It was September 1999. My son, Kyle Green, was 16 years old. A junior in high school. He was a good student and stand-out athlete in his small rural school. A bump on his arm that he attributed to basketball, was not getting better. Local doctors told us deep bruises take a long time to heal and he should be fine. We were not sure it "was nothing" as they had diagnosed, and finally pursued a sports doctor who told us that it was definitely "something". He ordered an MRI of Kyle's left arm. The technician doing the MRI blurted out "I hope you're not left-handed!" He was. The diagnosis came a few days later at the hands of an orthopedic oncologist - a large tumor growing between the bones of his writing arm, his eating arm, his pitching arm, his basketball shooting arm. Treatment was brutal - "Red Devil" chemo, weeks of hospitalization, extreme weight loss, nausea, several weeks of radiation followed by surgery and six weeks of braccitherapy (radiation injected into the tumor site). The thing was - Kyle never believed he would die. He never believed he would lose his arm. When the kids of his school lamented "Why you?" he would answer "Why not me?" He believed he was better prepared to face this trial because of a deep religious belief, a commitment to living a clean life, a positive attitude and outstanding support. After four months of treatment the tumor was successfully excised. In May of 2000 his central line was removed and he pitched an inning of a baseball game. He was determined to keep up his school work, and graduated the following year as a top ten student earning almost $20,000 in scholarships. He finished his bachelor degree in three and a half years, and his Juris Doctorate at a top 100 law school in two and a half years. He is now a successful attorney, a husband and the father of two beautiful daughters who still loves playing basketball.. HAPPY DAY!

Signed,
Vicki Green