Bob Blackwell is a dying man, but he'll be the first to tell you he's not dead yet. A seven-year survivor of pancreatic cancer, Blackwell, 49, plans to make the most of the time he has left, although he's not sure how long that may be. After selling many of his possessions -- including a privacy fence and pool equipment -- Blackwell purchased and licensed an RV. He plans to spend the next few months fixing up the vehicle before he will take it "coast to coast," seeing the country before he dies...

In late October, laughter permeated The Olson Family Garden at St. Louis Children’s Hospital as Matthew McKee got the chance to do something abnormal: run and play outside. The 11-year-old Trinity Lutheran student was diagnosed in August with aplastic anemia, a rare condition in which damage to stem cells hinders the bone marrow’s production of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets...

Low points, loved ones and a strong ability to communicate — these are some of the things for which Julian Watkins is most thankful. Watkins, a 33-year-old Cairo, Illinois, native, has practiced law at multiple levels, before coaching basketball, leading a local not-for-profit and ultimately becoming a life coach in Cape Girardeau...

In October 2016, a 1-year-old neglected puppy showed up at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri with mange. The German shepherd/Siberian husky mix was missing fur, carrying fleas and her skin was scabbing over in places. She also lacked social skills and knowledge of basic commands...

Justin White sat cross-legged on the floor of his mother's home in Patterson, Missouri. As he tinkered with the nuts and bolts of an electric wheelchair, his mother, Vivian, told the story of her survival after a sudden illness claimed her legs and fingers...

On the day before his final surgery in late September, Floyd "Frog" Penny's flip phone wouldn't stop ringing. The callers were old classmates or business partners, friends and associates who had heard about his cancer and wanted him to know he had their prayers before he made the transition to hospice care at week's end. At 79, Frog said it was one of the upsides of an otherwise dire prognosis: the chance for proper goodbyes...

On Aug. 14, the day he was due to have a life-changing surgery, Lee Roy Kent was ready to back out. The surgery, a transcarotid transcatheter aortic valve replacement, was as new as its name was intimidating. It had never been done before in a Southeast Missouri hospital. Between his nerves and the risk involved, 68-year-old Kent was afraid he wouldn't make it through the procedure...

Today, the day before Thanksgiving, holds special significance for Pam Pensel, a teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School who, on a day very like this one three years ago, was released from the hospital following a liver transplant that saved her life...