Iraq War Veteran Battles Cancer

“There’s just a bunch of explosions,” said Rounds. “Fireballs going everywhere and just explosion after explosion.”

Rounds said an ammunitions dump filled with old weapons exploded on his base, but because of brain damage and treatments, Rounds barely remembers the experience.

But Rounds’ mother, Lisa, recalled it as a turning point. She said she believes it’s possible whatever exploded that night might have turned the air poisonous.

“Why would a healthy, young guy get leukemia when its mostly very young children who have a genetic predisposition to it or old people who've been exposed to radiation for many years?” said Lisa Rounds.

Two and a half years after that explosion, Lisa Rounds found her son on the floor of his apartment, barely conscious.

"We rushed him to the hospital and they didn't know if he had meningitis," said Lisa Rounds.

Tests showed that Rounds had a white blood cell count of more than 400,000, 40 to 50 times that of a normal count. It was diagnosed as an aggressive form of cancer called AML, or Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

Doctor Tibor Kovascovics, a doctor at the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute, said he cannot make a connection between Rounds’ military service and his leukemia.

“We see a fair number of young patients with leukemia who have not had any exposure and who have not been to Iraq,” said Kovascovics.

A statement to FOX 12 from the military echoed that statement.

Rounds’ mother still has her suspicions and urged those who have people returning from a tour of duty to watch their personality and their health carefully.

"If there are other people coming back from the area he served in and they're having these devastating health problems, maybe they can find out what it is and save some lives,” said Lisa Rounds.

Meanwhile, Rounds remains optimistic that his body and his doctors will win the fight.

“They’ve been doing well. As much as they can with whatever they can,” said Rounds.

Rounds is on his third round of chemotherapy.

If doctors are able to succeed in getting the leukemia into remission, they hope to give him a bone marrow transplant.

If not, they are planning to give him cutting-edge treatments.