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 My story began ten days before my twelfth birthday when I noticed a lump on my collar bone. I noticed the lump after scratching at a rash that I had gotten from wearing a necklace that I later realized I was allergic to because it contained nickel. I showed the rash to my mom and she told me that after my dance practice we would go to urgent care to see what the lump was. When we got to urgent care later that day I had no idea what I was in store for. The doctor took a look at the lump and ordered a chest x-ray. When the results came back, the doctor had me sit by my parents and told me three words that I will never forget, he said “serious, tumor’s, cancer.”
At that moment I didn’t know what to think. My mind went blank. The doctor informed my family that he had already called Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital and that they were waiting for me. My parents and I then rushed to the hospital where they did more tests and later that night I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had over thirty tumors in my chest, the largest being fist-sized between my heart and lung. The doctors were baffled by my charts. I had no others symptoms of cancer. Finding that lump was what led to my diagnoses. 
I went through four months on rigorous chemotherapy. I lost all of my beautiful long blonde hair and my appetite shrank to just shrimp, salt and vinegar chips and sunflower seeds. I had many tests done along the way to see if the tumors were shrinking. At the end of the four months the largest tumor was still there. This left the doctors with no other choice but to have me go through radiation. This was something that was scary for me to think about but I knew that I had no other choice. After fifteen radiation treatments and two months of more tests and waiting for results, I got a call from my doctor telling me that I was cancer free.
Throughout my treatment I never lost my passion to dance. I was a competitive dancer, never missing a single competition or performance. I had to dance with a wig, but I didn’t let that stop me. Dance was what kept me going through my hard times. Even when the chemo got to me and I was feeling sick, I still danced. Finding something to keep my mind off of my treatment was a lifesaver to me. Being in the hospital was never fun, but having something to look forward to when I got out was the best thing for me.
As for the present, I graduated from Shadle Park High School in 2015. I am attending Central Washington University to pursue my passion in teaching. I hope to show all cancer patients that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and to never give up. Today I am seven years cancer free.
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