09:30 PM PST on Friday, March 24, 2006

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

With cancer survival rates on the rise, more and more patients are choosing less invasive surgeries that will also let them live higher quality lives.

When 60-year-old Warren Bailey won the 2005 Alaska state racquetball championship against men in all age brackets, he did it while facing his toughest opponent yet: cancer.

“Personally, I think that if I didn't play racquetball that I would have been dead by now; in fact there's no doubt about it,” he said.  

KING

Two weeks after surgery Warren Bailey was back on the racquetball court.

Warren has a rare cancer called leiomyosarcoma, which attacks the smooth muscles. In his case it affected his right leg. It means he can't run as fast or jump as high anymore so he just plays smarter. But when the tumor spread to his lung, it looked as though his playing days might be over. But he wasn't about to quit.

“In Warren's case, his justified insistence on peak athletic performance after surgery sort of raised the bar, and so we had to be very respectful of not only his pulmonary function but his muscular skeletal function in order for him to continue to play racquetball,” said Dr. Michael Mulligan.

Dr. Mulligan was able to perform a much less invasive procedure called video-assisted thoracic surgery or VATS.

The University of Washington is one of only 30 medical centers around the country that offer it.

Two weeks later, Warren was back on the racquetball court.

“Being a good racquetball player, you're pushing' yourself to your limit, and to beat cancer you have to push yourself,” he said.