You look at Brian and all he's going through, and he never ever complains about anything. He's my hero. I look at him and I see what he can do. He gives me strength.

Since he was born, Brian Green has always been the picture of health. Now 18, the blue-eyed, fair-skinned Florida youth has spent his growing up years participating in sports, from Little League baseball to high school football, weight training, soccer, track, and pole vaulting. Rarely has he ever been sick.

But there was this mole on his ear since he was two or three years old.

Three years ago, the mole grew to the size of a dime, became irregular in shape, and changed color.

"It wasn't in a place where I could see it," said Brian, "because it was on back of my ear. And the only time I remember noticing it was after a baseball game." Brian would often participate in all-day tournaments with no sun protection; his baseball cap didn't cover his ears.

His mother, Joy, remarked, "Back then, I didn't pay attention to moles. He grew and the mole grew. But then I guess it grew more, and I didn't notice."

There had been warnings from others, like the hairdresser, who told them they should really have it checked.

"When it did change color, it got kind of light in the center and started to have jagged edges, and when he would comb his hair, he would nick it, and it would bleed. That's when I took him to the doctor to have it diagnosed," said Joy.

In April 1999, they saw a dermatologist (skin doctor), who was suspicious right away. A biopsy was performed. Two different labs confirmed it was melanoma.

"Needless to say," said Joy. "I won't forgive myself for not having it checked [earlier]."

She cautions parents, "Take your child right away. Do not wait. If I could do it all over again, believe me, I would. But I can't go backwards. I can only go forwards and try to do everything I can to fight this disease."

In May that same year, Joy took Brian to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The doctor removed the mole, and also agreed with the diagnosis, even though melanoma is very rare in young people.

The next step was to inject a radioactive dye into Brian's ear to trace where the cancer may have spread. As a result, surgery was performed to remove five lymph nodes in his neck, and skin was grafted from his thigh onto his ear.

The doctors found a microscopic melanoma in one lymph node, placing Brian at Stage III of the disease.

In June, Brian started the immunotherapy treatment called interferon for nine months. At first the dosage was too high, affecting his liver. He lost weight. It made him feel like he had the flu. But that didn't stop him. He'd get a fever, take Tylenol, then go practice football.

Throughout his treatment, Brian remained a high achiever in academics, making excellent grades in college prep subjects.

That fall, Brian made the varsity football team as a freshman. He was able to finish both the football and soccer seasons. But his sophomore track program was cut short in the spring of 2000, because he had to have surgery.

In February 2000, when Brian found a lump on his neck, he stopped taking interferon. In March when the lump was removed, it was found to contain melanoma. In April a modified radical neck dissection was performed. They removed 68 lymph nodes out of his neck. All nodes came back negative for cancer. The saliva gland was removed under the chin, and they worked around his facial and shoulder nerves. Five treatments of radiation to the neck followed.

"My spirits were up," said Brian. "It didn't bother me, I just went through it and did what I had to do."

Even though his right shoulder was a little weaker and at first drooped, Brian soon healed from his surgery. In the summer he went right back to weight lifting and running in preparation for the fall football season.

"Even when I couldn't play," said Brian, "the coaches always welcomed me at practice. They always reminded me I was part of the team. When I got older, they asked me to assist coaching."

But in his junior year, he couldn't play football — after a whole summer of practice — because he had lung surgery. In July on their way to the movies, Joy had spotted a large lump behind Brian's ear, which he thought was scar tissue. She said, "We have to get it checked out."

In addition to the CT scans, Joy insisted on a PET scan. The scan showed a mass behind the ear and a spot in his lung, where the melanoma had spread.

Two back-to-back surgeries were scheduled in August and September 2000. The small nodule was removed from his lung; it tested positive for melanoma. The disease had progressed to Stage IV. One week later the mass behind his ear, the salivary gland in his cheek, and another lymph node were removed. Surgery was followed by radiation in the neck area.

The worse part for Brian was not being able to play football. After lung surgery he couldn't lift anything, and wasn't able to participate in athletics for three months. Missing an entire season made him depressed.

"But every time I had surgery, and it messed up a season, I remembered I had next year," said Brian.

His schoolbooks weighed at least 30 pounds, and being forbidden to lift anything heavier than five pounds, he had to wheel them in a luggage carrier for books and take the elevator.

In March 2001, another mass was discovered in the left lung, higher up. The oncologist wanted to wait and see. The surgeon said it was big enough to operate, so the Greens opted for surgery. The mass proved to be malignant.

In June, Brian started a new immunotherapy that wasn't available when he first started, GM-CSF. Brian continues to give himself shots as a preventative measure, two weeks on and two weeks off, in the stomach.

The best news of all: no recurrence since his last lung surgery. Brian's been cancer free for a year now. "We thank the dear lord every day that it hasn't come back," said Joy.

Brian's indomitable spirit keeps him going. Even after lung surgery, when he couldn't play football, he went on to play soccer and pole vault that year, despite a fall and a chipped ankle bone.

The senior kept his grade point average high, maintaining a 4.1, weighted for his honors courses.

He's also earned his school's Student of the Month and Unsung Hero (football) awards and was a nominee for Wendy's Heisman for Seniors, where the nation's top high school seniors are honored who best exemplify a supreme scholar, citizen, and athlete. Brian was also recognized as one of the Disney Dreamers and Doers, because of his courage in defying adversity and exerting a positive influence on the people around him.

In the fall Brian plans to attend University of Central Florida in Orlando, where he will study aerospace engineering. His dream is to design spacecraft for NASA.

"No matter what, you've got to keep positive," said Brian. "Don't let it [cancer] keep you from what you love to do, or let it change your life or your goals. Joy joined in, "Keep that outlook you're going to beat this, no matter what."

"You look at Brian and all he's going through, and he never ever complains about anything. He's my hero," said Joy. "I look at him and I see what he can do. He gives me strength."