Cancer Sucks!

High school is a time in someone’s life to experience new friendships, clubs and sports. It’s a journey that is ever changing and one that you will never forget. I was just another kid to step foot on the journey through high school, always making new friends and just trying to get through the day with good grades and good attendance. Unlike any other high school experience, it all took a turn on October 10, 2017.

What was supposed to be a set of x-rays explaining the back pain and nerve problems I was having turned into a rather serious situation. The x-rays showed bone defiguration that couldn’t be explained in the image itself. But the nerve pain in my leg alarmed the doctors and pushed them into wanting an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

The MRI showed an alarming mass on my lower L3, L4 and L5 of my spine. What was causing the nerve problems was that the mass was pinching the spinal cord in-between the spine and the mass itself. The doctors at Saint Mary’s urged us to immediately go to a Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. After many tests on the mass and scans, the doctors delivered the news that I had been diagnosed with Euwings Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

The flood of thoughts I had after the doctor delivered me the rather overwhelming news  went from a serious moment of life or death to a real gut check of reality. Being told you can’t do the things that truly keep you happy and become such a routine to your daily life is crushing. I was scared when told the diagnosis. I didn’t know when or if I would get out of thee hospital. I didn’t know how my friends would react. I was scared of my physical appearance, and the thought of waking up every morning, looking in the mirror at someone that I wasn’t used to looking at. I didn’t know how my body was going to react to the medicine, because I only knew of the people I had saw go through this before.

All news and past scans that have been done have confirmed that I have a cancer that is so rare due to the characteristics that have been found. My tumor has every characteristic of benign tumor that is non cancerous. The only difference was, mine has cancerous cells. The cells haven’t metastasized to any other part of the body, which was good news as far as treatment. All they have to do was shrink that one tumor, making the fight less of a wait. They said that it would only take me 6-9 months to beat this and I could be on my way to recovery. I’m currently five and a half months into treatment and have about a month and a half left.  May 5th is my last day of treatment.  What a way to spend my junior year.  It’s not what I had in mine, but it’s been life changing.