Karl in good health on anniversary of cancer announcement

Up early with his dogs. Priceless quality time with his daughter Kaci. Out the door by midmorning to conduct practice at the Pepsi Center.

But this wasn’t just any other winter day.

After harboring a deeply personal secret as his team stormed through the first six weeks of the new year, Feb. 16 would be the start of a daunting journey for Karl.

For the second time in five years, he would announce to the world that he had cancer.

“It was just tough,” Nuggets shooting guard Arron Afflalo recalled. “It was bigger than basketball. You could tell that because he had been through cancer before, he knew he was going to be in for a battle.”

During his emotional press conference, Karl – who beat prostate cancer in 2005 – acknowledged that throat cancer would be a “helluva competitor,” but he also expressed confidence that he would return to health and continue his lifelong pursuit of an NBA championship.

Twelve months later, the 59-year-old coach is backing up his words.

After missing the final 14 games of the 2009-10 season and all of the playoffs while recovering from intense chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Karl returned to his full-time duties in September.

His throat – seared raw by the radiation – gradually is returning to normal and two follow-up PET scans have shown no sign of cancer remaining in Karl’s body.

“Looking back, it probably was an eye-opener for George,” said Karl’s life partner Kim Van Deraa. “You never know when life can be taken away from you in a short period of time.

“It was a roller coaster, a lot of highs and lows. Obviously during his treatment, that was a very difficult time. But after you go through all that and you have two scans that come back successful, you’re on that path of feeling that you’ve achieved what you want to achieve. It seems everything is on the right track.”

Van Deraa was among the few people who initially knew of Karl’s diagnosis following a routine trip to the doctor’s office on Dec. 30. Subsequent tests revealed squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of head and neck cancer.

Despite dealing with the stress of fighting for his life, Karl did a masterful job of maintaining a sense of normalcy on the basketball court.

The Nuggets went 12-3 in January and stood second in the Western Conference when Karl received an invitation to coach in the NBA All-Star Game. It was during Karl’s pre-game speech to the Western Conference squad that Nuggets teammates Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups started to sense something going on with their coach.

“He was just talking about life,” Anthony said. “He wasn’t even talking about basketball – just family and life and health, stuff like that. Now that you look back at it, him going through that and being able to coach that game, it was special.”

“It was a sad day around the organization and around the league,” Nuggets guard J.R. Smith said.

Looking back, Van Deraa said waiting until after the All-Star break to make the announcement was the right decision.

“Any time you’re going through something like that and you’re not able to express it with people, it’s difficult because you stress about every day,” she said. “It’s something he felt like he needed to wait until it was the right time.

“You’re at the All-Star game and that‘s a different setting. We went there and enjoyed it and had fun. He was able to bask in the opportunity to coach in the All-Star game, which was a huge honor. It was difficult but it was something he felt was best for everybody.”

Before practice on Feb. 16, Karl gathered team captains Anthony, Billups and Kenyon Martin and told them he had cancer. He then broke the news to the team as a group.

In a show of support, the players and coaches flanked Karl during his press conference. It was a sign of things to come as cancer survivors and well-wishers worldwide sent letters, e-mails and messages of encouragement.

“I was very humbled by the support I got from the players and from the organization and from the city,” Karl said as the anniversary of his announcement approached. “I didn’t know the journey I had to go on. It was more difficult than I knew.”

After being beaten down by the radiation and chemotherapy, Karl began the road to recovery in early April. He lost about 40 pounds and began a diet that banned – among other things – his daily intake of Diet Mountain Dew.

Karl now employs a team of people – including a nutritionist, an immunologist and Nuggets strength-and-conditioning coach Steve Hess – to help him maintain his health. He repeatedly has said he feels better than he has in the past 10 years.

“He looks good,” said Nuggets center and fellow cancer survivor Nene. “He’s got more spirit about life. Fighting for your life to survive, that is an experience.”

Karl added to his legacy when he celebrated his 1,000th career regular-season victory Dec. 10 in Toronto, and he wants to continue his next milestone march in Denver. The feeling from Nuggets management is mutual, and the two sides are discussing a contract extension.

For Karl, the negotiations remain secondary to the success of his basketball team. He has done a remarkable job keeping the Nuggets in playoff race despite early season injuries and six months of speculation about Anthony’s future.

“I’d like to thank all the people that helped me (over the past 12 months),” Karl said. “But I’d like to also forget about last year and move on to have a special year of more health, more hope and more hustle to being a good basketball team.”