1. Y ou A re
Aylw ard
Pat rick
2011 el
re So
b
orab le Me ntion
And ard
Aw Hon

2. A bo ut
On
the
surface,
Patrick
is
the
stereotypical
eighteen
year-­‐old:
A
vibrant
young
man
ready
to
take
on
the
rigorous
demands
of
college
life.
Yet,
four
years
ago,
his
stereotypical
existence
was
shattered
the
day
he
was
diagnosed
with
Acute
Lymphoblastic
Leukemia.
“When
I
first
found
out
I
was
sick,
I
was
in
denial.
It
was
surreal,”
said
Patrick.
The
medical
professionals
at
Yale-­‐New
Haven
Hospital
in
Connecticut
were
quick
to
take
action.
“The
support
from
the
medical
staff
made
my
illness
tolerable,”
notes
Patrick.
“They
are
apart
of
my
family
now
because
you
cannot
go
through
an
ordeal
such
as
cancer
and
not
be
thankful
for
all
that
they
did
to
help
me
get
better.”
When
asked
what
advice
he
had
for
others
who
were
going
through
an
illness,
he
said
to
remain
patient
and
remember
that
it
is
only
a
small
fraction
of
your
life.
Thanks
to
the
support
of
his
family
and
the
care
he
received
at
Yale-­‐New
Haven
Hospital,
Patrick
is
now
is
remission
and
“loving
life.”
Currently
a
freshman
attending
St.
Mary’s
College
of
Maryland,
Patrick
plans
on
pursuing
a
degree
in
Political
Science.
He
is
looking
forward
to
what
this
next
chapter
in
life
has
in
store
for
him.

3. Es say
What
an
Everyday
Person
Should
Know
About
an
Adolescent's
Cancer
Journey
to
Health
Now
that
I
have
finally
finished
my
long
journey
of
going
from
a
cancer
patient
to
a
cancer
survivor,
I
feel
that
I
should
share
some
of
my
insider
knowledge
about
what
you
REALLY
should
know
about
an
adolescent's
road
to
survival.
What
you
need
to
understand
is
that
cancer
is
not
just
a
disease.
Cancer
is
a
lifestyle
that
you
must
bow
to
until
it
is
literally
out
of
your
body.
What
I
mean
by
this
is
that
from
the
second
the
doctor
diagnoses
you,
cancer
is
all
that
is
ever
on
your
mind
from
the
second
you
wakeup
until
the
time
you
fall
asleep.
And
if
you
are
lucky,
it's
not
also
while
you
are
sleeping.
I
want
to
make
it
clear
that
this
is
not
just
because
you
are
scared;
this
is
because
every
person
you
see
will
ask
you
about
your
cancer,
any
activity
that
you
plan
will
be
affected
by
your
cancer,
and
even
THOUGHTS
are
affected
by
your
cancer.
At
one
point,
instead
of
thinking
of
myself
as
a
teenage
boy,
I
thought
of
myself
only
as
a
cancer
kid.
In
my
eyes,
this
right
here
is
the
number
one
cause
of
setbacks
in
cancer
patients,
because
if
you
start
to
get
a
negative
mindset,
your
body
reacts
to
that
in
the
same
negative
way.
Keeping
a
positive
attitude
is
a
cancer
patient's
full
time
job.
If
you
think
that
going
through
cancer
would
be
a
time
that
strengthens
all
of
your
relationships
with
your
friends
and
family,
you
are
sorely
mistaken.
Yes
this
is
true
for
some
of
your
relationships,
and
truly
does
show
who
your
closest
friends
are,
but
you
are
also
going
to
see
that
some
people
who
you
though
were
your
closest
friends
just
disappear.
This
is
when
you
see
that
cancer
patients
are
mentally
some
of
the
strongest
people
on
this
planet.
Not
only
must
they
deal
with
the
mental
stress
of
fighting
for
their
life,
but
also
at
the
same
time
they
have
to
deal
with
losing
the
people
they
thought
they
could
trust
the
most.
And
in
a
time
like
this,
when
they
have
every
right
to
be
resentful,
somehow
they
must
find
a
way
to
let
it
go
and
just
move
forward.
For
example,
I
found
myself
watching
my
own
friends
mentally
breakdown
because
of
me.
Yes
this
shows
how
much
they
care
about
me,
but
it
also
meant
I
had
to
worry
about
them
on
top
of
worrying
about
myself.
I
had
friends
that
would
call
me
three
times
a
day
yet
I
never
talked
to
them
because
when
I
would
answer
the
phone
I
would
hear
sobbing
and
then
the
"click"
of
the
phone
hanging
up
on
me.
One
of
these
times,
the
mom
called
me
back
a
minute
later
to
say
she
was
sorry,
but
"Kate
can't
work
up
the
courage
to
talk
to
you."
If
you
have
never
had
this
happen
to
you,
I
hope
it
never
does.
Never
in
my
life
have
I
ever
felt
so
helpless
and
confused.
Since
when
does
my
best
friend
have
to
work
up
courage
to
talk
to
me?
Its
times
like
these
that
you
will
never
forget,
but
they
also
remind
you
of
just
how
strong
you
really
are.

4.
Cancer
can
be
a
time
of
extreme
loneliness.
When
people
ask
me
about
the
darkest
time
I
had
during
my
treatment,
I
instantly
think
of
my
first
night
in
the
hospital.
There
I
was
lying
in
a
hospital
bed
for
the
first
time
ever.
I
was
dripping
wet
in
sweat,
listening
to
the
beeping
of
the
heart
monitors
and
I
look
over
at
the
clock
and
see
that
it
is
2
A.M.
For
the
first
time
in
about
16
hours
I
was
finally
alone,
no
more
doctors
and
no
more
people
asking
me
how
I
feel.
I
knew
I
wasn't
going
to
be
able
to
fall
asleep
that
night;
I
was
just
waiting
for
my
first
surgery
at
7
A.M.
which
would
be
followed
by
my
first
round
of
chemo.
This
was
when
I
had
that
daunting
question
in
my
head,
"why
me?"
I
had
never
done
anything
bad;
I
even
went
to
church
frequently;
I
mean,
there
are
so
many
bad
people
out
there
that
this
could've
happened
to
instead!
And
then
to
top
it
off,
I
knew
my
friends
were
at
home
as
healthy
as
could
be
and
sound
asleep
in
their
own
comfy
beds.
This
was
when
I
decided
I
was
going
to
do
what
ever
it
took
to
get
myself
healthy
so
I
would
never
again
have
to
experience
that
kind
of
loneliness.
By
now
as
you
are
reading
this,
you
probably
think
that
there
is
nothing
positive
that
could
come
out
of
this
experience,
but
you
are
wrong.
Some
of
my
best
memories
and
relationships
are
because
of
going
through
cancer.
All
of
my
nurses
and
doctors
I
now
consider
my
family.
All
of
the
time
and
hardships
that
I
have
gone
through
with
them
has
made
a
bond
that
is
unbreakable.
I
realized
all
of
this
on
the
day
that
is
now
more
special
to
me
than
even
my
birthday
~
my
final
day
of
chemo!
Finishing
3
1/2
years
of
chemo
is
very
much
like
earning
a
badge
of
honor.
I
had
just
won
my
own
war,
and
a
war
that
many
people
don't
always
win.
The
reward
is
that
I
can
now
start
my
life
over
as
a
"normal"
person,
and
finally
start
feeling
good
again
with
no
worries.
I
remember
starting
to
feel
tears
come
on
but
could
not
understand
why.
There
is
a
tidal
wave
of
emotion
that
hits
you
that
I
cannot
describe
with
words.
You
will
never
understand
how
powerful
it
is
unless
you
have
experienced
it
yourself.
This
day
of
triumph
is
what
makes
your
years
of
fighting
and
pain
all
worth
it.
You
realize
that
the
person
you
are
at
this
time
is
100
times
stronger
than
the
person
you
were
when
you
started.
This
is
why
I
say
that
cancer
was
one
of
the
best
things
that
ever
happened
to
me