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meant, but I knew "Leukemia" was not good.

I was shocked. I was not aware of any occurrence of Cancer in my family. How could I have Leukemia? Was my insurance going to be enough? I was only 45 years old. What now?

The doctors began to explain what I needed to let them do for treatment, and it needed to begin immediately. They told me I had cell masses in my back along my spine, and a couple of masses behind one eye. Chemotherapy and Radiation was in my future; and a lot of it.

I was an inpatient for nearly 200 days over the next year. I had to be in the hospital for all of my chemotherapy. It was rough, but it worked, and I went into remission. After almost two million dollars in medical bills, it has not come back.

The nurses told me they knew it had been hard, but that I should know that many people don't respond to the treatment. Some younger people that you'd think had the best chances at recovery never do respond positively to treatment.

It's been over five years since my last chemotherapy treatment. And I recently saw my Oncologist for the last time. It was almost unbelievable to hear him say, "You don't have to come back to see me anymore unless you just want to say 'hello'."

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I went through it. And I wasn't alone. My family had as much to do with getting me through it as anything else did. Everything in your life changes. From the moment you hear that word "Cancer" directed at you, nothing is ever going to be the same.

I came close to not surviving the experience or the treatment. On several occasions I was told that they were unsure if I'd survive the next 24 hours. But I survived. And I'm surviving.

Perhaps I am stubborn, but I think the one thing that helped me the most, (besides my family, my doctors and nurses) was that I never thought I'd lose. I just never did!

I just never did.

Learn more about this author, Gordon White.
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