At one point during the operation, my blood pressure dropped to zero, but they pulled me through. What was truly incredible was that there was no longer any trace of cancer in my system. The doctors couldn't believe it. The impossible had happened.

The odds against merely surviving the operation itself were very high. A month earlier the black corruption of melanoma had been visible to the naked eye. That the cancer had disappeared was incomprehensible to the staff at the hospital.

Five doctors had unanimously agreed that it was a medical impossibility for me to live longer than a few more months, with or without the operation.

For the next two weeks, Louise and Sailor took turns watching me twenty-four hours a day, since we couldn't afford a private nurse.

I had to be observed closely. The tubes that led to my body had to be checked constantly, and my vital signs had to be monitored continuously. I don't know when Louise and Sailor got any sleep.