Despite the slight tremor in his voice, when speaking with former Police Commissioner Lennett Edwards it?s hard to believe that this alert, friendly, vivacious man has been fighting a daily battle for his life for more than ten years. Lennie suffers from a rare, slow-growing form of cancer known as leiomyosarcoma, which affects soft tissue such as the skin, stomach, intestines, and blood vessel walls.

The most common symptom is the development of multiple soft tumours, which are usually painless unless the lump pushes against nearby muscles and nerves.

Only four people in every million develop this kind of cancer for which there is no cure, although remission is possible.

Lennie was first diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in 1994, after two growths on his upper thighs were removed and found to be malignant.

Since that initial diagnosis, he?s undergone scores of operations, multiple chemotherapy treatments, and a great deal of soul-searching ? a journey which has left him scarred, but still vibrantly alive.

Lennie?s doctors, both here in Bermuda and abroad at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Centre, have referred to him as the ?poster boy for cancer? because of his positive outlook and physical resilience. Still, his journey has not been an easy one. Like many cancer patients, Lennie endured gruelling bouts of chemotherapy. Unlike other cancer patients, however, Lennie?s condition was so rare that his chemotherapy was a drug not yet approved by the US Federal Drug Administration ? the drug was so new that it was referred to by a numerical code rather than a name.

Every month, he received intravenous treatment for seven days, 24 hours per day.

During this particularly difficult time, Lennie credits three major sources for his success in battling this disease: his spiritual faith, his family?s emotional support, and the quality of the healthcare he?s received both in Bermuda and Boston.

He recalled one night after a particularly difficult dose of chemotherapy when he began to cry with pain, anger, and frustration.

?The nurse came in, saw my discomfort, and offered me the magical (pain relief) pills,? said Lennie. ?I refused, reached for my headphones, placed a Brooklyn Tabernacle tape in? the more they sang, the more my mind went away from the pain.

?From that night on, I knew I was on to a winner. God had spoken to me through this music,? he said. ?I gained the utmost strength by way of this message.? He also mentioned the continuous support offered by Pat, his wife of 44 years.

?It?s been very difficult for my wife, but she?s been a real coach in keeping me going,? said Lennie. ?You?ll notice when I speak about the cancer, I often speak about ?we? and ?us? being affected. That?s because from the very outset, my wife Pat was with me and never missed an appointment either in Bermuda or Boston. She saw and literally experienced everything.?

Unfortunately, after more than eight months of treatment, doctors told Lennie that the chemotherapy had not been as effective as hoped. Over the next several years, Lennie took different combinations of experimental drugs, and underwent surgery to remove between 30 and 40 of the soft tissue tumours.

?My condition baffled doctors because they were saying ?you shouldn?t be as well as you are?? said Lennie. ?The Cat scans and X-rays showed that I should be in pain, short of breath and generally not as robust as I was. I assured my doctors that there was a higher power at work.?

Since leomyosarcoma tends to be a cancer which eventually gravitates towards the lungs, in 1997 doctors performed major surgery on his lungs. As feared, the cancer, albeit slow-growing, had begun to manifest there as well.

In late 2001, his condition deteriorated drastically as the cancer began to affect his lungs, and he was placed on daily oxygen until August, 2003.

Luckily, his willingness to experiment with new chemotherapy medication paid off ? he?s currently taking a drug called Tamadol which has succeeded in slowly reducing the size of some of his tumours. Lennie is now able to breathe without supplemental oxygen, and feels much better despite the previous two years of poor health and an uncertain prognosis.

?I still get tired, and I tell my nephew (athlete) Jay Donovan that he doesn?t have to worry about me being a threat running the May 24th marathon?, he chuckled.

These days, Lennie said as a 64-year-old cancer survivor, he?s taking life one day at a time. He values his privacy, and spends many days planning for the future with his wife. He?s even working on a book, tentatively titled ?I Stood Alone?, cataloguing his experiences during his career in the Police force. He also speaks to other people battling cancer in hopes of passing along some of his positive outlook on life despite illness.

?When their quality of life is strongly affected by cancer, I tell people to take time for themselves and be thankful for what they have,? he said. ?Life itself is a bit more important that all the good times and things you used to have and used to be able to do.

?Just living and being able to exist is important,? he added.

?This is part of life, and this is the card that?s been dealt to me. But it?s brought out a different side of me, which is also part of my legacy.

?I?m told that ten to 11 years with leimyosarcoma is a lifetime,? said Lennie. ?There is a God? if I ever had any doubt that there is a higher authority, those doubts have been squashed.?