Meet Our Teens
Who better to tell you what it’s like to have cancer than those who have experienced it themselves? Hear from young people who’ve already been there. Who better to tell you what it’s like to have cancer than those who have experienced it themselves? Hear from young people who’ve already been there.
Dylan age 24
This wasn’t supposed to happen. But it did. Cancer. Stage 3. Germ Cell Tumor. The size of a cantaloupe, sitting on my heart pressing in my right lung. I would have to go through chemotherapy and open chest surgery. I was 14 years old and this was supposed to be the best summer ever. Baseball, golf camp, hanging out with friends. It didn’t go that way. No hair anywhere, just gone. Skin color gray, thirty five pounds vanished.
A weird journey, it was like a dream, but it wasn’t. It was real. Real pain, real emotions. Each day was the same: go to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, check in, get hooked up, go to sleep, wake up, puke, and go back to sleep, wake up and puke some more. Couldn’t eat for a whole week. After chemo week, I stocked up on food so I wouldn’t feel hungry. It was the same, day in and day out for 6 months.
When I returned to school, I still had no hair. Everybody would ask me “are you contagious?” I felt horrible. It was like I was a walking disease and my classmates thought that I was going to give them a virus. A place that I called home twice a month at CHLA was Teen Impact. A wonderful group that allowed teenagers to be oursself, not just another cancer patient. Teen Impact leads excellent discussions with the teen group and the adult group. I have made lifelong friends because of the group and I will always be a part of it. When people ask me today how long I have been in remission I am proud to tell them 10 years.
I still don’t know everything about what my journey through cancer means but there is no question having battled cancer has made me who I am today. I am a fighter and I am survivor.
Victoria 27
I was diagnose when I was 15 with a rare blood disease Aplastic Anemia, and in my country they didn’t have a treatment so I was given 3 months and a note from the doctor saying that I could go home and spend my last days with my family… My parents would NOT give up and they sent me to Los Angeles and I was taken to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as soon as I got off the plane. Words cannot explain how grateful I am to CHLA and all their staff. I was treated with love and kindness. I was admitted the same day and started my treatment not long after. Some months later I was invited to a Teen Impact meeting and my life changed. I always felt alone and had so many things in my mind and nobody to talk to or understand what I was going through but Teen Impact changed all that. I made friends with teens who understood me, my feelings, my fears and nobody would tell “oh poor you” we would just say “cancer sucks” and everyone agreed. Teen Impact turned out to be my second family. I never wanted to miss a meeting !!! They helped me understand and move forward with living with my disease and made my days at school better. I had so many people to talk to not only teens but the Teen Impact Staff, they were always there for us. Sometimes I would just go visit the office when I had to be at the day clinic and I was always welcome. I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me and what they do for everyone involved. Teen Impact helps teenagers deal with cancer and blood diseases by being involved in their everyday life and helping and supporting their families and siblings as well.
Caitlin – now 17 years old.
I wanted to share my story about struggling through cancer and where I am today. I was diagnosed with Brain Tumor when I was 12 years old. After my tumor was removed, I was left paralyzed because of complication during surgery. I could not move my entire left side of my body. I could not swallow, eat, and walk. Even though I did not received chemotherapy or radiation therapy like my other friends, I had to go to therapy for a long time because I had to learn how to use my hands, swallow, eat, and walk again.
When I returned back to school, I was teased and bullied a lot. Kids said, “My hair was too short I looked like a boy. I couldn’t walk straight and acted different”. When I first met my oncologist, I told him about my school and how it made me sad all the time. My doctor introduced me to my case manager and Octavo. Octavo explained to me what Teen Impact was all about/cancer support group that met every 2nd and 4th Monday of every month.
My mom took me and brother to attend the meetings. I met people who have cancer and are experiencing the same things what I was going through. I liked going to meetings because I get to talk about anything with other survivors/patients listen and received feedbacks. The group helped me better understand why I have to accept things the way they are, how to deal and stand up to others with or without cancer. I had fun and good memories from events I was invited for; For example, Santa Barbara Retreat/Ronald McDonald Camp and Christmas Holidays/Pablove/Make-A-Wish/We Can.
Teen Impact really helped me become a better “me”. It gave me guidance how to be confident, strong, felt love, thankful, family, and most of all happy. I am a member of my school’s Show Choir at my high school/I can now sing and dance. And, it has been past five years since I was diagnosed.
I hope this inspires everyone who goes through cancer, surgery, therapy, or is transitioning back to school. Anything you dream of can happen as long as you try. Never give up on something you really want, it may not happen today, but if you keep your mind set to that goal and you keep on trying and trying, it will eventually come. I thought I was alone and was not able to accomplish anything, but I surrounded myself with positive things and with people who love and support me. I focused on the good things. Always strive for what you want in life and never feel like you’re left out, because you’re not. You have to always keep trying and never tell yourself that you can’t do it, because in the end, you can do it.