Driving through cancer

Bryce Alderton

The 16th annual Jack Errion Memorial alumni basketball tournament in

the Corona del Mar High gym will begin at 8 a.m. today.

Some might consider that early, but for Geoff Probst (CdM Class of

1988), the word “early” has a whole different meaning since last

spring.

Probst, a regular in this tournament, learned in April that he had

non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease where malignant cancer cells form

in the lymph system.

Early detection, however, allowed Probst, a 34-year-old Newport

Beach resident, to begin chemotherapy treatments promptly and the

tumors have started shrinking.

Through five of seven chemotherapy treatments in the past eight

months, Probst said he has missed two days of work as a director of

sales for an office systems company.

He keeps active by playing basketball in a Newport Beach

recreation league in addition to participating in countless other

pickup games, intent on combating fatigue, which initially sparked

Probst to get a physical in December.

“I would feel light-headed or tired, a little bit off, but I

thought it was because I wasn’t eating right or not getting enough

sleep,” Probst said of symptoms that can include fever, night sweats,

pains in the chest, abdomen and bones, along with painless swelling

in the lymph nodes. “I went in and a blood test came up funny and

[physicians] wanted me to retake it. When I retook it, everything

came up normal, a sign that something was up.”

A kidney stone also caught Probst’s attention and the former

All-Sea View League and All-CIF Southern Section point guard had a CT

scan taken in April, which revealed something more.

Tumors had formed in Probst’s abdomen, back -- near the kidneys,

below the sternum and in the neck. The kidney stones were a product

of the tumors, Probst said.

Chemotherapy treatments began a week later, when Probst learned,

following bone and tissue marrow biopsies, he had the disease.

“I was on the way to play golf and the doctors called and told me

it was cancer,” said Probst, who started at point guard three of his

four years at the University of San Diego. “I was pretty shocked when

I found out.”

But after meeting with physicians shortly after the diagnosis,

Probst, a Newport Beach resident, felt more comfortable about a

recovery.

“[Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma] is treatable 85 to 90% of the time if

you catch it at the right time,” Probst said. “The symptoms are mild

lots of times for people my age.

“The real key was not having [tumors] in the bone marrow,” Probst

said. “But you don’t really know until five years have gone by to

tell if the cancer is gone.”

Learning he had cancer caused Probst to view life through an

altered lens.

“In terms of attitude, I’m much more positive,” said Probst, who

will join alumni such as Todd Katovsich, Scott McCarter, Trey Bonner,

Kurt Ehmann, Tom Schriber and Ty Price on the 1988-89 squad in today’s tournament that features 16 teams.

“I don’t get bogged down with work issues, because, in the big

picture, they’re not that important. I’m trying to survive a disease

that could kill you. Now I enjoy driving the car to work, whereas

before, I was in a rush to get there.”

Price, a quarterback on the Sea Kings’ CIF Southern Section

Division VI championship team of 1988 and a friend of Probst since

grade school, has noticed an added commitment since his friend

learned he had the disease.

“Everything he’s done work-wise to love of basketball, he has

always been totally committed,” said Price, a standout setter who

played volleyball at USC. “He has committed himself to what he has to

do to beat the disease. He’s extremely active in basketball and stays

in the best shape of his life.”

Katovsich, the Sea View League Defensive Player of the Year as a

CdM defensive tackle in 1987, has known Probst since 1986, when the

two lived in the same neighborhood.

“Geoff can sometimes be pessimistic, but he has taken [the

disease] on with a positive attitude and will fight it until it’s

100% cured,” Katovsich said.

Team 1988-89, along with the 15 other squads, will have two pool

play games this morning to determine seedings into the

single-elimination tournament, scheduled to begin about 12:15 p.m.

today.

Tournament director Robert Hess (Class of ‘83) expects the

championship game to begin between 3:30 and 4 p.m.