It's All In Your Head

>Prologue<

I'm just like any other girl, really. There's only one thing that sets me apart.

There's a tumor in my brain.

Of course, no one really knows about it. Only my parents...and my best friend, of course. They help hide it...or at least, they help as much as they can. Hiding this is harder than the treatments, the doctor visits, and even dealing with the pain.

And then there's the fact that no one really understands what's going on with me. This problem has never actually been a problem before. Whatever's going on with me has never went on with anyone.

When it comes to brain tumors, there are symptoms that can let you know you have one. The only symptom I've dealt with is dizziness.

So how did my parents find out I had a brain tumor?

Because there's this bump on my head. When I was brushing my hair I came across it. My mother took me to the hospital and they did a brain scan. They found the tumor, and decided that it had formed on the part of my brain that generates pain. (It's called the hypothalamus. Don't ask how I remember that.)

Okay, so that part wasn't what was bothering the doctors. It was the fact that a week after they found the tumor, I started getting really horrible bursts of pain in my hips, ankles, knees, stomach, and shoulders.

Yeah that's not good.

The doctors determined that it was because of the tumor. It was doing some sort of weird thing to my brain.

They also determined that this was incurable.

So-if you were to use a word to describe this situation-"problem" would be a serious understatement.

My name is Cecilia Kee, and I have brain cancer.