Cancer free, serving proud: Kirkuk Airman shares his story

Published Jan. 29, 2010
By Master Sgt. Martie Moore
506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs

KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq -- "He had a tube down his nose; IV's in his arms, had lost a lot of weight and was heavily medicated. He looked really rough, and he looked up at me and said, 'I'm comin' back, Chief,'" said Chief Master Sgt. Ronnie Barham, 506th Air Expeditionary Group chief enlisted manager.

That was seven years ago.

"I had a dry cough and couldn't stay warm. I just thought I had the flu," said Tech. Sgt. Mark Duran, 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron structures technician deployed from 301st CES Joint Reserve Field Carswell Fort Worth, Texas.

The cough lasted about three months before high fevers started setting in, and Sergeant Duran's friends finally convinced him to go to the doctor. The x-rays revealed his spleen was three times its normal size -- he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.

According to the National Cancer Association, symptoms include the painless enlargement of lymph nodes, spleen, or other immune tissue. Other warning signs, which Sergeant Duran developed, include fever, weight loss, fatigue, and night sweats.

When the doctor told him he had cancer, Sergeant Duran didn't look at it as a death sentence. Although, unbeknownst to him - he had a 30 percent chance of survival.

"I didn't realize it was as bad as it was. When the doctor told us it was stage 4 I thought, 'well that has to be the least serious - stage 1 must be the worst,'" said Sergeant Duran. "I was near death and totally ignorant about how serious it was."

The stage of a cancer is a descriptor, usually 1 to 4, of how much the cancer has spread. The stage often takes into account the size of a tumor, how deeply it has penetrated, whether it has invaded adjacent organs, how many lymph nodes it has metastasized to (if any), and whether it has spread to distant organs. Staging of cancer is important because the stage at diagnosis is the most powerful predictor of survival, and treatments are often changed based on the stage, according to Wikipedia.com.

He believes the doctor didn't tell him the imminent seriousness of the diagnosis because he thought he might lose hope.
"He didn't realize how strong my Christian faith is," he said.

He had surgery Jan 8, 2004 to remove his spleen and gall blander which was 80 percent cancerous.

"It was beyond a stage 4 - there's no such thing as a 5," said Sergeant Duran. "I still question why I'm still here - but I'm here for a purpose."

After surgery and chemo treatments, Sergeant Duran was not prepared for what came next.

"The hardest part was paying for it - it was catastrophic," he said. "Every chemo treatment is $7,000."

After insurance, Sergeant Duran still had $50,000 in medical bills to pay out of his pocket.

As a civilian he works for the Birdville Independent School District and has been in the Reserves for 26 years.

Although family and friends tried to help, it just wasn't enough. He chose to file bankruptcy.

"Between the cancer and bankruptcy it changed the importance of things in my life," he said. "I saw what I owned and what wasn't important and what really is important -- like relationships with family and friends. It strengthened my relationship with my wife and even my in-laws. With my in-laws I'm no longer a son-in-law, I'm a son to them."

Serving his country is also high on his list of priorities.

"I never intended to get out, but I thought the military might force me out," he said.
Sergeant Duran's Reserve commander and Chief Barham wrote letters to the medical review board urging them to retain Sergeant Duran and it worked.

"From the beginning I said I'm going to do my 33 years," he said.

"He really loves the military and is proud to serve," said Chief Barham. "We wrote the letter so he could still serve, and he volunteered to come here as a structional augmentee. Back home he is an electrician."

Sergeant Duran has been at Kirkuk more than four months and is glad he volunteered to deploy.

"I'm part of a good thing and I couldn't be surrounded by a better group of people," he said.

With a positive attitude and faith, Sergeant Duran is six years cancer free and grateful for every moment.

"Don't take your life for granted; there's not always a tomorrow - I could have been dead in six months after hearing the news," said Sergeant Duran.