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It’s quite jarring to reflect on that fact that the past 13 years of my life may very well have never existed. Understanding that there was a malformed cell in my body that spread rampantly with intent to kill.  The concept that a disease can do this to our bodies remains difficult for most to comprehend, primarily on an emotional level.  This being said there was no way I could grasp what was happening, being just 4 years old and diagnosed with cancer.

On July 23, 2003, my mother had a feeling — a feeling that something was wrong with me, and she needed to do something about it.  Later that night, after seeing the pediatrician, I was hospitalized overnight at Yale in New Haven.  By the next day I had my official diagnosis.  Pre B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This illness is a type of blood cancer that spreads incessantly due to it stemming from where blood is created, the bone marrow.  

After my diagnosis I completed induction therapy, which put me into remission after about two weeks.  Chemotherapy was the form of treatment I was given, and it is essentially putting an excessive amount of toxic medications in your body to kill any lethal cells.  Unfortunately this treatment kills normal cells as well, making the process very physically draining, and causing hair loss.  This treatment causes neutropenia, meaning that your body lacks an immune system, and any little bacteria can cause a lot of harm.  I missed a lot of school to avoid further sickness, and was hospitalized several times.  My treatments continued for about two years, ending September 2005.  Now a senior, I’m approaching my 12-year mark of being off my medications and could not be more thankful.

I believe that it’s important to do more than just reflect on the past; I think learning and striving to create some form of change is most significant.  Beating my illness has given me the knowledge and inspiration to do something.  Kim Meerman, my partner in Peer Leadership, and I have decided to run a Bone Marrow Drive on April 1, 2017, at Danbury High School.  The drive will take place in the New Gym from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.  Working with the Be The Match organization, the drive’s aim is to find potential donors for those suffering from various blood diseases.  Fortunately I did not require a bone-marrow transplant while undergoing my treatments, but there are countless people who do need them, and Kim and I want to do our part.

The drive consists of a simple cheek swab in which the potential donor’s DNA is sampled. They are then put into the donor registry and compared with patients in need of bone-marrow transplants, blood transfusion, T-cell transplants, and other types of donations.  If someone is able to find their perfect match, a life can be saved.  Kim and I hope to register as many people as possible in hopes many people find a match.  I received many blood transfusions from various donors, and being able to provide someone else with the chance to partner with a donor would be humbling.  We are both excited for this drive, and hope for a large turnout.  Every single person who registers has the potential to be someone’s perfect match.  If the opportunity to save someone else’s life is there, why not take it?