Langerhans-Grayson by Grayson

Langerhans-Grayson by Grayson - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

After they got me stabilized I spent 3 more nights in the hospital recovering. It was terrible. The trauma from the surgery was bad enough, let alone that annoying hospital beep, “beep, beep, beep” … never ending. It drove me insane. I could not wait to get out of that hospital, I just wanted to get some fresh air and not that nasty hospital stench. Those 3 days came and went, they were not the prettiest, but I was finally allowed to return home and begin the waiting game for the biopsy report.
On September 7, 2018 I was officially diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. Turns out the Dr. Delgado was a genius! Scary as it sounds it was the best news possible, NO CANCER! My whole family stood in the living room crying tears of joy when we got the call from Dr. Boehm Jr. This little bump on my head had caused so many tough battles, but the end was finally in sight. I was going to get my life back! Just two short weeks ago, I truly thought I was going to die in that Tennova hospital room, without every getting the really experience life. I was going to be able to have a family! See my children grow up! Graduate college! All of these things that seemed lost were finally back into focus.
It sounds cliché, but I am so glad that this happened to me and not anyone else. It truly has put my life back into perspective. I was a very healthy 19-year-old guy with no prior medical history, yet this “very-rare disease” came out of nowhere. It just goes to show that anything can happen to anyone and it only becomes real when it affects you or someone you love.
Unfortunately, my battle with Langerhans is not over. Doctors have told me that the tumor could reappear within the next 10 years, and not necessarily in the same location. It is scary to live with this in the back of my head, but I know God is watching me and has a plan for my life. I will not let this fear overcome me, and I will live my life!

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” – Eleanor Roosevelt.