MEDIA CONTEST: Survival spirit: Flight commander battles the odds, survives cancer

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ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  Capt. Michell Long, 509th Medical Support Squadron medical logistics flight commander, unequivocally recalls the year she joined the military. The Iran Contra Affair, Black Monday and Baby Jessica McClure riveted the nation.

It was 1987, and she was about to make a decision that would enrich her life.

The Philadelphia native was preparing for her senior year at North Carolina State University when she realized she wasn't reaching her full potential.

Broke and unhappy, she firmly believed that everything happened to her for a reason. Even if things went bad, the prior-enlisted air traffic controller said she trusted the Lord.

The Airman loved her job and felt it was the best she could get. Then, during her first year in the Air Force, she was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare cancer of the cartilage that affects different parts of the body, and her whole world paused in midmotion.

"There are no other feelings like the feelings you get when you are told you have cancer," Captain Long said. "Fear overwhelms you and you think of all the horrible possibilities. Positive thoughts and feelings don't cross your mind until you calm down.

"It was contained to my right femur. The doctors said we would watch the cancer, continue to do tests and if it ever showed signs of spreading, they would take my leg," she said.

In 1996, while at work, she experienced an excruciating pain that she had never felt before. Tests revealed her cancer had doubled in size.

She was sent to Wilford Hall at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, for further evaluation.

"The doctor I saw was one of 10 surgeons in the world who could perform a surgery that would replace my femur with one from a cadaver who had donated his organs and tissue," Captain Long said. "Because of the generosity of a stranger donating his organs and tissue, I was able to keep my leg."

The eight-hour surgery led to a monthlong recovery at the hospital, but she said it was worth it. Her friends and co-workers were supportive throughout the operation and recovery.

"She is a very strong and admirable woman who would never consider her battle a test she couldn't survive," said Staff Sgt. Yaneth Alvarez, 509th MDSS.

Sergeant Alvarez said Captain Long is the epitome of a survivor and giver who inspires others by her desire to live and lead by example.

It was that support that later led Captain Long to become an organ donor. She donated one of her kidneys to a stranger, so her brother, who had been on dialysis for three years, was able to move up the waiting list and receive a match for a kidney.

"It was the best thing I have ever done, and I don't miss it," she said. "I think thereason the Lord gives us two kidneys is just in case we need to give one away."

Her philosophy is to enjoy each day and leave work at the gate. She also looks forward to one day marrying and having children.

"She dreams about opening a home to take care of children," Sergeant Alvarez said. "She is constantly dreaming bigger dreams, though not for herself, but for others."

Captain Long said she regrets one thing prior to her surgery. Before she left for Wilford Hall, she wasn't completely honest with her mother or three brothers about her whereabouts. She only told them she was going on temporary duty.

"I didn't tell them because I didn't want to worry them," she said. "When I walked in my house a month later on a walker, my mom was shocked. I will never do that again. To this day, if I say I am going TDY she thinks I am going to have more surgery."

In 1987 Captain Long made a decision to join the Air Force, which today, she is convinced has helped save her leg. Nineteen years after her diagnosis, she endures, she survives and still believes everything happens for a reason.