Thursday, September 9
Real Story...( The Scary C-word )
Hi! Today going to share a real story with you. Here it goes:
Which teenager would ever imagine themselves getting cancer? For Sarah, it became a reality when she was only 10. As told to Audrey Kua.
Most people don't understand what it means to have cancer but for me, I didn't have the luxury of not knowing. I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (cancer of the white blood cells) when I was 10 years old, and since then, my life hasn't been the same.I still remember what it was like to be just like everybody else. I was an active kid with a lot of stamina. I loved sports, and could run up a hill without breaking a sweat! but it all changed when my Primary four exams ended.
Unusual Behaviour
After my final paper, I resumed playing sports. But something was amiss. I was constantly out of breath whenever I ran. Mum thought it was natural because I stopped training to study. However, I never recovered. I kept growing weaker. I also started to develop fevers and suffer from a loss of appetite. One night, my fever hit 40 degrees and my parents had to rush me to the clinic. The doctor diagnosed me with dengue fever and I was referred to a private hospital. After taking tests on my blood, the doctors discovered that I had a very high white blood cell count. It was then that they suspected that I had cancer. When the doctors finally confirmed my leukemia, Mum wasn't sure if she should tell me the truth. However, my doctor felt that I was mature enough to handle the news. They sat me down to talk to me about my sickness, trying to break it to me gently. But no matter how they tried to explain to me, finding out that I had cancer still came as a terrible shock.The whole world seemed to end there and then, and I couldn't hear what they were saying to me. How could this be? I was only 10! I sat in silence, trying to suppressed my fears. Eventually, I managed to ask if I was going to die. The doctor assured me that I wasn't but because I was already four months into my cancer, I needed to start treatment immediately.
Burning up
At the time, one of my worst fears was having needles poke through my skin. But that was unavoidable because of the chemotherapy sessions. Injections were a daily occurrence for me. What was worse was the feeling of chemo medication burning through my veins because it was so strong. I even had to go through surgery to implant a port-a-cache near my collarbone, a device that helped to prevent my veins from burning when chemo medicines were injected. But that were the least of my problems.
Due to my illness, my immune system was very weak. I needed to be in a sterile environment at all times because my body couldn't fight against everyday sicknesses. I rarely left the house and if I did, it was for my regular visits to the hospital. For one year and three months, I wasn't allowed to go to school. During that time, all I could do was stay home, read and play computer games. But most of the time I was too weak to do anything, so I just slept.
Finally, I begged my mother and doctor to let me return to school. It was my PSLE year, and I wanted to do it at the same time as everybody else. They were reluctant but gave in to me on the condition that Mum could be at school with me everyday.
Back to school
Returning back to school was tough because the other kids couldn't accept me. They often made fun of me for being bald and having a bloated face but I couldn't help that the medication made me look strange. They often complained to the teachers about the preferential treatment I was getting because I was allowed to take the elevator and wear caps to school. It was hard to make friends but I managed to make a few. They made attending school a little easier. Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry everyday after school.
Things weren't great at home either. Dad had to work extra nights to pay for my chemotherapy, which didn't come cheap. The injections alone cost up to $3000 each, and I had to take at least 10 of them! That meant he was hardly around , and Mum, who had to take care of me all the time, had little time for my brother. This led him to rebel against her. Mum was so stressed, scared and alone that she would often cry by herself at night. I felt responsible for Mum's misery!
Second life
Things started to look up when I started secondary school. Teenagers were more understanding toward my condition, and I made friends easily. In Secondary two, my treatment ended and I was declared in remission, which meant that all my cancer cells were gone. I was overjoyed, and my family took me out to celebrate! I still had to attend checkups every six months and some side effects still affected me, but I was going to be okay!
I call this my second life as many of the other patients who went through chemotherapy with me didn't survive. I wanted to give up so many times because the pain of the medication was intolerable, and knowing there was a chance that I wouldn't make it didn't help either. But if you do go through what I did, you need to hold on to life. Hold on to anything that you can. Whether it's a person or a dream, those thoughts are going to give you hope to survive.
This interview was made possible by The Children's Cancer Foundation.
Adapted from Teenage Magazine September 2010.
Blogged @ 16:52 |
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