The Improbable Cure

Special Smashwords Edition

THE IMPROBABLE CURE

(A billionaire’s struggle to save his only child from the most deadly form of cancer)

by

Richard M. Schultz

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

THE IMPROBABLE CURE (A billionaire’s struggle to save his only child from the most deadly form of cancer)

Special Smashwords Edition

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Copyright © 2011 by Richard M. Schultz. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

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Cover Art :

Copyright © iStock 2012072 (calvio)

Copyright © iStock 9046965 (Blueberries)

Copyright © Dreamstime 18548923 (Pancreas)

Edited by: Richard M. Schultz

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Visit the author website: http://www.improbablecure.com

ISBN: 978-1-935670-69-8 (eBook)

Version: 2011.06.05

Dedication

To all the patients with cancer that truly need scientific breakthroughs to cure this dreadful disease. It is now appreciated that each type of cancer is not a single disease, but a collection of somewhat dissimilar diseases that require personalized therapy. This is one such story of a pancreatic cancer patient with individualized treatment. Today, we are much closer to unraveling and characterizing the genetic mutations that give rise to each cancer and developing individualized strategies for patient care. Truly, the twenty-first century offers so much promise that needs to be capitalized on. Hopefully movements toward socialized medicine and economic issues will not bring a screeching halt to the goals of unfettered scientists and dreams of needy patients with incurable disease. Hopefully, the words that a cure is just around the corner will not ring hollow.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Thelma V. Schultz for her ideas on the general plot of this novel and for critiquing its content. I would also like to give special thanks to Paul R. Schultz and Janet Giles for inspiration and encouragement on these efforts.

Chapter 1. The Dismal Diagnosis

I must tell my story that may be difficult for you to believe. The last few years have been a roller coaster of human emotions for me and are almost too much to comprehend. It is a story about how one life can impact so many. It is a story about Otto Schulhof, a devoted husband who lost his wife of 34 years to colon cancer in 2005 after a long valiant fight. It is the story about the same man, an aging Milwaukee beer baron who struggles to keep his brewery at the top and waits for his son to return from college and take over the helm of the company. Finally, it is the story about this proud father who is ready to face the same dastardly demon again and risk everything…his fame, his fortune, and even his heritage to save his only child from an even deadlier form of cancer than his wife had. Who would ever guess the outcome?

The Schulhof family endured tremendous pain and bad fortune in the time that I knew them. It is hard to understand why extremely bad things can happen to basically good people. One might ask why a loving God would allow anything like this to happen. From my perspective the Schulhofs were deeply religious people. I must say that I even questioned whether the Schulhofs were cursed in some way from the start. The experiences of this fine family have impacted my own life in so many ways and on so many levels. We cannot help but be shaped by our experiences. I was so naïve when I first met them as a young boy leaving the security of home, family, and friends.

I have known Otto for 34 years, basically all of my working life since college. It feels like only yesterday when I first met him, but everything has changed drastically through the years. He offered me my first real job, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that he presented me. Perhaps it started as a marriage of convenience since we both depended on each other, but became much, much more. Over time we became the closest of friends. I was so very inexperienced when I started at the brewery, just a wide-eyed country boy with modest beginnings and so naive at life. College taught me basic concepts, but I completely lacked real on-the-job experience. At the time, Otto was the third generation owner of Schulhof Brothers Brewery that was co-founded in 1909 by his grandfather and grandfather’s brother upon arrival from Germany.

Otto’s wife, Ruth treated me as a member of the family when I started with the company. I was 23 years old at the time, and this was my first real job. To tell you the truth, I was scared of the unknown, of not being good enough to succeed, and most of all, gnawing doubts that I chose the correct career for myself. I was still a farm boy at heart and preferred the fresh outdoors to a stale staid office. I missed the days of helping my Dad on the farm. I had graduated with a business administration degree from Whitewater College. My parents had always preached the importance of college education although my Dad didn’t even complete high school. They sure were proud of me. Working for Schulhof Brothers Brewery was a tremendous opportunity. The job had a great starting pay with health benefits and a retirement plan. I was used to summer farm jobs where I hardly cleared $100 per week. In fact, one of my hardest jobs was detasseling hybrid seed corn at 60 cents/hr. We started at daybreak and worked 10-hour days. The corn leaves were razor sharp from the morning dew. As the day stretched on, it was grueling hard work in the boiling July sun. But I digress.

I didn’t think that I ever had a chance during my interview at Schulhofs, since I was the shy, introverted type. I thought that my trip to Milwaukee was a complete waste of time, but Mom convinced me to give it my best effort. I arrived with immense trepidation. When I first met Otto, I knew immediately that he was the man in charge. He had the unique ability to exercise self-confidence, yet be unassuming. I spent an hour with Otto in the morning and had lunch with him in the company cafeteria. He was extremely enthusiastic about the brewery’s bright future. He asked me lots of questions about my background. I also met the current business manager who was retiring. Frankly, I knew that I really sucked at interviewing. Otto asked me questions like Where did I see myself in 10 years, and I didn’t really understand what I currently wanted to do. During the interview, there were long embarrassing pauses where I grasped for anything to say. It was such a surprise one week later when I answered the phone. Otto was on the other end. I’m not sure what he saw in me. To me, being offered this new job was like winning the lottery. I wanted to make a positive impression in the company from the start.

I will never forget Ruth’s kindness when I first moved to Milwaukee. I had grown up in a rural community and was completely lost upon my arrival in the very large metropolis of Milwaukee. It was even worse than my first day in college. I had never lived in a large city before. My parents had a small farm in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Even the sleepy town of Whitewater, Wisconsin where I went to college felt like a big metropolis to me. You can’t imagine my fear and apprehension when I moved to Milwaukee on June 13th, 1981. It was a dark, rainy day, and the traffic was unbelievable. I was so lost. Upon arrival, Ruth took me under her wing and helped me find temporary lodging until I found a more permanent place to stay. She often invited me to family cookouts on the weekends. Somehow she sensed my trepidation and genuinely showed concern about my welfare. I never knew what motivated her kindness. I’m not sure what I would have ever done without her.

As the business manager, I became much closer to this family and their business affairs than any other employee at the brewery. I am telling this story about the Schulhof family because I actually felt a close kinship with them. They were a rich family and could have created a barrier to keep me in place from the start. After all, I was just a country boy with a meager background that graduated from a small business college. There was nothing special about my appearance. I was embarrassed by my wardrobe and sparse belongings when I moved to Milwaukee. I was far outside of their class. Instead, this family treated me like a long-lost son.

During my employment as business manager, Otto’s company had prospered under his strong leadership, especially over recent years and gained recognition as producing some of the finest craft beers in the domestic American market. Schulhof became the largest family-owned brewery in Milwaukee. Otto was one of the first brewers to jump into the light beer craze that swept America after the baby boomers got into their 30s and became more health conscious. He had developed a unique marketing approach and encouraged a team of skilled artisan brewers that propelled the company to a bright future. He had two experienced brewmasters with engineering degrees, one in chemistry and the other in biotechnology. Their skills richly complemented each other, and they produced a steady stream of improvements over recent years. Otto was always searching internationally for the best quality ingredients. He imported a lot of European hops, claiming that they were better than the American varieties. For the beer novice, hops are the female flower cones of the plant that are primarily used as a flavoring and stability agent. Otto would never sacrifice quality to improve profit. He was all too aware that his reputation depended on it. Otto was fond of saying: if you brew great beer, it will sell itself. At the time, his net worth had grown to 2.3 billion dollars. Moreover, Otto was a perfectionist, paid attention to details, and devoted all of his energy to the company that he loved. He wished that his parents were still alive to see the brewery’s recent steady progress. The two largest breweries in America had expressed interest in buying Schulhof’s, but for Otto, his heritage was never for sale at any price. He valued the total independence afforded by family ownership.

Otto expected old-fashioned loyalty from his staff and in return, offered secure employment with exceptional benefits. He had managed to keep the union out of his business, which was no easy task in the Milwaukee area. He gave his employees generous bonuses based on the company’s yearly performance. In this way, the employees could reap the rewards of a good harvest from the seeds that they personally sowed. He often talked about his grandfather’s experiences during the great depression. His grandfather had several servants and times were tough during the 1930s. One particularly bleak Christmas, his grandfather gave all the girls working for him exceptional quality kid gloves. One girl, who emigrated from Sweden, was upset saying it was a cheap gift to her coworkers and immediately tossed them in the fireplace. The other girls were appreciative. Upon trying them on, they shrieked with joy to find 20-dollar bills inserted into them, which was a grand sum for the day. When his grandfather heard about the story, he fired the ungrateful girl on the spot.

Looking back on my career at Schulhof’s Brewery, I must say that Otto was a wonderful boss and a compassionate human being. He was an extremely wealthy man but would never try to flaunt it. He was completely down to earth and not intimidating in any sense of the word. He mingled with everyone during the lunch hour in the cafeteria with no regard to rank in the company. It didn’t matter if you were the janitor or the manager of production. You never knew which table he would sit down at. He would candidly talk about anything on his mind whether it was weather, sports teams, politics, or internal matters. You always knew where he stood on any issue. Otto believed in setting realistic, achievable goals for each employee and giving appropriate rewards for meeting these expectations. Teams would also be rewarded for joint performance. He was always looking for ways to encourage successful performance. He instituted a suggestion box where employees could get paid for ideas to cut costs or improve procedures.

Despite Otto’s apparent success, life had not been easy. His company had not always experienced success, and the early years were difficult after he took control from his father in 1978. Otto had to use much of the early profits to renovate the aging buildings and improve the working conditions. Otto fought to return Schulhof Brewery to its former glory. Moreover, Otto had lost his wife, Ruth to colon cancer in 2005. She was a wonderful person and the center of his life for 34 years. Without her, Otto found it tough to motivate himself and looked forward to his son’s return from college to gradually take control of the business.

Ruth was always thoughtful of others. I remember that part of her more than anything during my arrival in Milwaukee. If she found someone less fortunate than herself, she always gave her best away to them. That was her nature. I was told that she was a great student and had no trouble staying at the head of her class. Ruth attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison and majored in library sciences. She continued to work at the University library after graduation and met Otto while assisting him on a research project during his sophomore year. Otto laughed that he only managed a grade of C on his report, but it was the most consequential and satisfying report that he ever produced. They immediately fell in love, but waited until his graduation to get married. They were a great team. They were so devoted to each other.

Ruth was a grand lady. She was extremely active in their local Lutheran church, St. Paul’s, and had enjoyed hosting gala parties at their historic mansion on the near northwest side of Milwaukee. The community was a recipient to many charitable efforts that she promoted. She also had a passion for playing bridge and often hosted bridge tournaments. Their stately home had been in the family for three generations and was placed on the National Historic Register in 1989. We had a grand party at the mansion to celebrate the accomplishment.

Ruth’s last seven years of life involved several bouts of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, but cancer returned each time with greater vengeance. She was never one to question Why me? She would never surrender to this disease. She knew that she was facing an uphill struggle, but was resolute in her faith and always upbeat. In her mind, her cup was always half full and never half empty. In the midst of her trials, she was always told that a cure could come at any time. She was such an eternal optimist and always had a grand smile, even in the depth of her illness. She always seemed more concerned about others than herself. She was never at ease with the family fortune when so many were suffering from poverty. Toward the end, nothing could be done to tame the beastly disease from within that devoured her. The tremendous promise of cancer research efforts did not bear fruits in time to help Ruth. Otto understood more than ever that there is no greater treasure than good health. It was so difficult to see her wither away. I called her my Milwaukee mom, and the loss was inconceivable. Finally, Ruth passed away on February 23rd, 2005 after a valiant fight. She had a strong constitution and a never give up attitude. I will never forget the final clutching hug that I received from her. Her agonizing facial expressions spoke volumes to me. Besides her family and minister, I was the only one allowed to see her at the end. I saw her eyes shift from a glimmer to an empty stare and a shuddering moan and rattle that I can’t put out of my mind to this day. Her grand faith and dignity of character carried her through to the very end. Pastor Lauderbach told us that her final concerns were all with the living, not with her own lot. She gratefully accepted her fate. For a man who had personally witnessed death on so many occasions, tears still came to Lauderbach’s eyes. Ruth’s death was a devastating blow to everyone who knew her. Her two brothers delivered powerful and emotional eulogies at her funeral. I remembered hearing stories from Ruth about the numerous times that she tried to cover up or accept the blame for their mischievous exploits while growing up. Maybe it was their turn to return the favor. Otto was far too grief-stricken to speak. I don’t think that he ever fully recovered from losing Ruth. He must have been extremely lonesome in their imposing mansion, especially since Heinz was away at college. I don’t think that Otto would ever consider selling their home since so much family history and so many good memories were associated with it.

I will never forget the gracious way that Ruth approached death. She always talked about it as if it was her ancestry, perhaps her genetics that was responsible for her brave attitude and strength of character in her fight against cancer. She always said that much could be learned from the trials, tribulations, and unbelievable bravery of her ancestors. She was fond of recounting their story. One of her relatives, William Jones arrived in New England in 1637, seeking a better life for his family. He had been educated for the ministry in England to teach and interpret the doctrine of the church. Throughout his entire life, William struggled against tremendous odds – against persecution for his religious beliefs, against the dangers of crossing the ocean, against cold, hunger and diseases, including colic and dysentery and against hostile Indians. He lost his wife and most of his children to hostile Indians, colic and dysentery. Yet, he continued to start churches and develop towns and schools in the Wilderness. This gentle man valued learning and knowledge of scriptures more than anything. I was told that with his bible at his side, he was not afraid of anything. He never lost his incredible faith and strong convictions in God despite his incomprehensible personal losses.

Luckily, three children from one of William’s sons survived. Some of these descendants eventually settled in Wisconsin. One, Rollie Jones platted a settlement on the east side of the river and applied for a post office. Jonesville, Wisconsin (his namesake) was subsequently founded in 1837, and Rollie was appointed postmaster. Many of Ruth’s relatives, including her two brothers, continue to live in the vicinity of Jonesville, Wisconsin to this day.

I could never have been the pillar of strength