Retired soldier and current Defense Department civilian Greg Cheek said the resilience skills he learned from the military helped him to overcome the biggest challenge of his life.
Cheek, a father of two who works in Germany for U.S. European Command, was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in his head and neck. He said he didn’t even have time to absorb all that was happening before he underwent surgery.
"Two weeks later, I had my first post-treatment CAT scan [and] body scan, and they found a lymph node in my neck that came up 'hot,' so it looked like the cancer might [also] be in my lymph nodes," he said.
As bad news goes, the timing was “amazing,” Cheek said. Shortly before the diagnosis, he said, he had finished the Master Resilience Trainer Course.
2nd Diagnosis ‘Most Significant’
"The Master Resilience Trainer Course and a host of other life experiences were key in my successful recovery and enthusiastic outlook on life," he said.
Cheek said he was a homeless teen who camped outside the local Air Force recruiting office until the service let him enlist. After being an airman for four years, he left the Air Force, went to college and got his Reserve Officers' Training Corps commission for the Army. In 2005, he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
Cheek said he has always had a great outlook on life, but hearing he might have more cancer was a shock.
"That was probably the most significant event I had in my entire life, probably more so than initially being diagnosed with cancer," he said, adding that the second time, he had more time to think about the magnitude of the situation.
"I've always been positive," he said. "I've been positive and resilient and happy and proactive and all these things, but I was a little bit stunned."
Healthy, Strong, Positive
It was his medical team, he said, who told him that even though the statistics show how tough the diagnosis is and how tough the treatment is –- including a stomach tube, radiation and chemotherapy -- that it is those who have served in the military who tend to have the coping skills and resilience needed in these health battles.
Cheek said a member of the medical team told him that those who survive his type of diagnosis are those “who know how to be given a plan, stick to a plan, [and] be resilient as you go up and down during this treatment.”
The surgery took out 13 lymph nodes, he said, but everything turned out okay. He said his ability to handle the stress, having gratitude, and saving his energy as ways that helped him cope.
"All I had to worry about was basically doing what I was taught in the military, and that is being healthy, being strong and being positive," Cheek said.