For cancer survivor Brian Cleveland, “Roswell Park is a sacred place of healing. The terrific doctors and health care professionals send out walking miracles. I know, because I am one of them.”

The 41-year-old Akron, NY, resident had never been sick and had a hard time believing doctors when they first diagnosed him with myeloproliferative disease in August, 2007. He received standard chemotherapy but continued to decline. Brian was in a downward spiral when friends and family insisted he go to Roswell Park. His doctor, Meir Wetzler, discovered that Brian had an aggressive type of leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

Brian was devastated. “The carpet was swept out from under me and my entire family. My girlfriend and I shed many tears. I couldn’t help but think of my two sons, who would grow up without their father. It was a rough weekend.”

Dr. Wetzler and the Roswell Park leukemia team began an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy followed almost immediately with an allogeneic stem cell transplant.

“My survival was at stake. I was in the hospital for 147 days. Christmas and New Year’s Eve are a blur,” Brian remembers. “But Valentine’s Day was very special.”

That’s when Brian married his longtime girlfriend, Kathryn, in the hospital chapel. “We weren’t sure what the future would bring, but we knew we wanted to be together for every possible moment,” continued Brian.

In one defining moment, Brian says Dr. Wetzler gave him the courage and confidence to know that he would be a survivor. “Dr. Wetzler came into my room late one night and we talked. During that conversation, I started to believe that I could beat this disease. I know it was a turning point in my recovery. The whole Roswell Park experience was amazing.”

Today, Brian helps care for his two-year-old son, Colten, and goes hunting with his father, Sidney, and 17-year-old son, Jonathon. He finds pleasure in simple daily activities, enjoying life as a father, son and now newlywed.

Brian’s message of hope for the holidays: “Accept the help and love of family and friends. Believe in your doctors and yourself. It will help pull you through the most difficult days.”