In winter 2001, I had this full feeling in my tummy. Kind of like I feel after eating Thanksgiving dinner. But the bloated feeling wouldn't go away, so I made an appointment with my doctor.

He ordered an x-ray of my abdomen. That x-ray changed my life. It showed my spleen was the size of a football. This alone was life-threatening, and my spleen needed to be removed.

Next came the pathology report. It said I had mantle...