amann11

To tell you the truth, I was under the impression that it was misdiagnosed. After my initial scans the radiologist concluded that it was either Osteosarcoma (the cancer that Terry Fox had), Ewing's sarcoma, or Osteomyelitis (a bone infection). I was extremely healthy, didn't drink, didn't smoke and was in good shape - so it was really hard for me to rationalize that I had actually developed cancer. Back to your question though, my parents found out via the phone while I was at a friends house. When I was picked up later that day it was only my Dad in the car since my mother was hysterical. My grandfather passed away from lung and bone cancer earlier that December so everything did not seem to be working in my family's favour. He broke the news to me and I didn't really process it. I didn't cry, wasn't upset, I just figured that I would be out of commission for a year and then once my treatment was finished I would be back to normal life again. I'll admit that after about a month everything started to sink in. As soon as I started losing parts of me (hair, bone, physique) it became real. I wasn't sad per say, I was more frustrated - but I knew that asking the "why me?" question was not going to make anything better. I had an extremely supportive network that I fed off of during all my treatments, and that allowed me to persevere through some of the rough times. My parents did a good job at hiding their frustration and sadness. The beginning was obviously the worst though. My mom cried a lot, and rightly so. She had no control over what was going to happen to me, and neither did I. But I must say, she stood by my side every step of the way. I'll never forget her insisting to stay in an uncomfortable hospital chair for days on end. I don't really know what I would have done though if she wasn't constantly by my side. She was amazing.

Definitely the after effects of the treatment. The drugs are really tough on the body and to give you a visual example, my hair never grew back because of the chemo after effects. For my situation though, the worst part was the surgery. It was necessary to have it done to give me the best chance of living a long life, but I can't really do too much with my left arm anymore. I can't lift it above my head, brush my teeth with it, or even grab a glass from the cupboard. It sucks, but I'm alive so I'm grateful for that.

Where were you thinking??

Thanks for sharing. No actually, everyone around me really came together to support me. All of this was facilitated by teachers at my high school, coaches of teams I played for, and the rest by my friends. I was quite fortunate to have so many people behind me. As for how they responded, I don't really know since I was pulled out of school so fast. Some of them didn't know what to say and others offered encouragement. It wasn't awkward or anything - I just think that many people were unsure how to react in a situation like that (when someone close to you is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness). That being said, I still am in touch with many of my friends from high school, which I'm very grateful for.

I'm not too sure. After the surgery to remove most of my left humerus, they dissected it to see how effective the chemotherapy was. This ranges from case to case, but if I remember correctly the chemotherapy killed about 99% of the cancerous cells in my bone. This was way above average for Ewing's sarcoma treatments.