A New Beginning

March 2, 2016

My name is Sam, and I am 13 years old. I have a fun day planned with my best friend Presley. I was on my way to her house, and I wasn’t feeling the best. I was dizzy and had severe pains in my bones. I thought it was maybe just growing pains, so I wasn’t going to let this stop me from a great day. When I got to Presley’s house, we were both so excited for the day that we had planned. She just had to grab a few things before we were out the door. As she was in her room, I started aching and coughing blood. I started yelling for help, but after I yelled once, I fell to the ground.

The whole world was spinning. I was starting to go unconscious, but I could see Presley and her mom run up to me. They were asking a bunch of questions, but I couldn’t process them through my mind. I saw Presley’s mom on the phone, and that’s when I went blank and passed out. When I woke up, I was very confused. I noticed that I was in the ambulance. The paramedics were asking what my name is and all the basic questions they ask.

One of the paramedics asked,“How did you end up here?”

Sam, struggling to get the words out of her mouth said, “I don’t”

Sam didn’t get to finish her sentence before she blacked out again. The next time I woke up, I was in the hospital. I was hooked up to three different machines. I felt very sick and extremely weak.

I asked the doctor, “Why am I here? What is going on?”

The doctor replied , “Your body wasn’t dealing well with your sickness, so you blacked out.”

“Does this mean I am fine and get to go home?” I asked.

The doctor told me that I could not go home because I had stage four leukemia cancer. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. The doctor told me that I was not doing well, and the cancer is starting to spread. I had a small chance of living. I knew that I was going to be staying in the hospital for a long time now, and I would also be taking lots of chemo therapy. I felt like the world was spinning. My mom was yelling at the doctor because she was so angry and upset that this had to happen to me.

The doctors took my mom out of the room, so I didn’t have to see her in pain. I realized that I needed to get some rest to have some time to think about how I am going to have to battle for my life. I fell asleep for only about an hour, and then I woke up. When I woke up, I saw Presley and a few other of my friends. I started thinking about how I can not let this cancer take my life over because these people need me and I still have a long life to live.

March 7, 2016

A week has gone by, and I can tell I am getting weaker and sicker as the days go on. I am trying to be as strong as I can. The doctor had came into my room and they said they had an idea to cure this cancer. They were going to take me into surgery, and once I get out of surgery it will take a couple months for my body to heal and to see if the surgery worked. In order for me to be able to take the surgery I have to get healthier and stronger. That will be the only way it will work. I was finally starting to think there was hope.

March 10, 2016

It is my first day in chemo. I am very scared on how my body will react to it. There is a chance that my body won’t react well to it, and then I won’t be able to get healthier. The doctors will be hooking me up to the machine, and I will be in it for a couple hours. When I get out of chemo, I am going to be very weak, but this will hopefully destroy the cancer.

March 11, 2016

The treatment went well. I was very weak at first, and all I could do was sit in the bed. I was too weak and tired to walk. I never knew how much it could drain you. Today, I have enough energy to get around; I feel great! It feels good to feel like this. I am starting to think there is hope.

March 18, 2016

I found out great news today! The doctors told me I have been reacting well to the treatment, and my body is becoming stronger. I can go through the surgery tomorrow. I am so excited, but I am also very nervous. I am more nervous than ever because there is a chance this surgery will kill me. If it works, I may be able to have a normal life again. Having a normal life means no throwing up every day and being in pain. I will have the surgery in a couple days, so the doctors are prepared.

March 20, 2016

I just got out of surgery, and I am not feeling good. I am very sore and tired. The doctors said that this was to be expected. They had told me that the surgery went very well, and they said that the odds are looking very good for me. I will get the results back and take another cat scan in a week when I am healed.

March 27, 2016

I went to the doctors today and had my cat scan. When the doctors got my results back they had the biggest smile on their face. I began to break down in tears. They had told me that I was cancer free and that the surgery had worked. I had won the battle and beat cancer. There were times where I had to begun to think about how I didn’t know if I wanted to keep going and fighting. There were times where I couldn’t take the pain, but I kept fighting for my life. I can finally do the things I have always wanted to do.

March 27, 2017

It has been a year, and I am still cancer free. I am healthier than I have ever been. I am very proud of how far I have come. I have been able to take many opportunities that I wasn’t able to take when I was sick. I look at life from a different point of view now. I live every day to the fullest because you never know what bumps in the road you may meet.