"Cancer Is In Me But It Doesn’t Own Me."

NASCAR'S Steve Byrnes opens up to Cancer Spot in a personal interview.

Steve with 6 time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson.

"Cancer is in me but it doesn’t own me." This statement from Byrnes sums up how he is dealing with cancer for the second time. Steve has worked for Fox Sports for the past 14 years, and has hosted several shows that cover the world of NASCAR.

Good Times with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"Once you get that cancer diagnosis, it kinda buckles your knees literally and figuratively. And you can read all the books you want on Head and Neck Cancer—or whatever type you’ve got—but my absolute best resource was other people who had already been through it.

I’ll give you a great example: there’s a guy named Gene Monohan who worked for the New York Yankees for probably 35 years as their head trainer. He’s retired now and works for some of the NASCAR teams as a consultant, and he heard what I was going through and called me out of the blue and said, “Hey I had the exact same thing. Here’s what you can expect to go through in your treatment, here’s what I went through, etc.” He’s just one example, but there were 3 or 4 others who reached out to me the same way telling me what I could expect: here’s when you’re gonna feel sick, you’re gonna lose your taste buds, you won’t be able to swallow, etc.

And that’s why I think that what Cancer Spot is doing is just fantastic."

"Daddy this isn't fair."

Steve, nephew Tyler (starting pitcher at Belmont Abbey College), and Bryson.

How is Steve able to remain upbeat even though his prognosis last September was not that good? , "Just be present, be grateful for this day and for what you have." Steve's son is 12 and this has been hard on him and his comment is, “Daddy, this isn’t fair.” And Steve says, he is not angry at the doctors, and he is not angry at God. He is grateful for the day he has in front of him and that’s how he and his family live their lives.

Steve's advice for how to stay upbeat is simply “Don’t let cancer rob you of your passions. Do the things that you love to do.”

"Telling my family, and especially my son, the second time I got cancer was much scarier because he already knew how hard it was and what this was all gonna mean for us again. But he’s getting through it and it’s actually brought us all a lot closer together as a family."

Steve with NASCAR Legend Richard Petty

"When you get cancer, you sort of disappear. I had to quit my job and people just don’t know what you’re going through. I was throwing up in bathrooms and couldn’t swallow and it’s a difficult, difficult thing for families because they’re the ones that see it every day. Other people just don’t get it because they’re not exposed to it."

Helping everyone find their Gene Monohan

cancerspot.co

"My absolute best resource was other people who had already been through it." Said Steve, Hopefully Cancer Spot can help everyone in the world affected by cancer have some one to connect with. Cancer Spot searches its list of members to locate people who are similar to you in characteristics like, type of cancer, age, and location.

You will be connected to other people who understand your cancer and your unique circumstances. It's the start of building lasting relationships with people who understand exactly what you're going through.