I looked it square in the eye.  There was no quivering in my lip, no
lack of confidence on my part.  There was only room for one of us in
this body, and I knew that I wasn't going to step aside.  Regardless
of my cancer being called large cell and aggressive, I knew there was
no choice but to beat it.  I stared it down, and when it flinched,
just a blink, I knew I had it!  I couldn't help myself then, as I just
laughed in it's face!  I laughed long and hard!  I laughed so much
that it hurt!  And as I kept laughing, I noticed that I was even
stronger than I'd even realized.  The cancer noticed that too, as it
started to back off, getting smaller and smaller, and less threatening
all the time.  In the end, the cancer was no more....and I was a
crowned a survivor.

That's just a bit of what I used to run through in my mind during my
battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma.  There were times in the beginning
that I'd find myself feeling weak and scared.  My support team was
always on my side to help me out, however, I learned that I had to
take a strong positive attitude.  Not just to beat it, but to keep my
sanity about myself.  I'd envision scenarios of myself and cancer,
going toe-to-toe, in one way or another, kind of like the paragraph
above.

So, here I am today, working on my first year as a survivor!

But I'm not done yet!  I can see myself helping others to beat their
cancers, by just showing them they are strong and that they too can
laugh in cancer's face!  I'm doing that through an organization that
I've started, called gotCancer.org.

At gotCancer.org, I am working to help people laugh, helping to
inspire them with hope, helping them find their strength.  I've done
my best at taking my thoughts and ideas that were strong and positive,
and I've made them available through products, ranging from t-shirts
to bumper stickers.  I want to get people talking about cancer.  I
want them to be aware of how serious it is.  Most of all, I want
patients to be able to laugh at it, even if just for a moment.  For
that moment, they are not hurting, they are not feeling side effects;
instead they are laughing and feeling good.  Laughter is indeed, good
medicine.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to visit the website
(www.gotCancer.org) and see for yourself.  Our products are for
everyone in the cancer community - patients, survivors, caregivers,
friends and family.  We're developing more every day because we want
everyone to find something for themselves or their loved ones.

And if ever there was a good side effect (haha), it's profits!
Especially good in this case because all are donated back to the
cancer community, to non-profit cancer support and research
organizations.  Maybe one day, gotCancer.org will have it's own
programs, but for now, we're helping to fund those who have great
programs in place already.

We're fighting cancer everyday for everyone!  I hope that you can do
the same in one way or another!

Hang in there and stay strong,

Larry
Rookie Survivor
gotCancer.org

I looked it square in the eye.  There was no quivering in my lip, no
lack of confidence on my part.  There was only room for one of us in
this body, and I knew that I wasn't going to step aside.  Regardless
of my cancer being called large cell and aggressive, I knew there was
no choice but to beat it.  I stared it down, and when it flinched,
just a blink, I knew I had it!  I couldn't help myself then, as I just
laughed in it's face!  I laughed long and hard!  I laughed so much
that it hurt!  And as I kept laughing, I noticed that I was even
stronger than I'd even realized.  The cancer noticed that too, as it
started to back off, getting smaller and smaller, and less threatening
all the time.  In the end, the cancer was no more....and I was a
crowned a survivor.

That's just a bit of what I used to run through in my mind during my
battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma.  There were times in the beginning
that I'd find myself feeling weak and scared.  My support team was
always on my side to help me out, however, I learned that I had to
take a strong positive attitude.  Not just to beat it, but to keep my
sanity about myself.  I'd envision scenarios of myself and cancer,
going toe-to-toe, in one way or another, kind of like the paragraph
above.

So, here I am today, working on my first year as a survivor!

But I'm not done yet!  I can see myself helping others to beat their
cancers, by just showing them they are strong and that they too can
laugh in cancer's face!  I'm doing that through an organization that
I've started, called gotCancer.org.

At gotCancer.org, I am working to help people laugh, helping to
inspire them with hope, helping them find their strength.  I've done
my best at taking my thoughts and ideas that were strong and positive,
and I've made them available through products, ranging from t-shirts
to bumper stickers.  I want to get people talking about cancer.  I
want them to be aware of how serious it is.  Most of all, I want
patients to be able to laugh at it, even if just for a moment.  For
that moment, they are not hurting, they are not feeling side effects;
instead they are laughing and feeling good.  Laughter is indeed, good
medicine.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to visit the website
(www.gotCancer.org) and see for yourself.  Our products are for
everyone in the cancer community - patients, survivors, caregivers,
friends and family.  We're developing more every day because we want
everyone to find something for themselves or their loved ones.

And if ever there was a good side effect (haha), it's profits!
Especially good in this case because all are donated back to the
cancer community, to non-profit cancer support and research
organizations.  Maybe one day, gotCancer.org will have it's own
programs, but for now, we're helping to fund those who have great
programs in place already.

We're fighting cancer everyday for everyone!  I hope that you can do
the same in one way or another!

Hang in there and stay strong,

Larry
Rookie Survivor
gotCancer.org