BOSTON -- As Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester begins chemotherapy, a local teen spoke out about his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported Friday that Lester, 22, was expected to begin chemotherapy at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Alex CVitan successfully battled the same kind of lymphoma as Lester.

"I really didn't have any clue when they first told me that I had cancer. I was like, 'Am I going to die? Is it treatable?'" Alex said.

Alex is the face of courage. The 14-year-old has a rare form of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Beginning two years ago, he fought through surgery and chemotherapy, refusing to yield to illness. He credits great doctors at Dana Farber and his family. He will be one of the youngest cancer survivors to lobby Congress later this month.

"The research is needed because they need to find a cure. But helping out the families who already have cancer is also pretty big," Alex said.

Alex wrote Lester a letter and has advice beyond his years.

"It's tough, at first, but after you start going through all of it, it gets easier as it goes along," Alex said.

"It's like you've just entered the twilight zone. You can't believe it," the boy's mother, Brenda CVitan, said.

Alex got great grades -- even when chemotherapy kept him out of school.

"Found out it was an aggressive cancer, but a very treatable cancer," Brenda CVitan said.

As for Jon Lester, they said to stay positive.

"Believe that you're going to beat it. That's the most important thing. You really have to believe it. It's going to happen. It's the whole thing," Alex's dad, Peter CVitan, said.

"You have a lot of people pulling for him, his friends his family, fans, Alex, me. He's got a lot of people out there, and positive brings positive," Brenda CVitan said.