When I wasn’t doing my treatments I got to go to school. The hospital gave me a monkey that I got to take to school on the first day. It was called Monkey In My Chair. Everyday when I wasn’t at school, my teacher would put the monkey in my chair so the kids didn’t forget about me when I was gone. Then they took the monkey everywhere they went. Like to recess and lunch and specials.
The only thing about school was that lots of kids stared at me. Sometimes they would rub my head or touch my hair that was growing back. Mommy talked to the teacher about that. The other thing was that if lots of kids in my class were sick then I wasn’t supposed to go. Some parents didn’t make their kids get their shots. Mommy said that their were some sicknesses that their bodies could fight that mine couldn’t. Cause of my stem cell transplant my body didn’t remember getting any shots. We had to start all over with shots, just like I was a baby.
I wasn’t supposed to ride on the bus yet because that’s the place germs are the worst. The doctors said maybe in the spring my counts would be high enough and there wouldn’t be so much sickness going around. The bus looked real fun and it’s what I wanted to do the most but mommy said it wasn’t safe just yet.
Finally, I finished all my treatment and I was so happy. I don’t know if I was more excited to not have to stay in the hospital anymore or to get my central line out. I hadn’t been able to take a bath, like a real bath where you lay down in bubbles, or go swimming in longer than a year. We did lots of things to celebrate that I didn’t have cancer anymore.
First we had a big party at my school one night and everyone was invited. It was called a County Fair but it was like a big carnival with games and cotton candy. Lots of my new friends from school came but mostly lots of people mommy and daddy knew came. People that had been praying for me for a long time. I was kinda like a famous person that night because everyone wanted to meet me and give me hugs. That night they crowned a queen of the fair…and it was me! I was so surprised. There were so many other kids there and I couldn’t believe they picked me to be queen.
I got to go up front in front of everyone when they crowned me and put a ribbon around me. And then I was real surprised because the Make-A-Wish people were there and they gave us all the tickets and papers we needed to go on our Make-A-Wish trip! For my trip I picked that I wanted to swim with dolphins. That meant I would get to go to Florida to the ocean and I had never been to the ocean before.
Our Make-A-Wish trip was amazing. When we first got to our hotel I ran out to the ocean as fast as I could and threw my hands out. I just couldn’t believe I was finally to the place I had been thinking of all those times in the hospital. Mommy said it was beautiful and her and daddy cried.
My whole family was so excited that trip. Carter said he saw mommy laugh more than he ever had. Everyone was so happy that I didn’t have to fight cancer anymore and that we could just have a regular life.
izzystory 