Jillian Pasley is one of the coolest people I've ever interviewed. I met Jillian, who's funny, smart and sassy, earlier this year as I reported a story about African-Americans, cancer and bone marrow donations. (Full Story) Jillian is one tough cookie. She has beaten cancer THREE times.

Did I mention that Jillian is only nine?

In the short time we spent together, the crew and I really bonded with Jillian and her family. By the time we left, Jillian was planning a trip to visit us in Atlanta. Hugs were exchanged. We headed home, looking forward to the next time we would see Jillian and her family.

Weeks later, an e-mail from her mother, Jessica, popped up on my computer screen.

Jillian had cancer... again.

I closed the door to my office and cried.

Jessica has set up a wonderful blog to update family and friends. Recently, she posted a letter Jillian wrote to "Cancer." Jillian agreed to let me share it with our readers.

Dear Cancer,
You SUCK!
You are not very nice.
You are wasting your time because one day you're going to be extinct.
You are definitely wasting your time on me because each time I beat you.
Even if I do feel sick and throw up, I still feel good. I'm still happy because I know I'M winning.
I'm already healing.
You are wasting your time on so many people.
You are not much of a threat anymore.
As I say - you're just a teeny weeny ant and I step on you - SPLAT!
You have taught me that life really is too short.
Learn to LIVE.
Learn to NOT be afraid.
I know kids hate chemo, stinky milk (formula for ng tubes), transplants or even lots of surgeries. But after it all, it's like a new beginning. It's like you're reborn. It's like - WOW - I'm starting over with my life and it's wonderful. That feeling of a new life is wonderful.
Going through all the drama - throwing up, diarrhea, surgeries - when you come through it, it's a miracle.
It's never worth it to have cancer, but once you survive it, it just feels good.
I have had AML 3 times and osteosarcoma just recently.
I have been dealing with cancer since I was 1.
I am 9 years old, have had two transplants and will be 10 in December.
TAKE THAT!

My friend, Jillian:

Keep fighting, continue living life to its fullest.

"Cancer" has no idea who it's messing with.

I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta soon.

Jen

Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviews His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in Atlanta

Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down and speak with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Over the past several years, he has been interested in having his senior Tibetan monks and scholars take science classes and learn about medical developments focusing on the mind and brain. He told me his own interest in science started as a child, when he was given a telescope and allowed to study astronomy. For example, it was after he witnessed his first lunar eclipse that he fully understood the position of the planets with respect to each other.



He has written a book, called "The universe in a single atom." It was in that book that he introduced what some call a revolutionary concept. He wanted to truly blend together the most advanced scientific teaching with ancient Buddhism. By his own admission, he encountered significant resistance from many monks who worried this sort of exposure might lead to a more nihilistic view of Buddhism, and even the world itself.

Not so, said the Dalai Lama when I asked him about those concerns. He was amazingly candid about everything from the recent events in Myanmar to the Beijing Olympics. I asked him about the recent protests sparked after his receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal. He laughed and said "that's now almost routine."

Once we returned to the topic of science, I showed him footage of brain surgery. He had never seen anything like it before. I asked him how he felt after looking at the physical embodiment of something he had studied for so long, the mind.

He was clearly affected by it, and admits that he better understands the connection between the brain and the mind. For example, while he still believes meditation can be a powerful force toward combating depression, he also now acknowledges that medication may sometimes be necessary to "restore the balance" as he puts it.

A larger question loomed though, and his holiness thought about it for some time. Does science threaten Buddhism or can the two support each other? I'm curious as to what you think.

My mother is one of twenty women in her neighborhood who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. And when I mean neighborhood, I'm talking about a two block radius. The women who lived next door, the lady up the street her friend in the corner house were all were affected by the same illness. Some have been fortunate and survived, like my mom. Others have passed away. But the question remains; how is it possible that so many women can come down with the same condition in such a small area? County and state public health officials investigated. Environmentalists came out to their homes... even the National Institutes of Health sent a crew to survey the area. Why breast cancer and why so many? They've never come up with a theory.

The CDC defines a cancer cluster as "a greater than expected number of cancer cases that occurs within a group of people, in a geographic area, or over a period of time. A person may suspect that a cancer cluster exists when several loved ones, neighbors, or coworkers are diagnosed with cancer." But the agency warns that many times what appears to be a "cluster" may actually reflect the normal number of cancer cases expected in a particular area. That's because cancer is a common disease. I would imagine that everyone knows at least one person who has been diagnosed with some form of the illness. Also, the term cancer can refer to a lot of different forms of the disease; a cluster usually refers to one form of cancer. And a cancer cluster may be due to chance alone. The CDC finds most cancer clusters are likely to consist of one type of cancer, a rare type of cancer or a form of cancer that is not usually found in a particular age group.

So in my mom's case, there were twenty women of different ages, different races, and different family backgrounds all with breast cancer in a tiny stretch of land. Sounds like a cluster to me.

A lot of health experts say cancer clusters are caused by the environment. For example, according to the National Cancer Institute, one in seven women living in parts of Long Island have a chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime. New York State 2000 Cancer Registry data indicates that 500 women living in Nassau and Suffolk counties will be diagnosed this year alone. Geographic variation in breast cancer rates has been well documented, and researchers and the public are increasingly turning to environmental exposures to our air, water, soil and food to look for explanations for these pockets or clusters.

In many cases, if health officials look hard enough they can sometimes find the cause of the cancers. In Tom's River, New Jersey, 103 children were part of the nation's largest cancer cluster. State workers eventually found that 4,500 drums of toxic liquid were dumped at a nearby landfill. Federal investigators discovered in the famous "Love Canal" cancer cluster in Niagara that thousands of toxic chemicals were buried on the site 20 years before homes were built.

As I mentioned, in my mother's case, they never found the source of the problem. Officials did discover her housing development was built on an old turkey farm. Perhaps pesticides and chemicals were used on the birds, eventually permeated into the soil her home is now built on. It's difficult to say. But the problem exists.

If you think you might be a part of a cancer cluster contact your local or state health department or state cancer registry (See links here and here). These agencies provide the first level of response and have the most current local data.

Have you or someone you know been part of a cancer cluster? What did they find? Let us know.