Threat to life is transformed into a lesson on how to live

The doctor told Lon Larson and wife Linda Krypel the diagnosis: It was cancer.

Weeks of aches, pains, nausea, dizziness and swelling finally had a name - specifically, Mantle cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Larson and Krypel, of Des Moines, are both pharmacy professors at Drake University. The news jump-started their scientific brains. Their minds ran through facts and figures, medications, treatments, side effects and survival rates.

clipped from www.desmoinesregister.com “I figured I could either embrace the fear or I could see what this was like, both good and bad,” Lon Larson, shown with his wife, Linda Krypel, says of his fight against cancer. “I eventually thought, 'Well, this will be a new experience.’” A bracelet worn by Linda Krypel features a word of encouragement and the number 9, signifying her determination that her husband would be the ninth person out of the 10 in 100 who fare best against Mantle cell lymphoma. clipped from www.google.com