Here is a video of my story and a little bit about why I'm doing this, please take a moment to take a look.

https://youtu.be/Z5WgtoocqwI

Thank you for visiting my page. I am very blessed to be on this journey of fundraising to find a cure for cancer.

Student Of the Year is a 7 week program for nominated high school students to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This non-profit does cancer research, advocates for patients, financially helps patients, and more. Your donations will go a long way and will be helping all those affected by this disease.

I wish you all an amazing day and I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being a part of this cause. You are all amazing and are going to help change lives!

My Story--

One day in late February of 2007, my dad was brushing my hair and noticed a large bump behind my ear and decided to call my pediatrician. The next day we went in to my doctor's office and she drew my blood. We were then called with the results shortly after and were told we needed to go to the hospital immediately, because the results of the blood test were abnormal. When we arrived at the hospital, they did more blood work and took some X-rays. After waiting anxiously for the results, a doctor came to us and told us he had some unfortunate news: I had cancer. After a couple more days, they confirmed it was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a blood cancer and started treatment.

I started treatment on February 28th, two days after being diagnosed. I had to undergo chemotherapy for 2 years and 3 months. I had spinal taps done so that they could check my bone marrow, I had to get red blood transfusions regularly for a while, I had to have many IV's in my hands and arms to the point where there were times my parents could no longer hold my hand, I had a port put in to more easily transmit my medications, surgeries, and much more.

When September 2007 came along I started my first day of Kindergarten, however, I was unable to go back for a long time. Around mid-September, I developed a serious and rare liver disease, from one of the medications I was taking, called Veno-Occlusive Disease. I was 5 years old at the time and had come in because I was having a very hard time breathing and so the doctor and intensivist said I would need to go down to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) before things got worse. They then had to put me in a medically induced coma and I had to be intubated for 14 days to let my body rest and to slow the process of my completely damaged liver taking my life. The doctors and my dad found an experimental drug, made in Italy, that could possibly help my liver, which is what ended up saving me from losing my life to the liver disease. Unfortunately, when I woke up, I was unable to walk or talk. I had to go through physical therapy and speech therapy for several months. This was especially difficult me as I had been placed in Chinese Immersion.

I continued to undergo chemotherapy for almost two years after this. It was good to have friends at the hospital who could somewhat relate to what I was going through. I met a young boy, a year younger than me, named Isaac and he became like a brother to me. He ended up passing away January 23rd, shortly after I finished my treatment; this was devastating to me. Although I had these friends and my family supporting me, I felt very alone. I felt like no one knew what I was going through and everyone around me seemed so scared, but if they were scared, I was beyond terrified.

After 2 years and 3 months, in June of 2009, I had finally finished treatment. This was so amazing for me and my loved ones as this journey had been very long and hard for us all. I can not explain the relief we all felt, especially me, knowing I was done.

Need Help Post--

If you are going through treatment or know someone who is and you need someone to talk to, please feel free to comment on here or email me at courtneydchase@gmail.com. I would love to be here for as many people as I can and help you through this tough time. I will continue to pray for the recovery of all patients and if you’d like specific prayers, please let me know.