Sometimes Carol and David lapsed into silliness. She contracted a temporary case of Bell's palsy — one side of her face was paralyzed (the result of stress and/or a virus) and they pounced on it for laughs. As Carol recalls, "He told me he was thinking I had a stroke and would die, and he would beat his cancer and who would marry him. And I was thinking my face would stay like that and David would die and who would marry me. The doctor in the ER probably thought we were nuts because we were laughing so hard."

The humor was infectious. One day Draney's grandmother, Laura Draney, showed up at the house with a six-pack of pop and a bag of Baby Ruths. "All that clean living hasn't done you any good, so you might as well try this," she said.

For years, Draney thought he was going to beat the cancer and convinced everyone else, as well. One day his dad said, "You're going to beat this thing, so let's go on living." His son replied, "That's a wonderful idea." They bought a boat and ran it ragged for two years with their fishing.

It was only in rare private moments that Draney gave in to doubts. During one checkup, doctors told Draney they found four new tumors — three more than the previous checkup. After they left Draney alone in the room with his father, he said, "I don't think this is a good sign." His father shook his head and said, "No, it's not a good sign."

"It was the only time I heard him comment," says Terryl. "Otherwise, he was, 'Ah, don't worry, I'll be fine.' People would call him and he'd say, 'I'm doing great.' His mother and I knew it wasn't all that great, but he never complained."

Says Carol, "The hardest part, the time we got most discouraged, was when we'd go back and they'd find something new and we had to go through it all again, over and over. The doctors were always trying to be positive — they're saying they're going to get it (all of the tumor) — but there comes a time when you're thinking there's no way. Reality sets in. After a while we were saying, 'You're not going to get it, are you?' And they'd say, 'No, we're not going to get it.'"