It happened so fast, that it felt like a nightmare. 
I woke up at 9 o’clock sharp, eagerly excited for my final, senior year, championship  soccer game, which my team had been preparing for the entire month of April.  I quickly rose from the bed, only to feel weak and dizzy.  I figured it was probably from jumping out of bed too quick.  I would not let it stop me from competing in the most important game of the season.  I threw on my uniform and fixed my hair, only to notice a huge bruise on the side of my arm.  I thought to myself, “I don’t remember banging my arm on anything,” and then soon forgot about it.  I bolted out of the door, into the car, and then I was off to an unforgettable game. 
     I arrived on the field and started coughing for ten straight minutes.  I automatically assumed that it was because of my allergy to pollen, since it was spring.  I took a puff of my rescue inhaler and took my position as offence, on the field.  
     The whistle blew, and I started running with the ball.  I experienced shortness of breath after running down the field, which was extremely unusual for me.  My coach saw there was something definitely wrong with me, and asked me to take a breather and that he’d substitute another player in for me.  I declined his offer and slugged back out onto the field.  I knew I didn’t feel good, but I couldn’t miss out on this game.
     Eventually, the game finished and we won!  I knew I should feel rewarded but I felt worse than I did this morning.  As soon as I arrived home, I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up feeling weak, once again.  My skin looked pale and the bruise got bigger.  At 8 o’clock, I fell asleep, and I didn’t wake up until 10 o’clock, the following morning.
     I woke up coughing, and went to my bathroom to get an allergy pill.  I grabbed my toothbrush, and brushed my teeth.  I spit out the toothpaste, only to see all blood in the sink.  I thought it was my imagination, until I looked in the mirror and saw my nose was bleeding.  I had never experienced a nosebleed, and found it quite scary. 
     I yelled, “Mom!  Its an emergency, come quickly!” 
     My mom ran up the stairs, only to see me holding my nose, with a worried expression on my face. 
     “What’s wrong with your legs?” My mom nervously questioned.
     I looked down at my pale legs and saw all bruises.  At that instant, I knew that something was very wrong with me.  My mom ran to the phone and called my pediatrician’s office, then called my dad at his work.  In three hours, I would be going to the doctor’s office.  I started to picture the best scenario.  That whatever I had wasn’t serious, and the doctor would prescribe me medication, and I would go home living a normal life.  On the other hand, what if I had a life threatening disease, and only had 24 hours to live.  After imagining the best and worst case-scenarios it was time to go to the doctors.
     I walked into the doctor’s office, and started shaking.  Every time I saw a chart being pulled from the reception desk, I grew more and more nervous. 
     Finally, I heard nurse Judy exclaim, “Mia, please go into room two.  The doctor will be in shortly.”
     My knee started to shake, my fingers started to tremble, as I made my way to the examination room.
   “First, why don’t I take your vital signs, while you put the thermometer under your tongue,” the nurse implied.
She told me that my vital signs were in the normal range, which I was relieved to hear.
“But, you do have a slight fever.  I’ll let the doctor know,” and she walked out of the room.
  After it felt like an eternity, Dr. Ross knocked on the door and happily expressed, “Mia, how are you!”
     “Honestly, I have no idea.  I’m nervous because of the way I am feeling,” I responded.
     My mom glanced at me, and then back at the doctor.  My dad walked in the room and hugged me.  Then he sat down next to my mom.
     “You are spiking a fever and you have a lot of bruises on your body.  Just to make sure that you are all right, I am ordering STAT blood work for you,” Dr. Ross walked us out of the room.
     I immediately went to get blood work and anxiously waited for the results.  Dr. Ross called us back into his office. 
     His facial expressions worried me, as he murmured, “Mia, some of your blood work came back abnormal and I recommend that your parents take you to the Children’s Hospital for further testing.  Tomorrow morning, I will meet with you and your parents to go over your results.
     “Dr. Ross, what do you mean by ‘abnormal.’  Am I going to be okay?” Exclaimed Mia.
     “Calm down, Mia.  Don’t jump to conclusions.  Lets wait until all of the tests come back,” Dr. Ross calmed me down.
     We all stood up, shook the doctors hand, and made our way to the car.  I felt as if I was stabbed in the heart.  My parents looked so worried, that I couldn’t bear to look at them.
     We arrived at the hospital, and I was admitted to a room.  Everywhere I looked, I saw sick children, and it made me even more scared.  After a couple minutes, the nurse came in, drew multiple tubes of blood and gave me a thorough examination.  By the time she finished, it was 9 o’clock, and I went to bed, nervous for the following morning.
     My breakfast tray came to my room at 8:30.  I was starving, but I was so nervous, I could barely eat.  My parents went down to the cafeteria to grab a coffee before the meeting with Dr. Ross.  Soon they came back up, and Dr. Ross and another man were following behind. 
     “Good morning, Dr. Ross!” My parents greeted.
     “Hi, D-D-Dr. Ross,” I nervously stuttered.
“Good morning, Mia!” replied Dr. Ross.  “I’d like to introduce you to a very special doctor who will serve as your Pediatric Oncologist, Dr. Greene.”
     My parents and I stared at the doctor, and I nervously asked, “Oncologist? Why do I need one of those?”
     Dr. Greene smiles and exclaims, “Hi, Mia, nice to meet you.  I’d like to go over the test results with you.  Your blood tests show that you have a form of Leukemia.”
     “I-I-I-I HAVE WHAT!” I started to burst into tears.
     My mom and dad’s eye popped out of their head, and muttered, “No, that isn’t possible.  She’s only 17!”
     Dr. Greene apologized, “I’m sorry that I had to tell you this, but I believe we caught this in its early stages, and with aggressive treatment, I believe Mia can go into remission.”
     “Aggressive treatment!  I’m a senior in high school, and I have my prom and graduation coming up!  This is the most important year of my life.”
     Dr. Ross holds my hand, and comforted me, “Mia, I know you’re scared, and it’s going to be a long road ahead of you, but you are in excellent hands with Dr. Greene.”
     My parents interrupted and questioned, “Dr. Greene, when will Mia start treatments, and what will these treatments consist of?”
     Dr. Greene responds, “We need to start treatment immediately.  We will start your first chemotherapy this afternoon?
     Later that afternoon, my friends came to visit, because I wouldn’t be able to have much contact with them, since chemotherapy would make it difficult for me to be able to attend school, my senior prom and graduation, which made me extremely depressed. 
     I tolerated my first round of chemo very well, except for when I lost my hair.  Months were passing, and I was already at my fourth chemo treatment, and I was responding very well, but I still wasn’t able to attend my first semester at college.
     Finally, my sixth treatment was approaching, and my blood levels were stable.  If only I could be a normal 17 year old, and get my life back to normal. 
     Today, my parents and I are going to a big meeting with Dr. Ross, and Dr. Greene to discuss the results of my blood work and prognosis.
     Dr. Ross and Dr. Greene were so happy, that I knew they had good news for me.  They told me that my treatments have worked, and I am in remission!  Tears started welling up in my eyes, after realizing that the long battle is over, and I could finally be a normal 17 year old again.  Although I will have to go for periodic blood tests, I am proud to say that I am a survivor of Leukemia.