hard as he can also helps Grant, along with playing golf. "Golf is relaxing -- three or four hours of taking your aggression out on the ball."

Grant said he loves to play golf, and plays as often as he can, along with his first passion of baseball. And no matter what the future holds for the husband, coach and ballplayer, he's ready.

"It doesn't matter what the day brings, just put your head down and go through and keep going until you get it all done," he said.

Reporter Carol Reiter can

be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.