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Walk into the Swords' house on any day and two fuzzy, little dogs, one brown and one white, and a friendly barrage of seven people race to the door to greet you. Pepper, the family's black and gray cat might make an appearance. There is always something going on whether it's listening to music, watching television, playing a board game, or the family sitting around chatting with each other. The house is full of trinkets and colorful knick-knacks, and appears to be well lived in. Everything is decorated in warm colors, a burgundy and deep blue kitchen, a brown and blue living room, and tiny bedrooms off the hallway. The family is surprisingly cheerful and upbeat for the chain of unfortunate events that has enveloped them within the last year.

On January 16th, 2006, Deb Swords, a mother of five, was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. This was a mere 2 weeks before her 44th birthday. At first she experienced changes in bowel habits, back pain, and frequent stomach discomfort but Deb passed it off and continued to live her life as if nothing were wrong. Once the pain became too unbearable, friends and family finally took her into the hospital where she stayed for three days.

"It got to the point that I couldn't get out of bed," said Deb during a recent interview. The doctors performed two blood transfusions for a low hemoglobin count along with cat scans and numerous blood tests. The results: colon cancer.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) provides information about stage three colon cancer. Stage three is one of the more advanced stages where the disease has spread to nearby lymph nodes. The recommended treatment for this stage is chemotherapy and radiation. There are alternative methods that are being tested right now according to the ACS, but treatment depends on the decisions of the doctor and the patient. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists the major symptoms of colon cancer as blood in the stool, a change in bowel habits, general, unexplained stomach discomfort, frequent gas pains or indigestion, unexplained weight loss, and chronic fatigue. However, this cancer can develop when no symptoms are present. Deb's symptoms mirrored this.

The next step in the process for Deb was to go home and tell her five children the fateful news. Sarah (26), the oldest daughter was left in charge of the three younger children so she was kept up to date and knew the information before everyone else. After a three-night stint in the hospital she sat her three

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