Out of Time (5SOS)

Chapter 1

“Harmony, this will be your last chance at chemotherapy.” My doctor told me. “If this doesn’t work, there is nothing else we can do. I am sorry.” She gave me a small hug before leaving the room of the hospital with my mum holding my hand tightly. I looked down at the floor, unable to think through well enough what I had just been told. 

My name is Harmony, Harmony Bell. I’m 18, I live in Melbourne, Australia and I have Osteosarcoma. It’s pronounced os - tee - oh - sahr - koh - muh if that helps? It’s a type of bone cancer. I got the cancer when I was 16, while I was still growing, and I’ve been struggling with it for two years. In and out of hospitals since.

It was in the summer of 2011, just after christmas and new years, but before I started year 11 of high school. I was sitting outside next to my pool reading the third book of ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Mockingjay’. I love to read, it’s what I do in my spare time. It was almost a 30ºC, so a very hot day, especially when the sun was out, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to block the suns rays.

I noticed it first in my right wrist. A swelling. I thought it was an allergic reaction, but I wasn’t sure what from. I closed my book, adjusted my pale blue tank top and denim shorts before going inside to show mum. “Harmony.” She said looking at me. “Have you put on sun screen? You look a little pink!” She pulled out the sun screen bottle from the cupboard and handed it to me. 

“Mum, that’s not what I came inside for.” I told her, getting her back to the topic. “I don’t know what’s happening.” I said holding out my arm to her. My dad walked in, grabbed a cup of coffee and then left the kitchen, without giving me or my mum any notice. She shook her head, as if to brush it away. “Is it an allergic reaction?” I asked her. 

“No, well it could be. I don’t really know. We’ll just watch it, and see what happens to it. Put this on it.” She said, giving me an ice pact to put on it to help with the swelling. I went back to the pool and went back to reading.  The next thing I knew, my left ankle was swollen. I tried to stand up but only fell back to the deck chair I was laying on. My ankle couldn’t handle my body weight. 

“Mum!” I yelled out to her. “Please come here.” Mum came outside slowly. I pointed to my ankle. She called out to dad who picked me up and placed me in the car and we drove off to the hospital. It didn’t feel sore, it didn’t itch, I can’t really explain it, but it didn’t feel like anything major.

They ran many tests at the hospital, before taking me and my parents via ambulance to another, bigger hospital. They didn’t tell us what the tests said, only that we had to get there right away. While in the ambulance I texted my best friend Bree, since I tell her everything. I told her not to worry about me just yet since I don’t even know whats going on.

When we got to the hospital they ran more tests and told me I had Osteosarcoma. They told us things they could do to try and get rid of it. They put me under chemotherapy treatment first, it seemed to get rid of most of it. But I had to go back a month later for another session. In the mean time I was put on medication to try and keep it down. School was not a option. I was to be tutored. School would be too hard for me in my condition.

In the past two years, I’ve had the tumours cut out, many sessions of chemo, and surprisingly, no limbs cut off. There was no point, it was in too many places. Thankfully my hair didn’t fall out. I love my long brown hair, and don’t even dream about getting it cut.

Bree continuously came to the hospital to visit me when I stayed in there for long periods of time. She stuck by me over the past three years, updating me on everything, unlike my dad who ran out of my life at the mention of the cancer. He didn’t want anything to do with it, so he left us. My mum’s parents pitched in to pay for all of my operations and hospital trips which has helped mum out a lot.