Person of the Week: Leroy Sievers Battled Cancer

Aug. 22, 2008— -- News veteran Leroy Sievers, former executive producer of ABC News' "Nightline," was used to reporting first on important issues like the Iraq War. But in August 2001, Sievers didn't expect this news: He had colon cancer.

"After that day, your life is never the same," Sievers wrote. "'That day' is the day the doctor tells you, 'You have cancer.' … It's scary, it's sad."

But Sievers was diagnosed early, had surgery and was cancer free for four years.

But in November 2005, Sievers' cancer returned, having spread to his brain and lungs.

Seven months after the relapse, Sievers started a blog called My Cancer, on National Public Radio's Web site and did a weekly podcast. He sought to start a "real dialogue," speaking truthfully and candidly about his life with a terminal diagnosis of cancer.

"I am going to be talking about my experience and hope many of you will write in with your own stories," Sievers wrote.

It was a warts-and-all blog viewed more than 2 million times.

"It's a lot like being trapped on a roller coaster -- a really good one with lots of twists and turns and huge drops, the kind that make your stomach turn over," Sievers wrote. "'It' in this case of course is life with cancer. In some ways the life of a cancer patient becomes a little predictable. But then every once in a while they change the ride.  New drops, new twists, new fears."

He wrote about things people don't want to hear. In a blog on Sept. 18, 2006, Sievers raised a question on the minds of many: "Does cancer hurt?"

He answered: "You bet.  It hurts in ways that you can't imagine.  It hurts in ways that transcend physical pain.  That first diagnosis is like a knife into your heart.  That first bleak prognosis? That's a punch to your stomach.  Waiting for the results of a scan?  Water torture, slow, agonizing, excruciating. … So to answer the question does cancer hurt?  I haven't felt a thing except for when it hurts so badly you can barely stand it."

It wasn't all grim, though; his journey was hopeful, too, and inspired others to believe in themselves.