On May 27, 2009, I was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia.

I don’t know how I did it, but I just didn’t let it get me down. Through my entire ordeal I maintained a positive attitude. People told me they were sorry for my diagnosis, which was grim, and I would reply, “Don’t be sorry, I’ve had a great time here.”

I see my experience like sharing a long day at Disneyland. At the end of the day, everyone feels sad at the prospect of it being over, but we hug and rejoice at the wonderful time we had as we say goodbye. I had a brief moment of sadness when I was diagnosed but it quickly gave way to thankfulness that I was granted the opportunity to be here and experience all the ups and downs that make living an adventure.

During my first visit to City of Hope, I was told I had a difficult leukemia to treat and was immediately placed on the list for a bone marrow transplant. I began what was to be my third round of chemotherapy, the first and second treatments having failed. This time was the same outcome. Due to the number of relapses, I had a 5 to 10 percent chance of living five years.

While undergoing chemo, even when I had pain and felt sick, I kept my happy composure and enjoyed chatting with the nurses. Always a comedian, trying to make everyone smile, I would ask them if they had my next bag of weed killer or radiator flush. This is how I saw chemo — it would kill off those unwanted weeds growing inside me, flush out that buildup of unwanted cells.

In November 2009, I was told a donor had been found. I entered City of Hope the next month to begin preparation, pretreatment, radiation and the highest wallop of chemo yet to completely wipe out all my blood and marrow. I was infused with life-giving stem cells on Dec. 23, 2009. My nurses all wished me a happy birthday. Lucky me, now I had two birthdays to use to reel in gifts.

I returned home in April after a long stay in Hope Village. My first night home, my 17-year-old nephew told me he had to write a paper for school about what inspires him, so he wrote it about me. I thought he was joking. He proceeded to explain that he was inspired as he watched me go through almost dying, losing my hair and dropping weight until I was like a skeleton, yet he never heard me complain or cry or saw me sulk or get depressed. He always saw me happy and joking.

I realized he found the one area where I could accept being an inspiration. I didn’t even realize it myself. So, because of him, I have written this story.

So maybe you will be inspired to never let ‘em get you down. Whether it is the circumstances of life, negative people, the cancer cells growing inside of you or the chemo floating in your blood, do not let them get you down.

I could not possibly put into words the depth of my gratefulness to City of Hope, Dr. Samer Khaled and my family and friends all working together to fight this horrible disease as I comically took it in stride.

As of now, my blood shows no sign of cancer cells. I maintain that it is gone and gone forever. If it does return and is unstoppable I can guarantee you this — I will not let it get me down.

My name is David Laoretti and I am a proud cancer survivor.