larger view

Fire and evacuation of Plaza Towers on Wilson Road was the assignment.

I went out there with photographer Casey Christie and the first person we run into is Stuart Darling, a Bakersfield firefighter.

It was a reunion. In the fall of 2007, I met Darling during my first session of chemotherapy for throat cancer.  He's a very funny guy and he made the not so funny chemotherapy kind of fun.

Stuart had the same cancer I had.  Operative word is had. The cancer is all gone for both of us.

Our throats were ravaged by radiation and my saliva glands are not like they used to be. I asked Stuart about his -- he raised a water bottle. That means he needs a little help with swallowing too.

But we're both very healthy. He returned to his firefighting job a few weeks ago. I have a lightweight newspaper reporter job so I've been working full-time for about a year.

Stuart's brother had throat cancer too. He showed me his stomach tube, a little something Stuart and I both got in order to eat. Ours have been removed, but his brother's is still in.

Advances in cancer treatment have helped those who got their cancer later to avoid some of the not so pleasant after effects, such as the need to keep a stomach tube for years.

For that we are thankful. It was great to catch up.