Gretchen Ganas has battled the nation’s number 1 killer for decades. In 1983, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. In 2001, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and had part of her lung removed. In early 2012, she was diagnosed with Stage IV mantle cell lymphoma.

This time, she was given six months to a year to live.

She opted out of chemotherapy in favor of what turned out to be literary therapy. She wrote her first book, “True Confessions of a Dying Lady: Or, How to Lie and Bribe Your Way Into Heaven.”

Gretchen says even though we’re all going to die, we tend to avoid our mortality as we go through life. After her most recent diagnosis, Gretchen says she was forced to look at death and she wanted to do it in a way that looked at love, life, living and dying all as one big ball. 

She explains why she decided to spend what could be her final days writing rather than crossing items off a bucket list.

She says even though there are days when she’s sad and frightened, she chose to put her energy into writing for herself and for other people rather than wallowing in her fear.

Gretchen describes her another book she’s currently writing called “Things The Universe Whispered In My Ear.”

She reveals what she believes are the only two things in life that really matter.