01:00 PM PDT on Thursday, June 15, 2006

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Four-year-old Gabe is learning how to become a racecar driver, just like his dad, Jerrod Sessler.

Jerrod races on the regional NASCAR circuit. It's his passion. But he was told he was about to lose everything because of an annoying mole.

"It was just an itchy, black, basically discolored spot on my back," he said.

"It wasn't green or anything. It just looked like a mole," said Jerrod's wife, Nikki.

It is 1998, the Sesslers have yet to start a family. Jerrod has just entered the world of racecar driving. His career is on course except for one very minor distraction - that itchy mole on his back is driving him nuts.

In 1999, Jerrod finally sees a dermatologist.

"The only reason I ended up there, with a dermatologist, is because my mom is a nurse and she got tired of seeing me back up to corners and walls just so I could scratch this spot on my back and she said, 'there's something not right about that,'" said Jerrod.

KING

Racecar driver Jerrod Sessler worried that cancer would put an end to his career and maybe his life.

Jerrod's mom is right. It's more than an annoying mole. Doctors diagnose it as skin cancer. At age 29, Jerrod has stage 3 melanoma.

The cancer has spread, metastisized. Surgery removes some of the diseased lymph nodes under Jerrod's arm. His life is in jeopardy.

"The threat is really invisible because there's the presumption that there's microscopic disease that is elsewhere that you haven't seen. But, it's there in 50 percent of the patients, so the threat can't be seen but it's presumed to be there 50 percent of the time," said Dr. David Byrd of the University of Washington Medical Center.

"I remember when we found out, we prayed about it in the doctor's office and I remember many nights crying afterwards," said Nikki.

The Sesslers are told cancer treatments like chemotherapy will put an end to Jerrod's NASCAR career. And, they will not be able to have children.

"That was what I always wanted to be was a mom … that was the end of a dream," said Nikki.

"And for me, obviously, the thought of never being able to drive racecars again was very difficult because that's all I ever wanted to do," said Jerrod.

Refusing to give up their dreams, Jerrod and Nikki decide against drugs. They work closely with doctors to monitor Jerrod's cancer, and decide to make a radical change in their lifestyle.

"At that point afterwards when I started to educate myself is when I realized that the food that I eat and the lifestyle choices I make became a life and death decision. You know, every time I choose to eat something I knew I was choosing between life or death," said Jerrod.

Jerrod and Nikki eat raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. They have eliminated all dairy and meat from their diet.

"It's difficult every day because we live in a culture that doesn't support our lifestyle, but we know our lifestyle is what's making us healthy," said Jerrod.

Seven years after Jerrod was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma, he plays in the back yard with his family.

"He's here, he's healthy, and we have three healthy kids that we were told we wouldn't have," said Nikki.

"And we spend a lot of time here with them. I can't complain at all," said Jerrod.

Today, Jerrod is cancer free and next year he plans on taking his dream to the next level: national NASCAR racing.

"If I can just figure out a way to drive racecars and help people get healthy, I'll be great," he said.

If you have questions about skin cancer or any other cancer, call your American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345. Cancer information specialists are standing by to provide immediate answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They'll also put you in touch with local resources and send a free personalized information packet to fit your specific needs.