Surviving Cancer with a Smile
Six months ago, Ethan Zohn, the winner of "Survivor"'s third season, in Africa, told "The Early Show" he'd been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
Zohn has kept a cancer video diary since then, showing his real-life struggle with an illness that's taken his hair -- but not his spirit.
In the diary, Zohn shares his experiences, saying, "You are now entering the chemo zone, get ready for battle."
Zohn also gives an inside look at the treatments he receives, as well as their side effects.
He says at one point, "I've lost my bottom eyelashes completely and my top eyelashes are falling out. This is what I look like without eyebrows."
He also shares each blow in his battle with cancer.
In one video entry, Zohn says, "I got some bad news the other day. The doctor called and she said the results of my one month follow up visit -- the PET scan and CT scan -- look worse than they did before, which means there is some activity in my lymph nodes. The mass in my chest had increased in size, which obviously wasn't what I was expecting."
However, through the cancer treatments, Zohn says he's keeping a sense of humor.
Appearing on "The Early Show" Friday along with his girlfriend, Jenna Morasca, winner of "Survivor: The Amazon," Zohn said, "You can get through cancer with a smile on your face."
Zohn says things haven't gone smoothly since his first "Early Show" appearance.
"The first round of chemotherapy didn't work, second round didn't work," Zohn said. "And so now, I'm going through radiation, which is great, because radiation was used to treat Hodgkin's before chemo was even invented, so I'm excited for my cancer to face radiation right now."
Zohn is on day 12 of a 25-day course of radiation, and said he was heading to the hospital after the show for his next treatment.
How does Zohn keep up his positive attitude?
"It's important to stay focused and stay positive in order to beat this," he said. "… That's kind of why I've taken these opportunities to come on the show like this to educate other people and inspire people who might be going through similar battles right now."
After the radiation, Zohn will be getting a stem cell transplant, which he said is like "hitting the reset button on your body."
"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez said that's just like a leukemia patient getting a bone marrow transplant.
Zohn said, "I've already harvested my stem cells and we'll get the cancer under control, and then go in for 30 days in the hospital for the stem cell transplant."
Morasca said the journey with Zohn has been difficult. Morasca, whose own mother battled cancer, said, "(His cancer) was a shock. I was kind of like, 'Haven't I paid my dues with this already?' Both of us, actually. But it was surprising."
However, Morasca said she's trying to keep life as "normal as possible," and talk about cancer as little as possible.
She said, "I still try to have us do normal things and laugh and joke and just remember that we have lives outside of this kind of short battle, I like to say."
Morasca called Zohn "strong and inspiring." She pointed out that, even when he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments, he went to the gym.
"(I thought) 'So now I have to go because I don't have an excuse,' " she joked. "So, he's really an inspiration, and I have faith that he'll win this battle."
Rodriguez asked the pair if they plan to marry.
Morasca said, "He'd better, after this!" Then she added, "I'd better get that or a dog!"
Rodriguez said, "Go for the ring!."
As for Zohn's bald head, Morasca said she likes the look.
"This is like his prison bad-boy look," she said. "I'm really digging it."