Stand Up To Cancer

The word "cancer" has become all too familiar in the lives of millions of people around the world. It has been referred to as the public health crisis of our lifetime. It is, in a sense, our "black plague." Cancer does not discriminate. It does not look at our gender, the color of our skin, our social class or the religion we may place our faith in.

I've been hard pressed to find someone who has not been affected by cancer in some small way. One in two men and one in every three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Such sobering facts are hard to accept.

Very few people around the world know that cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined - until we get everyone to realize that, it will be tough to get them to act. Statistics can numb us to what the real issues are. But these are not just faceless numbers. They are your friends, family, co-workers, or teammates.

Mothers and fathers lose their jobs because of cancer. They lose the energy to come home and cook for or play with their kids. Doctors and nurses have to see their patients suffer because of cancer. This is what cancer is really like. This is what people go through. This is the face of cancer the world needs to uncover.

As a person currently battling cancer, I belong to a supportive community that has allowed me to keep moving forward, taking risks, and living strong. It is in the face of cancer that many learn to stand up and put their best self forward. As a community we find strength in numbers, in the commitment of overcoming a challenge and in the will to give make a difference in the lives of others. We learn we are not fighting this battle alone. And I say "WE" because I am referring to the entire cancer community.

I have chosen to share my story with you and how I chose to get busy living my life for every single moment. I hope my story helps someone else facing the same dark times.

I've been incredibly fortunate to have experienced a lot of great things in my life. I have traveled the world, played in packed soccer stadiums, appeared on television, dined with Bill Clinton, and achieved what most people would view as a high level of success.

But I still felt something was missing in my life. And then I was diagnosed with cancer.

Years before my own diagnosis, cancer came into my house and took my father. And now it had crept into my body. My father passed away from colon cancer when I was 14. He was in the prime of his life, taken well before his time. All I wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and hide in my room. Fortunately, my friends from school, teammates, and teachers, all gave me the support I needed to carry on.

My older brothers looked after me even when they left for college. They were there for me calling, writing, giving me advice on girls, driving hours so they wouldn't miss my soccer games. They dug deep and supported me in the face of their own fears, anger and doubt.

It was these people who stood beside me and helped me focus on turning the negative into a positive. They are the ones that gave me strength and reinforced my values in a time when I felt like I was alone. As I look back on it now, that was one of my first experiences at being a survivor.

After I was diagnosed with CD + Hodgkin's Lymphoma, there were some very dark days going through chemotherapy where I felt as if my body had betrayed me. Everything was failing. I couldn't eat and had no energy. It was then that I dug deep, and the values I had learned growing up and the power of the human spirit came into focus, helping me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually get through this battle.

And I'm here. I'm still alive and I've decided to live the rest of my life with the knowledge that a critical time in a person's life is an opportunity to change and live the life you want to live.

So just as I had turned winning Survivor into an opportunity to help others in Africa with Grassroots Soccer, I decided to turn my personal crisis into an opportunity to help others right here at home.

But to do that, I felt I needed to be empowered. I had to own my cancer. And to own it, I had to acknowledge it publicly. At first I was so torn as to whether I should make my battle public. It is a very private, scary, lonely, angry, ugly time and I didn't know what would happen if I chose to open up my life to complete strangers once again. But rather than sit back and wait, I wanted to take control.

So, what did I do? I went straight to People Magazine to tell the world. I shaved my head on national TV rather than watch my hair fall out. But I was not embarrassed or ashamed. I didn't want to hide it. It was my decision, on my terms, and it was empowering.
Now that I own my cancer (well, you all know how the bills are, I may never actually own it, so I'm just making payments), I made sure I didn't let my personal cancer crisis go to waste. I decided to become a megaphone for my generation and use my diagnosis and awareness of cancer to make a difference in the world.

"TO DO NOTHING IS ALSO TO ACT, SO ACT AFFIRMATIVELY BY MAKING THINGS HAPPEN AND NOT JUST LETTING THEM HAPPEN."

And this most recent experience of being a survivor reminds me of this one absolute truth--that with all our differences, old or young, men or women or undecided, tall or short, chubby or thin, we all have one thing in common--we're all survivors on this earth for a short time period of time. Our time on this earth is not promised.

But it's not about when or how you leave this world; it's WHAT YOU DO to make the most of each day and of each crisis while we're here. We are here to not only survive, but improve our lives and the lives of others.

I learned it's what you do after the cameras stop rolling, when no one else is looking, that matters. It is how you take what is given to you and make a difference in the lives of other. If you can do that, you are what I call an ultimate survivor. I feel very lucky that I can use my fame to foster change. It is a gift I treasure.

We are here to not only raise awareness and erase stigma, but also to raise money for cancer research. Just one dollar invested in cancer prevention means ten are saved in treatment. Now is the time to stand up and invest in the fight against cancer.

To make happiness real for others is truly the greatest gift. We have the power to make a difference. Follow your heart, fight for a cause, see the hope that is born in someone else's eyes because of something WE were able to do for them.

You have my commitment to always stand with you. You have my commitment to use my survival to fight for others.

If we all make a conscious effort to initiate change in this world, imagine what life could be like. Imagine how happy we could be, and imagine the gift we would give to people who could use our help.

--Ethan Zohn,"Survivor" winner, cancer survivor

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Ethan has been selected as a finalist in the GQ BETTER MAN BETTER WORLD search. If he gets the most votes, he will donate half of his winnings to SU2C. Help him win!

http://www.thegentlemensfund.com/final_vote.asp