Greg's Story:
The Strength of Friends

Watch Greg share his story

There is no good thing about a cancer diagnosis. But sometimes fighting cancer can lead to lasting friendships.

That’s what happened to Greg, a head-and-neck cancer survivor. He says he made some amazing personal connections with the staff at North Colorado Medical Center and other cancer patients there.

“What we never ever saw coming was all the new friends that we would make,’’ said Greg, who discovered his cancer while he was brushing his teeth and felt something odd in his throat. It was a lump that felt like the size of golf ball or ping-pong ball. Greg had already had a sore throat for months and the lump made him nervous.

The cancer was fast growing. He underwent surgery at North Colorado Medical Center to remove it and then went through chemotherapy and radiation at the Cancer Institute. He made friends in the “chemo room’’ where he went for his weekly chemotherapy. He also underwent radiation treatments for 33 days straight and got to know and rely on the hospital staff for their support.

All through it, Greg kept working at his job at a major printer.  “It is like a bump in the road,’’ he kept telling himself as he went through the treatments. “A very big bump in the road.’’

Now, Greg is back to enjoying his family and mountain bike riding. And he is still in close contact with the hospital staff and the extraordinary patients he met along the way.

“I would never choose to do it all over again but if I had to I would do it at North Colorado Medical Center.’’

Greg: I am living proof.