From writer Colleen Cason of the Ventura County Star:

I let the tests lapse for six years myself and was relieved recently when mine came up normal.

But my mother had kept up on hers. Several months before her diagnosis, the doctor put a "watch" on one area and told her to come back for a retest in six months.

After the passage of that short period of time, the X-ray detected a suspicious growth.

At first, my mom wondered "why me?" and why "at my age should I put myself through treatment?"

But Mother is a tough lady. She has survived Legionnaire's disease, open heart surgery and my hippie phase.

The surgery and the procedures that led up to it were simply no fun.

My mom gritted her teeth and got through them.

They call cancer The Big C. Dreaded. Feared. Loathed.

What is your story?