Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
GREAT DADS
No matter the circumstance
In 2016, you’re as likely to find a father on the playground with his kids as you are to find him at the office. The modern-day ideal of what it means to parent is ever-evolving, and this Father’s Day the staff of View Neighborhood Newspapers paid tribute to a variety of Las Vegas dads who are taking their own unique routes through parenthood.
Peter Kohler
FATHER-DAUGHTER BOND STRONGER AFTER BATTLING BRAIN CANCER
Father’s Day is special for every dad. But some have more reason to be grateful than others.
Summerlin-area resident Peter Kohler recalled the day eight years ago when his wife, Karrie, stepped out of their bathroom, beaming. She was holding a pregnancy stick. They were going to be parents.
“My first thought? ‘Wonderful,’” he said. “It was something we really wanted.”
Nine months later, he was holding his only child, Alexa, and the reality of being a father hit him.
“I was a little scared,” he said. “But I also thought, ‘This is the best thing in the world.’”
When she was 4, Alexa began complaining of headaches — not just one or two but as many as three a week. She also had stomachaches. They took her to their pediatrician and then to an allergy specialist.
Alexa had her tonsils removed, but nothing helped. They took her to Summerlin Hospital for an MRI. A few
days later, they went to the doctor’s office for the results.
“We knew from the look on the doctor’s face that (it was bad news),” Peter said. “Usually they’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ But he was stoic. I was scared. It was one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, what did they find?’ As a parent, it was one of those moments you fear.”
Alexa had medulloblastoma, or brain cancer.
“My whole world shattered,” Peter said. “We sat there crying. You’re like, ‘Why is this happening to us?’ ”
Alexa had surgery at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA in Los Angeles to remove the tumor near her spinal cord. Months of chemotherapy followed.
Karrie stayed in Southern California for the year while Alexa was in the hospital. Peter resumed his work in Las Vegas for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.
“I’d come home from work to an empty house,” he said. “I’d get reports by phone. … The worst part was not knowing if the (treatments) were working.”
Peter worked 10-hour shifts so he had three days off to travel to Southern California on weekends to see his girls.
Now 8, Alexa still has regular MRIs. Six months ago, one showed no trace of abnormality.
“That was the first time they used the word ‘remission,’ ” Peter said. “We were just, like, ‘OK, this is good.’ But then you start looking ahead, and you know that in three months she’d be going through the same (MRI) again, and as a parent, you just want the results to be good. You brace yourself in case they’re not. I thought it would get easier, but it really doesn’t.”
Last October, the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent the family to Hawaii. “That was the best thing that happened to us in three years,” Peter said.
“When you’re around the Kohler family, it’s evident they’re all incredibly close and tight-knit,” said Kellie Wyatt, marketing specialist at Make-A-Wish. “I’m sure there’s not a thing in the world they wouldn’t do for Alexa, and any time I’ve seen them together, Pete is always smiling. Alexa is simply his whole world, and they have an unbreakable bond that’s evident to all around them.”