The LA Times today profiles an Orange County mom who has blogged her way through her son's bouts with cancer, now returning for a third time.

Chase Crawford-Quickel was 13 the first time he was diagnosed with cancer. As a junior in high school, his cancer returned, and following a bone-marrow transplant, he appeared to have kicked it again.

Now 18, he has once again been diagnosed with Leukemia, and given slim hopes for survival. But over the course of it all, his methods of coping have matured, as has he:

"My hair had just started to grow back," Chase said. "That kinda sucks, but whatever."

This teenage nonchalance -- with a dash of bravado -- appears whenever Chase talks about the cancer. Dr. Steven Neudorf tells him he has a 30% to 40% chance of surviving the first year. Chase takes the news stoically, shooting his mother an exasperated look when she gets teary.

"It's just statistics," he said. "I'd rather just think positive. I just want to get [treatment] over with. I don't really think about that. It doesn't get me anywhere if I'm sad and stuff."

Photo by Frenkieb via Flickr