Petaluma dad taking center stage in battle against childhood cancer

Petaluma first-grader Jayden Zentner is only 7, but he's already taught his father a few things about life and facing down your fears.

So Jayden's adoring dad, Eddie Zentner, has been leaving his comfort zone to take center stage in the battle against childhood cancer.

It's all in the name of brave young Jayden, who is undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the blood cancer that interrupted his life when he was just 4 years old.

The senior Zentner, 34, is competing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Greater Bay Area's North Bay Man of the Year award, an honor acknowledging top fundraising efforts during a 10-week campaign underway through May 19.

Three others also are engaged in the regional competition for Man and Woman of the Year titles, with every dollar funding the cause and earning a vote in the friendly competition.

“I'm kind of like an introvert, so this is pushing me,” Zentner said. “It was hard to tell the story but I feel like it's getting easier.”

Zentner has been sharing his family's experience in hopes others won't face the devastation of a childhood-cancer diagnosis.

“A lot of pain and suffering goes into it, but with more funding it doesn't have to be that way,” said Zentner, a native Petaluman who operates the family's 20-acre Zentner's Fogbound Farm and also has a full-time warehouse job at Clover Stornetta Farms in Petaluma.

Between warehouse responsibilities, raising pigs and cattle and growing heirloom vegetables and fruits, Zentner often puts in 18-hour workdays. Even so, the father of three couldn't turn down an opportunity to make a difference for kids like Jayden.

He's organized several benefits as part of “Jayden's Journey” and is campaigning for the Human Race, a May 7 fundraiser in Santa Rosa that has the support of numerous colleagues at Clover Stornetta Farms. The dairy company is matching up to $10,000 in donations.

Every penny is personal for Zentner, who hopes his efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will go toward a research project named for Jayden. His goal is $50,000, the amount needed to begin a research effort.

Since his diagnosis, Jayden has endured months of rigorous hospitalizations in Oakland, was confined to a back brace and had to relearn how to walk when he was 5. He lost his hair from chemotherapy, dropped down to just 20 pounds and missed numerous days of class at McNear Elementary School, where he has a huge fan base among students and staff.

Depleted by treatments and hospital confinement, he initially lost his will to fight. He stopped eating and was nourished through a feeding tube.

“I was having to beg my 4-year-old not to give up,” Zentner said.

He said his son's prognosis is good, with the family already planning a “big party” for September, when Jayden completes his requisite 3½ years of leukemia treatments. Now in remission, he takes two pills daily and travels to Oakland for monthly hospital treatments.

Just getting a diagnosis was challenging. Zentner and his wife, Melissa, 33, were baffled when Jayden “sat on his bed and cried and screamed bloody murder” from back and leg pain before being diagnosed in May of 2013.

Symptomatic for six weeks, doctors thought Jayden had either growing pains, a sprained back or constipation. When weekly visits to the doctor didn't resolve anything, Melissa Zentner pushed for action.

An emergency MRI revealed two masses in Jayden's back and one on his pelvic bone; his bone marrow was 86 percent invaded with leukemia cells, nearly requiring a bone-marrow transplant.

“It literally was one second and your whole world is gone,” Zentner said of Jayden's diagnosis.

Zentner credits his wife's “mother's instincts” with saving Jayden's life. Now, he says, it's his chance to champion for funding to make a difference for other families.

Leukemia is the most common cancer among children, adolescents and teens, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Last year, Jayden served as the local Boy of the Year, doing his part to help raise awareness.

The Little League mini-league player and Oakland A's fan won hearts at several events hosted by last year's local Man of the Year, John Ash & Co. Executive Chef Tom Schmidt.

When Schmidt nominated Jayden's dad for this year's competition, Eddie Zentner looked to his son for encouragement.

Jayden already has one successful fundraiser to his own credit. Not wanting other children to suffer as he has, Jayden told his parents he wanted to help other kids fighting cancer. The family established the Petaluma Superhero Run, a family-friendly 5K run that invites participants to come out in superhero T-shirts, masks and capes. It will celebrate its third year in September.

“The empathy that's come out of this is amazing, from all three kids, actually,” Zentner said. Jayden has a sister, Samantha, 12, and a brother, Noah, 5.

Zentner is using his fundraising platform not only on behalf of his family, but for all others touched by blood cancer. He encourages parents to listen to their instincts about their children, as his wife did, and to embrace every moment.

“There's nothing more important in life than family. It's the number-one thing in life, and at any moment it can be taken from you,” Zentner said. “Cherish every moment with your children, even if they're driving you crazy. You never know.”

For more information, or to make a donation, visit facebook.com/ManoftheYearEddie or humanracenow.org/goto/closchoice.