Emily Brown and the Children's Hospital staff are on a first-name basis.

"I have been a patient at Children's for 11 years - so half my life," said Brown, 22, of Colorado Springs.

But it took awhile for doctors to find out what was wrong with her. What started as a pain in her side eventually became paralysis from the waist down.

She had fallen while skating. Doctors originally suspected a sprained knee until the paralysis. Then a chest X-ray revealed a tumor wrapped around her ribs and spine.

Brown's family brought her to Children's, where doctors found bone cancer. So she went through radiation and chemotherapy and a round of surgeries. Surgeons removed some ribs, vertebrae and a portion of one lung.

"I have severe hearing loss in both ears," she said. "Also, because of where the tumor was, my spine is compromised. Because of my lungs, I wear oxygen. I'm supposed to wear it all the time; it ends up being some of the time."

Nevertheless, she learned to ski through a program at Children's. She likes to rock climb, too, mostly in Eldorado Canyon, in a program for the disabled.

Brown is studying English and math at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She hopes to become a writer or a librarian. If she writes, she'll most likely tell her life story.

"I was originally given three months to live," she said. That was 10 months after most of her surgeries and other treatments. Doctors had found the cancer had spread to her lungs.

"I was the one who decided to stop all treatment. I decided to live my life and see where it goes from here, to live my life with whatever time's left. And I did."

Her tumors disappeared.

Brown and her mom, Jeanette, formed a stronger bond on their regular drives to Children's.

"They became unofficial therapy sessions," Brown said. "We pretty much talked the whole way with the music blaring loud. We both love music. We'd just talk. We'd talk about mundane, silly little things. We'd also have very deep philosophical life, death, meaning-of-life conversations."

Brown has volunteered for the Courage Classic, Children's bicycle benefit. Look up her name on the Web site to donate: couragetours.com.

After the paralysis wore off, it took Brown about five years to regain full use of her legs. So riding in the classic is a triumph. But it's mainly Brown's way of saying thanks.

"This is finally the year when I'm healthy enough and strong enough to give back to the hospital for all they've done for me."