Exactly like you, lots of different things happen to me in life. Some good. Some bad. Some happy. Some sad. For the most part, I love the things that have happened to me so far in life. I'm a really lucky kid who has a awesome family that loves me. I have good friends who I enjoy spending time with and who look out for me. I enjoy going to school; my teachers have been awesome. Baseball season has started. The school year is over. Summer is almost here. I can just about smell the chlorine in the pools I hope to swim in. I can hardly wait. Before I get to all that, let me tell you about a challenge that had been put before me which has really started to demand my attention. It started like this... On Saturday May 25th I went to see my primary doctor because my Mom and Dad noticed I had a pretty swollen throat. The doctor looked at my throat and said my tonsil was swollen. She was very concerned. In fact, she called a Dr. at Children's Hospital and asked him to look at an x-ray of my neck. He said my tonsil was swollen and wanted me to come to his office so he could have a better look at it. I went to see him and he said my tonsil needed to be surgically removed. On Friday May 1st, I went to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to have a tonsillectomy. I didn't know this at the time but, as the surgeon was taking my tonsil out he noticed something wasn't quite right about the tonsil tissue. In fact, he ordered some tests to look more closely at the tissue. A little later that day, the surgeon meet with my Mom and Dad and told them I had Lymphoma cancer inside my body. I soon learned, these doctors don't mess around. As soon as they were able, they wanted to look on me, in me, around me, everywhere, to see if I had any more of this Lymphoma stuff hanging around me. So, I agreed to do a CT scan and have some more blood work done. A new doctor, called an Oncologist, wanted to meet with me and my Mom and Dad to tell us about additional information that was found as a result of the CT and blood test. Turns out, there are like a hundred different types of cancer. But, the Oncologist knew that the type of cancer I had was called Burkitt's large B cell Lymphoma. I was surprised to learn that there was even more the doctors were trying to learn about the cancer I had. I guess the more they know about it, the better equipped they are to help me get rid of it. Speaking of getting rid of it, the Oncologist told me that although this is a fast growing cancer, it is also VERY responsive to chemotherapy. As I understand it, Burkitt's lymphoma can be completely removed from my body. THAT, my friends, is GREAT news. Numbers don't mean a whole bunch to me. In fact, they kind scare me...so my ears didn't perk up until I heard my Oncologist Dr. Harker-Murray actually say the words "with good treatment, Burkitt's is curable". He then made me promise to remember one thing. He said he wanted me to remember that he has good treatment available for me and that I would receive that good treatment. I smiled and promised him I would remember. And with that, my journey toward remission begins.