My Story
It was my freshman year of high school in 2014 when I learned that I had a brain tumor the size of an apple on the back of my brain stem. I would need surgery within a month. I spent the next year completely separated from everyone as the recovery process was very difficult. My junior year of high school I started to feel like my body was getting back to normal, but then news came that made my family and I think otherwise.
Surgery: Take Two
The night before the first day of senior year my oncologist called. I was going to need to go in and meet with a new team of surgeons. I had fluid build up in my brain that I will get removed in December of this year. Just when I thought that I was finally healing and wasn’t going to have to go through everything again. The way I have to think about this surgery is that it will only make things better.
Exciting Things have Happened
My family and I have always been huge Boston Red Sox fans since before I was born. Baseball has been the one stable thing in my life lately. This season I had the amazing opportunity to go to six different games. The cancer clinic that I am a part of has a partnership with the Red Sox organization. My story was told to the board. On September 4th I met with a representative from the clinic who put me in contact with Jackie Bradley Jr. Although I did not meet Jackie, when we spoke he told me that I was an inspiration to both him and his teammates. I was going to get through this, he told me. To hear someone that you look up to say that you inspire them is a true blessing.
Two weeks ago, through the help of many on Twitter, I met Tom Caron of NESN when I went to Fenway. I was able to meet the whole NESN crew and spend a few hours talking about the Red Sox. I’ve met some of my best friends because of the Red Sox that I never would’ve met otherwise. And they are always there when I need them.
