It was a beautiful Memorial Day weekend last year when my dad told me that he was having trouble swallowing food. "I don't have much of an appetite," he said. Instantly, the alarm bells went off inside of me.

"Are you planning to get that checked out?" I asked. The first thing that came into my mind was cancer– I figured it was back, just in a different place.

Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years back and had a clean bill of health since then. He admitted that he shared the same cancer fear. Shortly afterwards, he received the news: Stage Two, cancer of the esophagus. The treatment: alternating doses of chemotherapy and radiation.

Dad, being a tough old bird, told the doctor, "Bring it on." It was a rough summer. By Labor Day, he was barely able to eat and couldn't get much down but water, and he was sometimes refusing to drink that. "I think it's time for a feeding port," I told Dad. "We've got to get some food in you so that you can keep your immune system up and fight this."

Dad went in for the port and slowly began getting his strength back. A few months later, he received some good news: the tumor had shrunk and his blood tests came back with good results. But by the spring of this year, the cancer had come back and migrated to his lung. His doctor didn't seem to want to continue treatment. Dad went for a second opinion which concluded that it was treatable, so he went back to his doctor and said, "Bring it on!"

In August, I went up to Wisconsin to barefoot water ski with Joann O'Connor and met her sister, Pat Becker. Pat was our boat driver for three days. I learned that she was diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live. The cancer had spread to several major organs.

But that was sixteen years ago.

Pat endured 132 chemotherapy treatments and managed to kick the cancer on its rear end. I was completely inspired by this active, vibrant woman who towed us around the lake. Pat gave me hope– and I couldn't wait to get home and tell Dad her story.

Sure enough, Dad was buoyed by Pat's story of her amazing comeback. He went to his next chemotherapy treatment and told his doctor and nurses about Pat. "Bring it on," he said once again when the doctor seemed to want to give it up.

The day after Thanksgiving, I called Pat and handed the phone to my dad. Pat gave him a lot of encouragement and support. Pat also gave him some advice that I thought would be helpful to anyone on the cancer journey so I want to share it:

1) You should not go through this alone…whether you use a formal or informal support group, you need someone.

2) This is YOUR cancer–you need to make the decisions with the support of your family/friends/etc. If they are truly a "support" group, they will support you in your decisions but the decisions are still YOURS to make.

3) Find a doctor who you trust and who treats you like you are the only patient in the world when you are in the office. Get tough and ask questions– and not to accept anything less than an answer you can understand.

I will say that one of the most powerful things to have on the cancer journey is hope. Pat came into our lives at a time when some of that hope was getting lost in the process. Every time my dad goes in for treatment or has a bad day, he thinks about Pat and how she came out of the journey full of life– at a time when those around her lost hope.

Thanks, Pat, for bringing hope back into our lives.