I was expected to miss the first two periods of school that day but get back for the last two. This has been my first full week back since then! 

The doctor did some weird test on me, making me run around his office which at that time I had no idea how that was related to my headaches but I obliged and did all the strange tests. 

He then told my Mum and I that I was to go to the emergency department at Hospital. 

"I was quite surprised but I was happy my headaches were finally going to be fixed" 

When we got to the hospital we weren’t quite sure where to go. My Mum asked a woman behind a desk where emergency was and I noticed Mum was crying. I had no idea why she was crying but she knew, she knew that this was the start of something big and I wasn’t going to get out of hospital for a long time.

I was expecting to stay in hospital for a week or so. I had brain surgery that Monday to remove all this fluid that had built up in my head. The next Monday I had surgery again to put a tube going from my brain to my body to replace the damaged vein that caused all the fluid to build up in the first place. 

"By then I was fed up of being in hospital"

I wanted to be enjoying my school holidays and I thought no one except my family even knew I was there. That’s when a man came in my room with a big bundle of flowers from one of my teachers and he let me know that there were people thinking of me and that really helped. I then had brain surgery again the next Monday to get a biopsy of the cancer causing all this trouble.

It was then around the 20th of December and I could barely walk un-aided. A month of lying in a hospital bed had taken its toll and I just wanted to get better. The doctors and surgeons had thought the cancer in my brain was a slow growing, non-treatable cancer which means I would die in the next 5 years. 

We got a call on the 22nd of December saying they’ve got the results of the biopsy and it was a fast growing cancer…

"but it was treatable with chemotherapy and radiation"

The next day I went to a different hospital to get an infuser port surgically put in my chest, which is what you need to have chemotherapy. I was staying in a room with two beds and in the other bed was a boy a year younger than me and he looked totally fine.I got out of hospital on Christmas Eve and rested over New Year.

On the 3rd of January I went back in for my first chemo session, I was told that chemo would make me feel really sick but it was what I had to do to stay alive so I had no choice.  While receiving my first chemo session the nurses convinced me that my appetite would go because of the chemo and I needed a nasal gastric tube put in so I don’t starve.  A nasal gastric tube is a tube that goes up your nose down your throat and into your stomach. It is NOT pleasant to get one put in!!

"I finished the first chemo session thinking it wasn't so bad"

but chemo unfortunately has an accumulative effect so my health deteriorated over the next couple of months. 

After my first two big sessions of chemo I was looking forward to a 2 week break from any more chemo. Unfortunately though I got a temperature and since chemo ruins your immune system you have to go straight into hospital. To me, that temperature was the cancer fighting back, reminding me that it would kill me if I don’t have the chemo. The temperature had nothing to do with the cancer but it was like it was fighting back. That is when I thought “It’s gotta take a bit more cancer than this to kill me” and one day it seemed like it would be years away, but one day I was gonna tell all the boys how I beat it!

"Justin Langer came into my ward to see me"

during that round of chemo. We had a good chat about cricket and he gave me a few cool gifts signed by him. I got through that and the next round of chemo so I only had two outpatient doses of chemo left. 

The day after that session of chemo the Relay For Life was on and I was told that 2 teams entered just on my behalf to raise money for cancer research. I threw up that morning and spewed up my nasal gastric tube as well so we had to make a quick trip to the hospital to put another one in, before I went to see everyone at the relay for life. 

It was now about the middle of April, when I went in for my small dose of chemo. They couldn’t get my port to bleed back which they need to do to make sure they put the chemo into my veins.  Since they couldn’t get it to bleed back they had to use one of my veins in my arm instead. When they were putting it in I was surprised to see that they were just putting in 2 mls. Just 2 mls could make me feel so sick. 

"I had about a two week break and then radiation started" 

For radiation I had to wear a specially fitted plastic mask on my face and I got zapped from 5 different places. This made me feel a bit tired and gives me these temporary patches on my head. I did 5 weeks of radiation everyday, and I’m still feeling a little tired from that but it’s wearing off.

I’ve learnt a lot from this whole journey.  One question I’ve asked myself “do I consider myself lucky for surviving or unlucky for getting it when none of my friends got it?" 

I don’t have to think for a second about the answer.

"I consider myself very lucky for being able to be treated"

If I lived in Africa or South America or parts of Asia chances are I would have died. So I’ve realized how lucky I am to live in Perth.

I learned that the boy a year younger than me who I shared a room with at the very beginning has leukemia and unfortunately it’s non-responsive to some chemo. He is still in hospital now and his chances of getting better are low. 

On the last day of term 2 I had an MRI to see if all this treatment had worked.  I was nervous because I didn’t want any more treatment.  I got the results back during the holidays……… I’VE BEATEN IT!!!!!!!!!!