Coles Gets Tough, Digs Deep, Beats Cancer
Over an 80-year lifespan, the philanthropist and business leader, Michael Coles, has followed a rigorous routine to recover his health.
Late last year Michael Coles, who, at the age of 80, walks several miles each day and does a long ride on his stationary bike, noticed he was slowing down. He was taking naps in the late afternoon, something he rarely did, and he noticed an increase in abdominal discomfort. He thought at first it was just a sign of advancing age, but after his symptoms persisted, he decided it was time to check in with his doctor.
It was not a moment too late. He was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer, one of an estimated 150,000 Americans who have the disease. It’s fourth on the list of common cancers and is the second most deadly.
Coles is one of our community’s most active philanthropists and business leaders. He co-founded the Great American Cookie Company. The operation, which was built on a family recipe for a chocolate chip cookie, grew into one of the largest operations of its kind in the country.
From a small cookie counter at Perimeter Mall that opened it 1977, it expanded into an operation of more than 300 franchises that was selling 110 million cookies a year when it was sold in 1998. Today, the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University, of which he is a principal benefactor, is a testament to that success.
But, as he observes, cancer does not respect financial success and a week after visiting his doctor, he was on the operating table. Because the growth had spread in his colon, one-third of the organ was removed and then, in a procedure called resection surgery, stitched back together. Given his age and the advanced stage of his cancer, it’s not an easy operation.
“It’s a tough surgery,” Coles says, “because that surgery, as my doctor puts it, brings together two parts of your body that have never met before, and it’s like a relationship that has to be formed. They have to learn how to get along together, which is different. And that process takes between six months to a year.”
Over his long life he’s come to an intimate knowledge of medical recovery. What he learned over the years is described in his 2018 memoir, written with Catherine Lewis, “Time to Get Tough.” Central to his life story is how he embarks on his recovery from a catastrophic motorcycle accident in 1977 when doctors told him he would never walk again without a crutch or a walker. Much of the book is about his remarkable recovery and the astonishing business success that followed.
Among his many accomplishments was a series of record setting, cross country bicycle races across America. A malignant tumor in his neck 13 years ago sidelined him again. But his routine of alternating long-distance bike rides and long-distance walking and his dedication to a healthy and positive lifestyle worked. Over the years, in all, he’s endured 30 different surgical procedures.
His latest recovery, which came after four months of aggressive chemotherapy, was a challenging regimen that over time affected his entire body.
“I developed neuropathy in my feet. which left them numb and it was hard to keep my balance,” he says. “I couldn’t touch anything that was cold. So, I couldn’t go in the refrigerator without gloves on. It was bad for about a month toward the end of the chemotherapy.”
All the while, he wrote notes to himself that read, “time to get tough,” and he scattered them in every room. And he kept moving.
“I made these little signs. They were all over the house,” Coles recalls. “And as a reminder that the one thing you don’t want to do is give in to your illness. The bed and the couch, I believe, are your two biggest enemies. And so, I never took to a bed or couch. I just pushed through.”
He successfully completed the grueling months of treatment in May. Late last month he and his wife, Donna, whom he credits for much of his survival and success, celebrated 52 years of marriage.
According to the American Cancer Society, those who successfully survive a stage three colon cancer diagnosis have a 73 percent chance of surviving for at least another five years.
After all he’s been though over the years, Coles’ latest battle for survival has left him with an acute sense of his own mortality.
“This time I had the question of how much time do I really have? What are the things I want to try to get done? If I don’t live beyond a year, what do I need to do? So, it’s different. It was different and it’s still different. I still think about things in a very different way.”
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