David, 56, began smoking the way so many people do. Both of his parents were smokers, and David took up the habit to fit in with the “cool guys” in high school.

“I smoked off and on for 40 years,” he said. “You find some justification just to have one (cigarette) … but you can’t just have one. Because if you have one, you’re going to have a pack.”

When David was diagnosed with Stage I lung cancer about a year ago, he immediately went to the American Cancer Society Web site to learn as much as he could.

“At that moment, I thought, ‘Dear goodness, I’m going to die,’” he said. “How am I going to break this to my wife? How am I going to tell her that I may not be here for Christmas?”

‘The very best treatment’

To deal with his diagnosis, David relied on the care and support provided by the St. Francis team, including Dr. Manesh Parikshak, Dr. Peter Garrett and Cheryl Streeval, the nurse navigator serving lung cancer patients.

“The only thing that you can hope for and wish for and ask for is the very best treatment. And that’s what was afforded me,” he said. Today, David is healthy and strong – and his lung cancer is in remission.