In January, I was diagnosed with throat cancer. That came as a surprise for a couple of reasons. I didn’t have any symptoms. I hadn’t chewed Copenhagen for 25 years. And I hadn’t had a drink in 10 years.

And then, I found out it was caused by HPV.

HPV is transmitted sexually. Somewhere between 80 and 85 percent of people have it. Fortunately, there is a vaccine for it now (that wasn’t available when I was a teenager).

Interestingly, HPV can reside in you for decades before causing problems.

HPV causes cervical cancer in women. And it can cause throat cancer in men and women. But mostly men end up with throat cancer.

In February and March, I had radiation (35 treatments) and chemotherapy (3 infusions). All the doctors told me that radiation was pretty brutal. I naively thought that it was probably brutal for most people, but for me, it wouldn’t be that bad. I was wrong.

I couldn’t eat, drink, or even speak for about three weeks. It felt like my body was consuming itself. I lost 50 pounds.

Fortunately, everything was running normally at the office. Why? Because we work as a team and have redundancy built into all our systems and how we handle cases. It was (and still) remains super-important to me that if one of us has an unexpected health issue, it has zero effect on the efficiency with which we handle cases and the results we achieve.

At Myers & Company, we take a team approach to handling cases. It provides continuity. And honors the expression: None of us are as smart as all of us.

I’ve bounced back. But have a whole new appreciation for how horrible it’s possible to feel.