Olivia Radcliffe - September, 2018

On Labor Day 2010, I was diagnosed with a rare type of liver cancer- undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver.   I didn’t really understand how different life would be from that day on.  When you are diagnosed with cancer at age 9 you just do what the doctors and nurses tell you to do and keep on fighting.   So that’s what I did.   After 9 months of chemo and a surgery to remove my tumor, I was challenged with getting back to the business of being a kid instead of a cancer patient.   So, again, that’s what I did.   I have been cancer-free since April 2011, and was officially CURED in April 2016.   I am now a junior on high school, looking at colleges, play tennis, am involved in school activities, teach snowboarding,  and volunteer my time for many different types of organizations….although the pediatric cancer foundations like Angel 34 are closest to my heart.     I think I look and act like any other teenager does, but I am always a little different and a little bit stronger on the inside because I am a cancer survivor.    I think this quote sums it up, “Cancer changes us, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s up to us to decide what that change will mean in our lives, and who we will become as a result.”