John turned to the Cancer Survivors Network® (CSN), an online community offered by the American Cancer Society that connects survivors and caregivers. He used the information he found online to generate questions for his doctors about his diagnosis and treatment. After surgery to remove tumors resulted in the removal of one of his lungs, John looked to the online community for answers.

“What the doctors and medical information don’t give you is what people are feeling,” explained John. “Is it ok to feel like you can’t breathe at a certain stage, or how’s life after you’ve had one lung removed? What can I do, what can’t I do?”

When John heard that his son Chuck’s Boy Scout troop was planning a high adventure trip to the boundary waters in Northern Wisconsin, he had the motivation he needed to test his ability. The five-day, 50-mile trip would require him to carry his own 75-pound pack or a 60-pound canoe for up to a mile at a time.

“I wanted to get well enough and have enough capability to go on that trip with him”, said John. “I really thought that I was going to have to stand there and watch him go off on the trip by himself, and that would have been a huge loss.”

John credits his pulmonary rehab program with getting him into shape. “I was really complimented when the guys told me at the end of the trip, ‘you didn’t slow us down one bit. You kept right up, sometimes leading the pack!’” Finishing the trip with the troop was a great accomplishment for John, but it was even more rewarding to be with his son. “That was a really great thing for me, to be able to do that with my son. It was really positive.”

John’s next mission was to join the fight against cancer. When he couldn’t find a fundraiser specifically for lung cancer, he turned to Relay For Life. “I found out it was the American Cancer Society and I thought that was the best way to go, to support cancer in general for the organization that has helped me the most.” This is John’s second year participating in the Relay For Life of Warren Township. He is the survivorship chair and has his own team.

Now approaching five years as a cancer survivor, John continues to set goals. His son’s troop is planning another high adventure trip for 2008 and John plans to be there. “It’s important to let people know that you can work towards whatever you want to do.”

To learn more about the Cancer Survivors Network®, visit www.cancer.org/csn. For volunteer opportunities with your local Relay For Life, visit www.cancer.org/relay.

Pictured: John carries a canoe during the trip (above left); son Chuck and John (above right)