Bruins rookie Phil Kessel is surviving testicular cancer. And the 19-year-old former University of Minnesota player, drafted in the first round this year, is talking about his shocking diagnosis and the surgery from which he is currently recovering.

Kessel, who is expected to rest for two weeks before returning to the ice, found a lump in his testicle and went immediately to his team internist, Dr. David Judge. Judge examined him, referred him for an ultrasound, and learned with Kessel that the lump was in fact cancer -- embryonal testicular cancer.

Both Judge and Kessel are happy to report that the cancer was localized to the right testicle -- which was removed during surgery -- and had not spread. Kessel, therefore, has a very low liklihood of recurrence.

Kessel, who has five goals and four assists in 27 games this season, says about his diagnosis, "I couldn't believe it. It was tough. I had a hard time with it."

Kessel thinks cancer will help him gain perspective on life. And he plans to speak out about his experience so others may benefit.

"If you're not feeling well go get checked out and make sure you're all right," he says. Getting checked out is what saved him -- and he hopes others will follow suit.

Kessel is the second Boston athlete to be diagnosed with cancer this year. Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma in August. With chemotherapy behind him, he is currently cancer-free. And so is Kessel.

I really do believe deep down in my gut that I will survive breast cancer -- that I will witness the wonder of my children growing up, that I will be married long enough that the years blur together, that I will live to a ripe old age. But I still have moments of doubt -- moments powerful enough to make me think I should not have a third child, just in case cancer comes back. To combat these moments -- that seem to surface more now that my treatment has stopped -- I try to keep busy, keep my mind occupied, keep living. My steps for surviving in the short-term include writing, journaling, exercising, relaxing, and spending time with family. But I also follow some steps for long-term survival -- steps that transcend the moment and give me purpose and direction. And here are seven of them.

Scientists attending a cancer research conference question the realism of the prediction of a cancer cure by 2015. Back in 2003, when Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach was director of the National Cancer Institute, he announced a goal for eliminating death and suffering from cancer by 2015. Dr. von Eschenbach, who is a cancer survivor and a personal friend of the Bush family, spent 25 years at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Prominent researchers say the goal is merely a gimmick that gives patients false hope and distorts scientific reality. Others say it is simply a publicity stunt aimed at manipulating the media and public as a means to raising funds for cancer research.

Matthew Chayes, the Chicago Tribune newspaper reporter who wrote the article Cancer cure goal praised, criticized, states that a dozen cancer researchers and physicians who were interviewed during the cancer research conference, laughed off the idea that cancer deaths and suffering could be eliminated by 2015. They were not willing to be quoted directly, or go on the record with any remarks because they feared reprisal from the head of a federal agency that controls the purse strings for cancer research. Common sense should rule when it comes to proclamations made by the government, especially when such lofty goals are announced, but still, it seems especially heartless to raise hopes for the motivating purpose of raising money.