The important thing is to take that first step. Bravely overcoming one small fear gives you the courage to take on the next. -- Daisaku Ikeda

When your diagnosed with cancer you sometimes feel that you don't know how to take that first step. What is the first step? For many it is very different. You might need time to accept what is happening, or you could be the kind of person to jump right into researching your disease, you'll probably need to find a surgeon and an oncologist and maybe even a plastic surgeon. Getting through the first steps can lead to making the rest of the journey easier.

One thing I have learned throughout my cancer experience is that I surprised myself at what I could actually handle. I took a scary step and got my port put in my chest so I could receive chemotherapy. I dreaded the fact that I had to get that port. I felt like such a freak. Even though the port was under my skin completely, it was protruding from my chest and I really felt like a cancer patient at that point.

Sean Swarner was once given two weeks to live. He is the only person in the world to have ever had two specific types of cancer and he is the longest living survivor of one of them. When he was fourteen he was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin's Disease. He was expected to live for about three months. A year and a half after chemotherapy he was put in remission only to be stricken the second time with a very aggressive and deadly tumor attacking only three out of a million people. An Askin's disease tumor was attached to his lung and had grown to the size of a golf ball in less than four months. At this point Sean was told that he was only expected to survive for a few weeks.

Sean dreamed of helping others who were in his situation and becoming an incredible inspiration. His goal was to be the first cancer survivor to climb to the top of the earth. Sean achieved his goal in May of 2002 and still strives to climb more mountains. On the summit of Everest Sean brought a flag with names of those affected by cancer and left it at the top of the world forever commemorating the struggle of cancer patients worldwide.

Sean is one of the founding members of The Cancer Climbers Association, a non profit organization dedicated to motivating those afflicted with cancer by encouraging patients to inspire each other. Cancer Climber challenges and facilitates cancer survivors to climb their own Everest, thus overcoming their own limitations and mental boundaries.

Sean has raised cancer awareness and has instilled hope and inspiration in other cancer patients scanning the globe. Along with climbing, Sean now delivers inspirational speeches around the world.

In the second part of the two-part exclusive interview with ABC's Good Morning America Diane Sawyer, Sheryl Crow shares she is cancer-free and feeling great as a breast cancer survivor. The diagnosis of breast cancer came as a surprise as she is not a smoker and has no family history of the disease. She received enormous support from her family and friends during treatment, whom she refers to as "this incredible tribe of women." Before Dana Reeve died of lung cancer, she gave Crow advice on dealing with the emotional aspects of being a newly-diagnosed cancer patient and dealing with the recent separation from Lance Armstrong by telling her that the only way to go through grief was to grieve.

Crow talked about meditating and changing her diet. "I kind of went into a full-on Eskimo diet, where I ate a lot of salmon. In fact, I'm salmoned out of my brains ... and really green vegetables, just eating really clean, organic food. Listen, I haven't had a doughnut in I can't remember when."

Breast cancer forced Crow into an introspective place of self-realization in facing and overcoming fears -- and the wisdom that comes with that when she said she tried to at least address her fears and not be overcome by them. "The fear of things not always working out. You come to a point in your life where you realize it's not my job to prove to my parents or to my record label or to the world or to my lover that I matter. The fact is that you matter."

"It's not a good place to be concerned with always being right with everybody, always pleasing people, because ultimately you wind up betraying yourself a lot."

Crow shared that she sees her breast cancer diagnosis and being a cancer survivor as part of life's deepening experiences where obstacles are removed and opportunities come in.

Last Friday night, Crow joined the Dave Matthews Band in a concert at Fenway Park. But before she went onstage -- in part of giving back as a cancer survivor --  she made an unannounced surprise visit to Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to visit children with cancer at the Jimmy Fund Clinic.

Coping with the fear of cancer recurrence is something in my every day mindset as well as many cancer survivors. When my cancer did come back, it doubled my fears often sending me into panic attacks. Often examining every inch of my body for signs of cancer several times a day, I found myself crying in my bathroom and then eventually going into a denial mindset that if I didn't know about it, it would just go away. Fear of any kind if let in consistently can eat away at your ability to function even simple every day tasks. Fear leads to a lot of depression and stress and that in turn leads your body into a state of vulnerability of disease including recurrence of cancer.

Both times my cancer came back was following two very stressful times in my life, so I do not have any doubt about the effects stress plays on a body. So how can you not stress? How can you get that fear out of the back of your mind? I am asked at least 2 or 3 times a week, how do I keep a positive mindset and focus on so much work. It is not simple and it is not an easy thing to do. My advice is always, find meaning and learn focus.