[ckelly78z]

28 years ago I went to the doctor's office with a swollen lymph node in my neck that, unbenounced to me, was Hodgkins desease stage 3cancer. I went through 3 months of 5 day a week radiation treatments 50 miles from home.........5 years later it came back, and I did 3 full courses of chemotherapy ABVD that (the combonation of the 2 treatments) absolutely wrecked most of my systems. I've had related heart failure, reduced lung capacity, blood clots, and 3 out of 4 salivary glands don't work, along with a dead thyroid. I was in remission for many years until 4 years ago when I had an MRI that showed several lymph nodes in the abdomen growing again......so another 20 chemotherapy treatments and i'm in "remission" again. It's something I will NEVER be cured of because i've always have the feeling that the other shoe is ready to drop.

Most people don't know my health history because I don't let it control me, or my moods, and I appear healthier than most people my age (50 years old 5'10" 185 lbs). I am very active on my farm, riding dirtbikes with my son, and cutting 5-6 cords of wood a year for our woodburner, I also work on other people's and my own cars, and just built a new 104x60 horse barn/indoor riding arena for my wife. I refuse to slow down and mope about things.

You tell your niece that ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, and not to give up, and keep dreaming of a future.....I am !