Officer brings dinners to man with cancer | bottema, says, saunders ...

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TUSTIN ? In 2005, Johnny Bottema checked himself out of an assisted living home and moved into the Tustin Motor Lodge.

Tustin Police officer Brad Saunders' patrol car sits in the parking lot at the Tustin Motor Lodge. Saunders and his wife have been bringing home cooked dinners to 57-year-old Johnny Bottema who has cancer. He moved into the motel more than a year ago and struggles to make ends meet.

CHRISTINE COTTER, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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That was the year Bottema was hit by a car on his way to his job as a bicycle mechanic. That's also when doctors found that he had thoracic cancer, and his stay at the motel took on a permanent feel.

After Bottema was released from the hospital, family members had moved him into assisted living for round-the-clock care. But Bottema didn't like living there.

"A lot of the people were older than me, they would talk about the lady in room 3 who had just passed away," he says. "I was so depressed hearing about death and who didn't make it."

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In recent years, Bottema has been in and out of the hospital with injuries and cancer treatments, struggling financially and physically. He turned 57 the day before Christmas. His mother was 60 when she died of cancer.

For most of his life, Bottema has been a fighter. He survived a motorcycle accident in 1980 and was at risk of losing his foot. But he pushed through two years on crutches to be able to walk again.

Later, he fought for his job after a work-related injury and subsequent worker's compensation lawsuit. That one he lost.

"I tried to overcome anything that's happened to me," Bottema says. "Each day I try to make the best of it."

His current fight is his toughest.

Since he's been living in the motel, doctors have removed part of his stomach and left lung. Now, they need to get a tumor out of his right lung. But they can't operate until Bottema gains enough weight.

For a time, in the hospital, he was down to 98 pounds. He's around 127 pounds now, but needs to get up to about 150 to have surgery. Before the cancer, Bottema weighed in at about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.

But gaining weight is hard when you don't have a kitchen to cook in or money for restaurant meals. Bottema's motel room has a microwave and small refrigerator.

"Five of seven days, if I get a meal a day I'm doing well," Bottema says.

That's where Tustin Police Officer Brad Saunders comes in.

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Saunders ran across Bottema on his beat a little more than a year ago.

"The trash can in his room was full of bags from fast food places," Saunders says. "When someone's sick, they have to eat well. They can't just eat fast food."

"I left, and it just bothered me."

So Saunders talked to his wife, Andrea, and the two have been sharing home cooked meals with Bottema ever since.

The Saunders' bring pulled beef sandwiches, chicken and noodles, spaghetti and meatballs, juice, trail mix; whatever they have on hand. Saunders stops by Bottema's hotel room about once a week to swap full containers for empties.

"She makes the best mashed potatoes," Bottema says.

The first time Saunders tried to drop off a meal, Bottema didn't want to accept. He prefers to give.

"I accepted it because he would tell me, 'Johnny, I'm going to set the food right outside the door and it's going to go bad. There's two meals here.'" Bottema says.

"What can I do? You can't fight that."

Bottema, who lives on disability checks, doesn't want to be a charity case. He says: "It's hard for people to give me things without me wanting to give back to them."

When he's feeling up to it, and when he's got a little spare money, Bottema straps on a helmet and rides his bike to the Tustin Police Department, where he leaves Togo's gift certificates and thank you notes for Saunders.

"I tell him not to do that," Saunders says. "But he still does.... He comes by the station and drops it off because he knows I won't take it."

The two chat for a few minutes each week as they swap out containers. They talk about crime in the city, life, and Bottema's doctor's visits.

A mirror in Bottema's room is framed with photos of himself when he was healthier and of his family. Bottema's daughter lives in Huntington Beach; his son studies at Texas Tech University. His father lives in Wichita, Kansas. He speaks to them by phone.

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When asked about his health, Bottema doesn't offer specifics.

"There've been times I've been here and he's so weak he can't get out of bed," Saunders says.

But Bottema has fought back ? and at times thrived ? since he was diagnosed with cancer.

Just a few years ago Bottema was an avid bicycle rider and mountain bike mechanic. He was featured in Mountain Bike Action magazine in March 2002 and the U.K. magazine Dirt in June 2008.

Bottema, prior to getting sick, traveled the world, flying to Germany, France, Australia, Hawaii. He's driven around the United States and Canada.

"I had this happen to me and that made my world a little smaller," Bottema says.

"I can always look back and think about the memories of where I got to go and what I got to see."

Now, on his good days, Bottema heads out of his room, riding his bicycle to pick up medications or fast food. He's wobbly on two wheels but it's easier for him to ride than to walk.

He explains, matter-of-factly, that he sometimes passes out while riding his bike, and crashes into bushes or curbs.

He makes sure to wear the helmet that Tustin Police Officer Melissa Trahan gave him a couple years ago after a crash on El Camino Real put him back in the hospital. He also uses the Orange County Transit Authority's All Access program, which provides rides around Orange County for $2.50 to people with disabilities.

But, mostly, Bottema stays in the motel.

"There are a lot of people worse off than me," he says.

And at least once a week, over food, he chats with a friend.

"It's not a real exciting story," Saunders says. "It's just a story about kindness. When we see sadness in the community we try to fix it."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7949 or ejames@ocregister.com

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Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bottema-334516-says-saunders.html

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