What I learned from having cancer

[Guest guest]

I wanted to share this article with you, my grandmother sent it to me from

her Eugene, Oregon local newspaper. It really tells a lot about Don's

struggle, and what exactly we are fighting for.

" What I learned from having cancer "

by Kassy Walz

It's now three years later, and I can finally put my hair into a ponytail.

The kind of ponytail that swishes back and forth when I walk, and if a guy

makes me mad, I can just turn quickly and slap my ponytail in his face. It

seems like yesterday when I was 12 years old, sitting in a doctor's office,

white as a ghost, and being told I had cancer. Everything happened in such

a blur, a six-month long blur - one long nightmare that seemed to grow more

horrific with every new twist and turn. I am a survivor now, and I will

continue to survive and use the lessons I learned from having cancer. It

all started with a winter cough in November 1997. At the time, it seemed

like the kind of cough everyone gets. I had that cough for about three

months, though, and each month it seemed to grow worse. In January 1998, I

started to feel weak. By February, I was sleeping 23 hours a day, hardly

eating anything and crawling to the bathroom using the little energy I had.

As much as I wanted to deny I was sick and go to school and be with my

friends, I only managed to attend about 3 1/2 days of school that February.

My friends threw me a goodbye party at the beginning of February because I

was moving at the end of the month. I was moving from the Portland suburb

of Aloha to Cottage Grove. As my parents drove me over to one of my

friend's houses, my mom looked at me and said, " You look so white. I should

be taking you to the hospital, not a party. " On February 25, 1998, my mom

took me to the doctor for the fourth time that month. My doctor previously

had diagnosed me with bronchitis and was thinking I might have

mononucleosis. Each time I visited, he gave me more inhalers and junk that

didn't work. Finally, on that fourth visit, my doctor took a chest X-ray

and did some blood work. He took one look at my chest X-ray and was on the

phone with Dr. Lawrence Wolff, and oncologist at Doernbecher Children's

Hospital in Portland. The tumors in my chest were the size of three large

men's fists. I also had a tumor that took up most of my stomach and one in

my liver. The next day, I went to the Oregon Health Sciences University in

Portland and saw a lot of doctors. On February 27, I went into surgery to

have a biopsy done on one of the lumps in my neck. While in surgery, they

tried to take some bone marrow out of the back of my hip, but when they

turned me over, I stopped breathing because of the tumors in my chest. They

were so big that, even sitting up straight, I had to struggle for a breath.

They kept me overnight just in case I stopped breathing again. On March 2,

1998 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Hodgkin's is the malignant, or

cancerous, growth of cells in the lymph system. The disease appears to

originate in a particular lymph node and later can spread to the spleen,

liver, and bone marrow. It occurs mostly in people between the ages of 15

and 35 and again in late adulthood. It is not contagious. Since I was in

stage 4 of Hodgkin's, my chance of survival was put at fifty-fifty. My dad

and brother had moved our family to Cottage Grove during the days I was in

the hospital, so my mom and I stayed with a friend who was close to the

hospital, just in case there were any complications. I started chemotherapy

on March 2. During the next six months, I suffered many side effects.

Blood clots. Hair loss. Nausea. Vomiting. Mouth sores. Mysterious

infections. Permanent lung damage from one of the chemotherapy drugs. I

had so many IVs put in and blood drawn that it eventually took six or seven

tries to find a vein. Finally, on August 7, 1998, I had my last

chemotherapy treatment. On August 21, I was pronounced as being in

remission. Remission is good, but being cured is better. Starting on

August 21, 1998, I have a 10-year wait until I could be considered cured.

Many types of cancer are becoming more treatable, but we should not forget

how the disease can affect people's lives. The pain and the treatments

associates with my Hodgkin's weren't fun, but I met some great people

because of my diagnosis. I also learned a lot about my body, more than any

health class could ever teach me. I got to see a side of life that most

people don't see. Everyone knows the facts of cancer, but most don't know

the actuality of having it. If I could live my life over, I would not

change anything. It may sound crazy, but I would live every moment of my

cancer experience over again. It's made me a stronger person. Without each

one of those moments, I would not have the values I have today. I met

incredible people and had some incredible experiences because of having

Hodgkin's. I have tried my best to give back to the community. I received

stuffed animals, cards and many prayers. I am returning this favor by

volunteering my time in various activities. I also send cards to people I

know who have cancer. I know it helps to receive a card because cards

cheered me up while I was sick. My parents gave me my dog, Garlic, for

being strong through that time. He is my best friend, and I don't know

where I would be without his cute eyes and caring kisses. I also had a wish

come true. Kids who have cancer or a life-threatening disease can get one

wish from the Make-A-Wish foundation. My wish was to meet the Backstreet

Boys, because their music helped me through the hard times. I listened to

them whenever I was feeling bad. Only 10 kids in the United States from

Make-A-Wish got to meet them. My mom, dad, brother, my friend Steph and I

flew to Las Vegas on October 16, 1999, and we met the Backstreet Boys. It

was an experience I'll cherish forever. I have learned so many lessons from

my cancer experience, and I am still learning. I'd like to share a few of

those lessons with you. Maybe you can apply them to your life without

having to go through what I did. Don't sweat the little things. Do what

you want, not what others want you to do. Never take you life for granted,

because you never know when your flame is going to burn out. Cancer can

happen to you, but it is not a death sentence. You can get through it or

help someone else through it. Support groups such as Make-A-Wish or

programs such as the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. You can make

a difference. What you give, you will be given back sometime in life.

Kassy Walz is a sophomore at Cottage Grove High School.