I asked what was wrong and my dad said 'pop your bag in your room and get changed, then we need to talk to you about something'. Being a normal 14 year old I freaked out and started thinking what could I have done that was so bad? I thought I was in serious trouble. Scared, I walked out into the lounge room and sat down, not knowing what to expect. Then my dad broke the news that mum had breast cancer. To this day I think I would rather have been in serious trouble than to hear that.

"I'm the type of person who doesn't talk much about my feelings"

so I didn’t really tell a lot of people only close friends. It wasn’t till I had to explain to teachers about extensions on assignments that other people found out about my mum having cancer. I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed, I just didn’t know how people would react, what they would say and things like that.

The scariest moment was probably the times when mum had to have surgery. Not knowing what was going to happen afterwards, what would happen during the surgery, the outcomes and if anything would go wrong or not.

"My way of dealing and coping with things"

was to take time to myself when I could at home in my room and either have the stereo or my mp3 player on and just listening to music. This helped me relax and destress. The band Simple Plan is what got me through. There are so many meanings behind those songs which I could relate to.

If I knew someone who had just been put in a cancer situation, my advice would be to take time for yourself, even though it might seem selfish. Take time away from everything, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Just time to relax, refuel and to keep going because there is light and hope at the end of the dark, cold, scary tunnel. You will learn so much and you will realise that at the end.

"Sometimes I wished people understood"

that by having cancer in my life I was not disadvantaged. My cancer experience taught me a lot of things like household things, values and morals and other stuff like that. My cancer journey also taught me things about my self and other people surrounding me, and it also matured me – I grew up a lot. I look back and although it was a terrible time in my life it benefited me so much.

Some people say I lost my childhood and a lot of my free time, but I learned and gained so much from my cancer journey.