Dream

I was a pretty difficult kid. I was always getting fevers, stomachaches, and bruises all over my body. Every second of every day, there was always something that my parents were worried about. They got used to all of the injuries and ignored it for a few years. Finally, they took me to see a doctor. They thought there was something that was really wrong with me. As it turns out, there was.

I was diagnosed with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), when I was twelve years old. Ever since then, my family’s home has been in St. Louis, Missouri. I live in the St. Louis Children’s hospital in room 201.

When we found out that I had cancer, my family, minus my brother, moved to St. Louis so that I could be surrounded by some of the best pediatric doctors in the world. My family is temporarily renting a small apartment near the hospital. My little sister, Lily, is in first grade at an Elementary School fifteen minutes away from the hospital. Every night, my mom and dad switch off staying with me in the hospital room so I’m not by myself all of the time. There are so many things my family has sacrificed for my health that is slowly, and painfully improving.

Maybe someday we can move back to our old home in Virginia. Maybe someday I’ll be able to see my friends again and go to a real school.

Until then, I’m stuck here in this hospital room, desperately bored.