Actually I used to have cancer too. Got diagnosed with it the summer between my sophmore and junior year of high school. I passed my driver's test to get my drivers license on a Tuesday, then Wednesday I got the diagnosis that it was cancer. You all know how it is when you first get your license, especially if it's in the summertime, you want to go out and drive and explore that freedom and hangout with your friends, needless to say I was in no condition to do that, I think it wasn't till over a month later that I actually drove somewhere by myself. I wouldn't wish cancer on my worst enemy, but I'm definitely a better person for having gone through it and wouldn't trade those experiences for anything (does that make any sense?).
One good thing if you get cancer under the age of 18 (or any life threatning illness for that matter), there is the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Now I do realize what I'm about to tell you may destroy any of the sympathy I just got from you guys, but here goes anyway. I've always been a bigger basketball fan than baseball fan, and have always enjoyed watching basketball over baseball, I'm a Celtics fan but also a Yankees fan (hey I'm from CT, both areas are considered local teams). The Celtics sucked, and had sucked for a while, but the Yankees were dominating (they won the record 125 games when I was dealing with all this). Since I got sick in the summertime, and was in no condition to go outside, nor did I want to, I just laid on the couch/hosptial bed all day, and there is nothing good on TV in the summertime, but the one thing I looked forward to every day was watching the Yankees and lucky for me then, baseball is on almost every single day. I was miserable all day, had a softball size tumor in my face and despite other issues because of this it also gave me a constant headache that never went away, but those 3+ hours everyday when the Yankees were on really helped me get through the day. So while the Yankees were the only thing I had to look forward to everyday, it also helped that they were dominating on route to 125 total wins for the season. When the Make-A-Wish people came by to visit and said I could make a wish I didn't know what to wish for (would any of you?). There is some basic rules: can't wish for a vehicle (would have been my first wish probably), can't wish for a weapon (do kids really wish for that?), and can't wish for a house or construction (like to add a swimming pool), and just about everything else (in the scope of reality) is fair game and they'll try to make it happen. I was torn between asking to meet the Yankees and asking to meet the Celtics, since the Celtics had been constantly bad, and watching the Yankees (who were considered by some to be one of the greatest teams ever during that time), I ulitmatley chose the Yankees. So the Make-A-Wish people picked me and 5 friends up in a limo and drove us 2 hours to Yankee Stadium where they introduced me before a packed house at Yankee Stadium on Memorial Day and I got to go in the dugout and behind the scenes and meet some of the Yankees. Definitely cool, but I still don't know what I was thinking, even though the Celtics were still bad for the next couple of years, and then rose to mediocre at best, I still look back and can't believe I didn't choose to meet the Celtics instead. I blame the cancer for my poor decision making. Now the funny thing is, I always think what would I wish for now if I got to wish again, it would have been nice to get a wish during this season.