The news was that I was diagnosed with a cancer called Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML). This means that I was born with a gene that just makes more and more white cells, and the body can’t function properly. It is very hard to diagnose, and doesn’t even present itself until your immune system is tested. Mine was only found when I caught a 24 hour vomiting bug. Luckily it was found, because another week and I would have died. It happened so fast, that unlike every other oncology kid, I was treated in the Canberra Hospital Hematology unit.

"I was extremely lucky"

The day after I went into hospital I had a bone marrow biopsy, x-ray and chemo. After that, I had a lumbar puncture, countless blood tests, canulas and a blood transfusion. After the lumbar puncture, they found that I have fluid surrounding my brain. This could turn into a brain tumor, cause me to go blind or give me brain damage.

I could go on and on about hospital, and the pain I went through, but that would be stupid. Because if I am really honest, I am glad that it happened.

"Before this happened, I hated life and school"

I just didn’t feel like I belonged at all, and was friends with a lot of people that were not really friends. Now, I have dreams of becoming a hematologist and helping people.

One thing I learned from talking to other people in my situation, is that I didn’t have to deal with too much, things could have been so much worse. In my position, the pain was only temporary and it went away. But losing someone you love, or watching someone you love go through it would be so much more painful. My mum watched me go through it, and I think that she is pretty amazing. If I had to watch her go through it, it would have been so much harder than my temporary pain.