Minot Airman Beats Odds

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Master Sgt. Christopher Kozel, 5th Security Forces Squadron resource advisor, is featured in his work center here Feb 9. Sgt. Kozel endured a long, intensive treatment regiment in his fight against stage 2-B lymphoma cancer, involving both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Keith Ballard))

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Master Sgt. Christopher Kozel, 5th Security Forces Squadron resource advisor, works at his desk here Feb 9. Sgt. Kozel endured a long, intensive treatment regiment in his fight against stage 2-B lymphoma cancer, involving both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Keith Ballard)

Minot Airman Beats Odds

Published Feb. 10, 2010
By Staff Sgt. Keith Ballard
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Christmas Eve is a day that most people spend thinking about their loved ones, but for one Minot Airman, it was a day that he spent wondering if he would even see next Christmas.

Master Sgt. Christopher Kozel, 5th Security Forces Squadron resource advisor, was deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq when he received the news.

"I thought it was just common cold symptoms," said Sergeant Kozel, "but when the antibiotics were done and the cough came back, that's when they took some x-rays. They came back and said 'it looks like you have a large mass in your chest and we are going to medevac you out of Iraq.'"

"You know you never really prepare yourself for bad news," he said. "My family, my career, my past experiences and those experiences with my family were what were on my mind."

Sergeant Kozel was flown to Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center in Germany on Christmas Day, before continuing on to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base.

Sergeant Kozel was diagnosed with stage 2-B lymphoma cancer Jan. 11, 2009. Lymphoma is a type of cancer involving cells of the immune system.

He underwent two treatments of chemotherapy at Wilford Hall Medical Center before being transferred back to Minot Air Force Base, N.D. to continue his treatment at Trinity Medical Center's Cancer Care Center in February of 2009. He then completed another six rounds of chemotherapy and 20 straight days of radiation therapy over the next few months.

Sergeant Kozel went through a second battery of tests and in July of 2009, he received the news that his cancer was in remission. He added, "It was a big sigh of relief to be able to make it through those types of regiments and be able to get back to some sort of normalcy in my life and to be able to put this behind me and move forward."

In reference to his support network, Sergeant Kozel said, "My biggest supporter and helper had to be my wife. Without her encouragement, it would have been very tough to pull through the treatments."

When asked about his time at the Cancer Care Center, Sergeant Kozel replied, "All the nurses and staff there are fantastic and to try and single out one of them would be unfair to all of them. They were all just fantastic."

Sergeant Kozel's message to everyone is clear: "One thing I would definitely like to say to folks is that if you have any abnormal bump or if something is not right, please go get it checked out and don't put it off.

I always thought that cancer was something that happened to everyone else. Well cancer can happen to you and you need to pay attention to your body and talk about these things with your doctor. The earlier you catch these things, the better your treatment options."