In the Spring of 2007, Carol Hemingway went to the hospital for chest pains.

Those chest pains turned out to be cancer.

"They said the tumor was probably, maybe the size of a small egg or maybe a golf ball in March of '07, when I first started having problems. Then it grew to the size of a softball," she said.

It took Carol a whole year to be diagnosed and have surgery. She says she was turned away from Willis-Knighten several times before finding out what was wrong.

"People need to listen to their bodies. And their minds. And if they know something's wrong, find another doctor. Go to every doctor you can until you find out what's wrong because for 18 months I was told nothing was wrong with me, nothing was wrong with me. And the whole time I was living with cancer," she continued.

Carol says going to LSU's Feist-Weiler Cancer Center gave her the boost she needed.

"They give you hope. They make you feel like you're not just a number. And alot of people don't realize that. That we have the very best right here in the ark-la-tex," she finished with a smile.

Janessa, one of Carol's four children, moved back home from Florida to help take care of her mom. She encourages family's of cancer patients to cherish every moment.

"Just be strong for them. And always let them know that your'e there and that you love them. Anytime you get a chance to see them, take it. Don't ever say 'I'm too busy,' she said. Carol, who has been given six months to two years to live, plans to keep on living life to the fullest..no matter what anyone tells her.

"Only one person knows when we're going to leave. And that's the man upstairs."