My name is Rachel. I am 17 now and to most I appear to be a normal teenager. No one would guess what I have been through unless they knew me or I told them. It all started when I was 15. I played on the field hockey team and had just made it through the competitive basketball tryouts. The whole time I was playing these sports, my back hurt. We visited the pediatrician, only to be reassured that the pain was caused by the weight of my heavy backpack pulling on my back. Well, more time went by, along with a lot more pain. I played in the first two basketball games of the season. Even though the back pain was so unbearable and made it hard to run, I somehow managed to swish some 3-pointers. Two days after the second game, my legs felt numb. We went immediately to a neurologist. An MRI was done and right away they found an egg-sized tumor pressing on my spinal cord. We were told an emergency surgery the next morning was a must. I stayed in the hospital for twelve days. During that time, the biopsy revealed that the tumor was malignant (cancerous). The treatment consisted of a year of chemotherapy and 6 weeks of radiation within that year. A medaport was surgically put into my chest. It would be the place I'd receive chemotherapy, get blood drawn and get transfusions. It was much better than getting my arm stuck with a needle every time. There was also a special numbing cream that made getting the port accessed pretty painless. I went through the treatment and it went pretty smoothly for the most part. I have now been in remission for about 8 months. I have a wonderful new outlook on things and have met many lifelong friends.