Dork Diaries - A New Beginning Part 4

Macy

Content Warning (C/W) - contains mentions of cancer (leukemia) and chemotherapy.

Age 15

Today is the day. Today I am officially 9 years cancer free.
I was diagnosed with leukemia at age four and was finally declared leukemia free at the age of six.
Since I was so young, I don't remember everything perfectly, but I do remember spending a lot of my time at the hospital. At such a young age, I wasn't  fully aware of what was happening. My parents, Marcy and Aleksander, tried their best to explain it to me whenever I asked why I had to go to the hospital and why I couldn't go out and play like other kids instead, so I was aware that I was sick with something called leukemia and that I was in the hospital so that the nurses and doctors could help me be okay again.
I was quite upset when I first lost all of my hair due to chemotherapy, but I learned to accept it once I was told that it would grow back one I got better.
Chemotherapy was still a lot to take though, I felt sick and tired and had very little appetite most of the time due to chemotherapy. But at the end of the day, it saved my life and I survived.

I am going to visit the hospital at which I was treated today. I come with my family and friends every year on the anniversary of me being cancer free to thank the staff who took care of me and to donate money to help other cancer patients there.
After highschool, I want to study medicine and become a doctor, so that I can help people who are ill, just like I was helped when I was ill.

Everyday I remind myself how lucky I am to have had made it. How lucky I am to get to spend time with my friends and family. I also remind myself not to take that luck for granted, because there are many others who unfortunately didn't make it, whether that be because of cancer or because of any other illness. Sometimes it's difficult to think about why did I survive and why another person didn't, but I try not to think about it too much because I know that it is something that is completely beyond my control.

Here's what I think: I truly believe that it is only when you realize that you were/are basically face to face with death, do you realize the true value of life.
So, as someone who fought against death for two years, my advice to every person in the world would be to try to live their life to the fullest.
Have fun, make memories and laugh a lot. Even when it gets hard, always try to find at least one good thing in between all of the bad things. No matter how small or insignificant that one good thing may seem.