[Music]

[Applause]

>> I was 24 years old

when I was told I was dying of cancer.

Three different doctors said the same

six words to me.

You have six months to live.

Those six words

changed who I am.

It was 1990

and I was in St. Louis on a consulting

project.

I was one of the healthiest people I

knew.

I didn't drink.

I didn't smoke. I was an ex-college

wrestler and a competitive triathlete.

My health was the last thing I was

worried about.

Then one morning I woke up having

trouble breathing.

The doctor thought it was bronchitis.

He gave me antibiotics and told me to

get some rest.

But two weeks later I was worse.

So he ordered a chest X-ray.

He called me back into his office that

same afternoon.

He didn't waste time with small talk.

The doctor put my X-rays on the screen

and

traced a shadow about the size of a

softball in the center of my chest.

Your lungs are clear. That's not the

problem.

This mass is so large it's pinching your

airway closed.

That's why you're having difficulty

breathing.