The Cancer Detour

[Allison DeSoto]

As I mentioned in my Intro blog I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when I was just barely 17 years old.  My 17^th birthday was in April, my high school graduation and sister’s wedding were in June, and my diagnosis was in July of 2009.  The second day of my new job I had to leave early due to feeling sick and I was diagnosed with A.L.L that night.  As you can see, this time was supposed to be the start of many great new things: college, work, growing up, etc.  Well, life had a different plan for me apparently.  I dealt with and defeated cancer in the time span of about 2 and a half years and was officially cured a little over a year ago, November 2, 2011.  Cancer delayed and changed many things in my life. 

I had started elementary school a year early as well as getting a head start on college by attending a dual credit program.  My junior year of high school I switched schools and took high school classes as well as full time college classes at the College of Southern Nevada.  I could have had my bachelor’s degree by the age of 19.  My schooling had been pushed back by about two years though due to my diagnosis.  I continued to take at least one online class a semester during my treatment.  If it weren’t for my head start I would be going to college with students two years younger than me, but instead I am now with my own age group.  So although the two factors kind of cancelled out in the end, it does not feel that way to me mentally.  I have technically been in college for almost six years now.  It gets very hard at times to stay motivated in school because it feels as though I will never get to my upper level major classes.  I have one more semester of prerequisites for my major, but even that thought alone doesn’t feel like enough to keep me motivated to get good grades.  It’s easy to think “These classes don’t even count for my major, so who cares.”  One day while I was on Pinterest though, (ironically something that is very distracting to my school work!) I came across a quote, “Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.”  Often times it is easy to feel stagnant, unmoving, like the end goal is so utterly and completely far away that it seems inconceivable that I will ever even get there!  But with each step, no matter how small, I am still moving and progressing.  It is hard to feel this way when I am taking my lower level classes that I will never use in my field, but even these classes will impact my grades and what kind of graduate school I will eventually get into.  I found this quote to be helpful at this time in my life so I wanted to share it with you all.  Also, my question for this week is how much has cancer delayed your education or other things in your life?  And how do you stay motivated?

[Elizabeth Allen]

Luckily, my education wasn't affected much. I was diagnosed in 6th grade, and treated through 7th grade, and my teachers were really good to me. I know that my 6th grade teachers just ignored a lot of assignments that I missed when I was first diagnosed, thankfully. They also sent work for me to do when I was out for treatment. Because of the nature (and spacing) of my radiation and chemotherapy treatments, if I felt up for it and my counts weren't too low, I could still attend school. As a result, I never had to stay back a grade or anything. In terms of thinking, "What would my life be like if I hadn't had cancer," I just try not to think it at all, haha. In some ways, yes, cancer has held me back (and it really stunk), but in other ways, it's shaped who I am and what I want to do with my life. Maybe that's because I was diagnosed at a "formative point" of childhood/pre-teen years. Who knows.

[Kane Weinberg]

Fortunately, cancer didn't delay my education too much. I was diagnosed as a senior in high school and I managed to go to class a few times a week and was able to graduate on time. Then, by August, when college classes came around, I had started maintenance therapy, and was able to be a full time student. Staying motivated can be difficult at times, but I think my competitive nature drives me to do my best.

[Jennifer Toth]

Jackson, I can totally relate to the idea of thinking "what would my life be like now if I hadn't had cancer?" but appreciating the ways that the experience has shaped me as a person.  Since I was so young when I was treated, there's really no way to know how my life might have looked different without my diagnosis, but it's something that crosses my mind nonetheless.

[Allison DeSoto]

Yeah that's why I titled it detour not delay, but as far as my education goes it definitely feels like a delay! D= haha but at the same time if it weren't for cancer yeah I would have gotten my degree faster but I would have gotten it from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (my hometown) rather than from a better academic university, University of Georgia (where i am now :). 

[Jackson David Allison]

Cancer really pushed me back a ways in my life I would say.  As a kid I wasnt able to play sports like everyone else, so I got pushed back athletically.  I wasnt in school, and I was home schooled, so I got pushed back socially.  It was a weird situation being inserted directly into the social atmosphere of high school, but I turned out ok! :) I played water polo and swam, I made friends, but there's always that doubt in the back of my mind.  What would I have been like if I wouldnt jave had cancer?  Would it have made me a better athlete?  Would I have been able to go farther in sports that I had never played?  Maybe I would have been a star athlete! But then, I stop and remember how much better I am because of my experience.  I truly care for the people around me, and I see myself as a strong person day in and day out, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything! So I see the question as more, "what have I gained, and how much farther do I have to go to reach my goals?"  Not so much as, "how have I been delayed?"  But Allison this was a wonderful post to read! Thank you