By Adam Pennavaria| @kykernel.com

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To most, stage IV nasopharyngeal cancer is an elaborate way of saying “death sentence.” But to David Oliver, it was just another mountain to climb.

“The word ‘cancer’ had never bothered me too much, but when the doctor told Debbie (my wife) that my cancer was at stage four … I was paralyzed,” Oliver said. “But then eventually, you settle down and you think, ‘All right, what am I going to do?’ ”

The Olivers visited UK on Wednesday to share their story with UK medical students.

UK palliative care researcher Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles has worked with Debbie Oliver on more than 50 studies throughout the past 10 years.

After David Oliver let the news of his terminal illness sink in, he decided to accept the fact that he had been presented with not a death sentence, but a life challenge.

“People tend to approach this from three different angles,” David Oliver said. “There’s a large group of people who disengage. Then there’s a group that fight it to futility, which gets really ugly. And then there’s a group, which I think I’m in, that accepts it and makes the most of it and moves on.”

“My grandpa had cancer, so I was interested in the perspective (David would give),” said foreign exchange graduate student Nathalie Astudillo. “Even though they’re kind of famous because of their testimonies, they still didn’t ask for help.”

David and Debbie Oliver claim to “deprive death of its strangeness,” a philosophy which provides for the consistent acknowledgement that death, whenever it occurs, is simply a natural part of life; not an ending, not a closing door, but a progression on the timeline of humanity.

“I can see the effort they have put forth as a couple, and we need more of those to make the professionals more conscious of their patients,” said Lizetti Acurio, another foreign exchange graduate student.

In his book, “Exit Strategy,” David Oliver discusses the ways in which he worked through accepting his diagnosis, as well as how he communicated his illness to others.

“I wanted to be treated like I always had been,” David Oliver said.

“You can give me a hug if you want,” he added with a grin.

“I can see the effort they have put forth as a couple, and we need more of those to make the professionals more conscious of their patients,” Acurio said.

Today, the Olivers stand as a beacon of hope to those affected by cancer around the world. David Oliver has received hundreds of letters from enthusiastic readers, praising him for his positive efforts in the oncology realm.

A living testimony to perseverance, Oliver maintains a positive, upbeat attitude about life and refuses to be forced into suffering by illness or the thought of death.