My name is Rodrigo Garcia. I am 12 years old and I live in Bakersfield, California. I had a tumor in my left tibia. It is called Osteosarcoma. I started getting pain in my left leg. I thought it was just a bruise so I left it alone for about three weeks. On my last day of school, we had a water slide and I bumped my knee on the ground. That’s when it started to hurt really bad. My mom took me to the doctor and he said he had to do some X-rays. The X-rays didn’t show anything so he did an MRI. They saw that I had something on my leg but, they didn’t know what it was. The doctors said I had to come to Santa Monica, UCLA for a biopsy.
After the biopsy, they gave me the really bad news, that I had cancer. I was really surprised and at the same time sad. But I got over it because I knew this was just a test God put in front of me. A couple of days went by and I had to start chemo. They sent me to the Westwood campus of UCLA so I could have the Port-a-Cath surgery. That night I started my first round of chemo. I slept through it but when I woke up I felt really, really nauseous. This nausea caused me not to eat for eight days straight. After those eight days, I went home.
Now I go back to the hospital every two or three weeks to get my chemo. About three months ago I had my tumor removed and my bone replacement surgery. Now, I am walking on a cast like a normal person. In about two days they will remove my cast and I will start physical therapy to learn how to bend my knee again.
Child life is like family when you’re inside the hospital. They keep you company when you’re bored, they bring you games and many more fun stuff. You feel like you’re at home because they care for you a lot. One time, me and Tracy built some toy airplanes and we were flying them down the hallway! And this other time we also made a car and an elephant out of hospital supplies.
Will you run for me?
