Michi_V's Journey with Bone Cancer

I was fairly young when this happened. I was a runner and played double dutch. I loved to race my friends to our babysitters house. One day I couldn't run there, so I walked while every one else raced to get to the babysitter. Later that week, I had a hard time kneeling on the chair to wash dishes. I think my Mom thought I was being lazy, but it really hurt to kneel. This was not how I normally behaved, my parents were concerned and took me to the doctor. I had a big black bruise on my knee. That's how it started. After seeing the doctor I had a CAT scan, MRI and a biopsy. It was confirmed. I had osteosarcoma and my leg needed to be amputated. I was only 8 years old.

My leg was amputated at Stanford Children's Hospital in Palo Alto. This was several years before they combined main hospital and the smaller children's hospital. Our hospital at that time was a completely separate facility. I didn't know at the time, but this place would become a regular part of my life for the next year.