Gailon

"I was diagnosed with cancer in June 2014. I had undifferentiated sarcoma, which is a rare type of soft tissue cancer. At first it didn't feel real. I had friends call me and ask how I was doing, and it wasn't until about a month in I felt like "Oh shit, I have cancer"

"I started having hip pain around March of my second year of college. I was treated at Seattle Children's actually, which is nice because they focus on making patients feel as comfortable as possible. I think it was better than what you'd get at an adult hospital"

"When I was about halfway through treatment, right after they resected my tumor, I went back for chemo because they found it in the margins of my tumor. There was a kid on my floor who had chicken pox and we didn't know if I had been exposed to it or not, so I had to go on these antibiotics along with chemo. I felt really sick because of the antibiotics and I was at this point where I asked myself "do I really need to keep doing chemo?"

"I talked to my doctors about it and they said "honestly, we're surprised it took you this long to get to the point where you don't want to do treatment anymore. And I found that striking, just because of how messed up that is. Just having so many kids get to the point where they decide they can't do treatment anymore just because it's so awful"

"I lived in a room with my mom for seven months, which was strange because I had been on my own for two years. We moved into the Ronald McDonald house, which was great but it's still a tiny room. She was the best throughout the whole experience. She was supportive and did anything I needed her to do"

"So I got diagnosed the day The Fault in Our Stars came out in theaters, and I always thought that was pretty ironic. When I was going through treatment my friends were always asking if I had met anyone. And I was like during cancer treatment? It's not really a romantic time and I think that was my favorite misconception. It's not like The Fault in Our Stars and it's definitely not romantic"

"Talking to people who have shared cancer experiences is very therapeutic. I have a bit of a darker sense of humor now than I did before. I'll make cancer jokes a lot, and my friends that haven't been through cancer treatment are so uncomfortable and I have to tell them it's totally fine. If you tell a good cancer joke to a survivor it's honestly hilarious. So it's great to connect with people who know what I'm going through and can relate to what I'm going through.

"It gets difficult, but keep going to treatment because it is so worth it. It's miserable, but I've had no evidence of cancer for two and a half years. And it's been the best two and a half years of my life. It's been so worth it to have gone through all that because I have a greater appreciation for what I'm doing. My connections with people are so much deeper than before. Before I was diagnosed I was convinced I'd be happy if I just finished college and got my masters and got a great job. Now I realized I don't have to wait to be happy, I can just enjoy what I have in my life"