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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, October 3, 2003

She's back on board

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ten months after she was diagnosed with leukemia, Sheldon Plentovich is entering the Red Bull King of the Air kiteboarding contest.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

For Kailua's Sheldon Plentovich being healthy meant rock climbing, weightlifting and never having to take an aspirin in her life.

As one of the world's best kiteboarders, Plentovich dominated competitions for years until she was diagnosed with a severe form of leukemia in January.

But 10 months later, Plentovich's leukemia is in remission and her speedy recovery has been helped by a stem cell donation from her brother, Todd.

"Doctors have just been amazed with how things have unfolded since the beginning," said Plentovich, 30. "When I first got there (at the hospital), I asked when can I get back in the water? They said it would be a year. I said, 'No.' It went from a year to six months, then four months and finally my last doctor said you can get in the water as soon as you get home."

Plentovich will be competing in her first competition since the diagnosis and will defend her title in the $20,000 Red Bull King of the Air kiteboarding competition that runs Monday through Sunday on Maui's North Shore.

Kiteboarding is a sport that uses a kite and blends surfing, wakeboarding and parasailing. Pulled by wind gusts, kiteboarders launch themselves off the ocean surface and perform airborne tricks from heights of 40 to 60 feet while hanging in the air for more than five seconds.

Red Bull King of the Air

What: $20,000 Red Bull King of the Air professional kiteboarding contest

Where: Kanaha Beach County Park and Ho'okipa Beach County Park, Maui

When: Monday to Sunday

Schedule of events: At Kanaha Beach County Park — Oct. 6, first round trials, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 7, second round trials, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 8, exhibition day. At Ho'okipa Beach County Park — Oct. 9, first round main event, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 10, second round main event, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 11, third round main event, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Some top kiteboarders scheduled to compete (with residence): Mark Shinn (Tenerife, Canary Islands), Marcus "Flash" Austin (Maui), Jaime Herraiz (O'ahu), Sky Solbach (Hood River Gorge, Ore.), Sheldon Plentovich (Kailua), Fabienne D'Ortoli (Brittany, France), Julie Gilbert (Maui), Rebecca Wolthers (O'ahu).
The King of the Air competition is considered the most prestigious kiteboarding competition in Hawai'i and features the world's best kiteboarders. The contest will be held at Kanaha Beach County Park the first three days, and move to Ho'okipa Beach County Park on Thursday.

Plentovich's life-changing experience began in January during a trip to Baja, Mexico, where she won a kiteboarding contest. She remembered feeling a little tired and went for a doctor's appointment upon her return to Hawai'i.

Shortly afterward, Plentovich absorbed some bad news when her doctor called to say that blood tests indicated that she may have leukemia.

"I knew something was wrong," Plentovich said. "In one sense, it was almost a relief to know what was wrong. But in another sense, you just hear about leukemia and you're just always thankful you don't have it. In that sense, it was disbelief at first."

Plentovich checked into The Queen's Medical Center where she was prescribed antibiotics and given a round of chemotherapy.

"That was gnarly to say the least," said Plentovich, who is a University of Hawai'i student doing doctoral research on conservation biology. "For someone who doesn't even take aspirin, that was pretty much my worst nightmare."

There are various types of leukemia and Plentovich said doctors told her that her Acute Myelogenous Leukemia was the worst one.

Leukemia is a cancer in which non-functioning white cells multiply in the bone marrow, forcing out healthy blood cells. The liver, spleen or lymph nodes, might stop functioning properly if poisoned by the cancerous cells. Leukemia is curable, with transfusions, anti-cancer drugs and radiation therapy.

"They said I had a 12 percent chance of a three-year survival, or something like that," Plentovich said. "For other types of leukemia, you can just do a couple of rounds of chemotherapy, but mine wasn't like that."

Luckily, Plentovich's leukemia went into remission after one round of chemotherapy, sending her nurse "skipping around my room" in joy.

However, for a realistic chance of survival, doctors told Plentovich that she needed a bone marrow transplant.

In another stroke of luck, Plentovich's brother, Todd, was a perfect match for the transplant that required the donation of stem cells.

"Genetically, we're pretty close," said Todd Plentovich, 41, who lives in South Carolina. "We all knew if anybody was going to be a match, it was going to be me. When we were younger, if you look at the pictures, we almost look alike. You have to put the names on the back (of the pictures)."

In April, Todd Plentovich donated his stem cells to his ailing sister at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Todd Plentovich said the odds of his sister acquiring such a severe form of leukemia were one in 300,000, but added she's battling to recover.

"She's young, and she's lucky to have the match and she went through the chemo really good," Todd Plentovich said. "That was all pluses. She had one bad stroke of luck, but since then, everything has been going good."

Sheldon Plentovich said she wants to win the King of the Air kiteboarding competition, but added the bigger goal is to enjoy the moment with her fellow kiteboarders. In her free time, Plentovich has built her strength lifting weights and rock climbing.

"I've been in six or seven kiteboarding competitions, and I've won or finished second in all but one," said Plentovich, who added she still suffers with bouts of fatigue, sore joints and other ailments. "My goal is to have fun, promote the sport for women and push the limits of kiteboarding. Now I have an added obstacle to overcome."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.