As a teenager, you are invincible and nothing can harm you. You are
on top of the world and whatever you want to do, you can. As a teenager,
your hopes and dreams are as high in the sky as they can be. So it was
for me as well. Life was treating me great. I was class president for my
high school, a track star and state record-holder, and I had just found
out that I was going to be a starting football player when my life
changed forever. Before that summer day, all I could think about was
track, football, girls, and school–in that order. Then my world changed.

After a morning two-a-day practice for football, I found myself
throwing up blood. I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for later that
day to get my sports physical. At that appointment I told my doctor
what had happened at practice. He ran some more tests and told me that I
needed to go down to the hospital right away to have some "special
test" done. i asked my doctor if I would be done with the test in time
to make it to the afternoon practice for football. The doctor told me,
"I don’t think so." I was really frustrated at this point and asked if I
could put off the "special test" until after practice. My doctor then
told me something that I have never forgotten: Looking me in the eyes he
told me. "I discovered a tumor, and you have  cancer."

Now I don’t know about you, but to be told as a teenager that you
have cancer, your first reaction is that the doctor is playing some kind
of cruel joke on you. However, this was not the case. I was diagnosed
with malignant testicular cancer. I went down to the hospital right away
for the "special test". This was a biopsy of the tumor. This was the
first of five surgeries I would have over the next three months. The
second surgery, to remove the tumor from my body, was done first thing
the next morning after I was diagnosed. I had a chance that night to
talk to my friends, teammates, and coaches and tell them what was going
on. They were so supportive of me it really helped to know t hat they
were there for me.

I did not know that much about cancer when I was first diagnosed, but
I quickly learned as much as I could as fast as I could. It just seemed
to me at the time that the really scary thing to me was not knowing
what was wrong with my body. The more I learned, the better I felt about
the treatment I was going to have. They performed three more surgeries
to remove the cancer that had spread all the way up to my lungs, and I
had two cycles of chemotherapy. After each surgery, they would wait a
week or two for my body to recover. After the fourth surgery, I had a
bad reaction to the drugs that they gave me for the pain, and my heart
stopped beating. I also stopped breathing for a little while. I am
forever grateful for the nursing staff that saved my life that night
with CPR. My body really did take a beating during this time, and I
still cary the scars to prove it. In a matter of weeks, I went from
being one of the fastest kids in the state, to barely hanging on to
life.

It is during those endless nights in the hospital (one month was my
longest stay) when the small room starts to close in on you and you are
alone with your thoughts to think about all that is really happening to
you. This is where you find out what type of a person you really are. 
You have many choices to make at this point.  Are you going to spend
time asking why this happened to you? Are you going to spend time
feeling sorry for yourself?  Are you going to try to answer some of
those life questions that you have been thinking about? It is how you
respond at the times of challenge and adversity that show to yourself
and others who you really are. I realized that I could lie there and
feel sorry for myself, but it would not change the current situation.
Instead of asking, "why did this happen?" I asked, "what is to be
learned from this?"  I also saw how all my friends, teammates, coaches
and family members would look to me to see how I was responding.  I knew
that I could set a great example for them. I reallly gained a passion
for all the things that I took for granted before being diagnosed with
cancer. The main thing I gained was a passion for was life. I wanted to
make the most of my life for whatever time I had left. And so I hope I
have. Not everyone would tell you that they were grateful for having
cancer. I, however, am forever grateful for having cancer. It changed my
perspective. The things that I learned that mattered most are my
relationship with God, family, life and friends in that order. I hope
that whatever your challenge is at this moment, that you will find the
power within you to overcome it. As a coach told me during my challenge
that has become my life motto: "As you think, so you become." So it is with you. If you think that you can overcome your challenge, you can.

Good luck.

Webmaster’s Note: Although he was never able to run again himself,
Coach W. has become a beloved educator and track coach who has inspired
hundreds of young people. He teaches every student and athlete, "As you
think, so you become."