?I was five years old. My grandma and grandpa had spent the night to watch my sister and me because my Mom was at work and my Dad was not home either. I had woken up out of sleep screaming and crying. It wasn't just any usual crying and it was a desperate sounding scream for help as I lay on the floor helpless as the pain increased. Yelping for help as I drowned in my own tears, “Grandma, Grandpa" I yelled!! It felt like forever waiting for them to come, but it was just seconds as they ran into my room.  "What's wrong, are you okay?" They were asking holding me in their arms trying to figure out what was wrong.
?My grandparents couldn't understand me because my words weren't coming out clearly and it seemed as if I was talking to myself. At first they thought it was growing pains so they started to rub on my legs; but the more they rubbed the more it hurt. Excruciating pain was driving through my legs and would not escape my body. “Stop, Stop!” I screamed, but everyone was clueless of what to do and trying everything that they could think of to calm me down. They had run out of options so they called my mom at her work to ask what she wanted them to do.
?"Jenny, Raymond’s crying and I don't know what to do.” I overheard my Grandma say on the phone. “He says that his legs are hurting really bad and he doesn't stop crying. He wants me to call you; what should I do?!"  My Mom told my Grandma, "Mom just keep trying to keep him calm and rub his legs out for him. I'll be right there. I have to ask my boss to get off work right now." Approximately twenty minutes later I heard my Mom fiddling with the door trying to get in as quick as possible in the mist of me crying. She rapidly came through my door and took me into her arms and held me closely saying that everything was going to be okay while rocking me back and forth.
? She then rushed me to her car and placed me into my car seat and left the house.   We arrived at the hospital and signed into the emergency room. As we got there the pain had been drifting away and had seemed to be if nothing was wrong. When we were seen, the doctors insisted that it was growing pains, but my mom still wanted a second opinion. So they ran x-rays and still found nothing. My mom was very determined to find out what was wrong and she was not going to leave without answers.
?So then they called in a doctor with who seemed to have more experience in different fields and he told them to take blood and to run blood tests. I never learned his name but we waited for the morning-shift medical doctor to arrive so it was about a 12 hour wait until we were seen. By this time my Dad had arrived. My name was called but I didn't go; instead both of my parents walked to the room and the door was shut.
?Behind that door my parents were told news that no parent wanted to hear.  "Mr. and Mrs. Herrera I need to let you know what I found on the blood results.” The Doctor said, “The tests came back and I am sorry to have to inform you that your son has cancer. The type of cancer that is showing is called Leukemia and I have already called Loma Linda University because they specialize in the care of children who have cancer. We have a room ready for you and I've made sure that an ambulance is on the way to personally take your son to Loma Linda Hospital".
?Eventually that door opened, and the Doctor walked out the room and then my parents appeared. They walked toward me and told me everything was going to be okay. They said that I was going to go on a ride. I sat looking at them clueless of what was going on but I listened I stayed calm and waited for what was going to happen next. My ambulance arrived, but I didn't know it was for me at first. Then they brought out a stretcher with no one on it, and came quickly toward me. They lifted me in a rush, and secured me safely to leave.
?As we were leaving there were two paramedics in the ambulance with me to make sure I was alright. One guy had to keep making me laugh and making me feel fine.  As a distraction, he blew up a glove that he had and made it into a face and gave it to me.  I laughed, smiled and thought that this was the coolest thing ever. We were traveling really fast and I could hear the sirens.  The swishing of the cars as we drove past them felt like I was in a rocket. I soon arrived at the Loma Linda University Hospital and I was taken to what they called the “forty eight hundred” floor. There was a team of doctors waiting for me as soon as I had arrived. They instantly started to take more blood tests to confirm things. As soon as we got there my parents and I were split apart and taken into different medical procedure rooms. I went into a room where they had run a very painful procedure that required me to be put under. The procedure was a Lumbar Puncture. This is a test that is done to check for cancer cells or infections in the spinal fluid and to give chemotherapy into the spinal fluid. Chemotherapy is medication given to destroy cancer cells. (I was given this treatment for four years it was given to me though the spine, veins, and also in pill form).
?My parents were brought into a room where they soon meet my first doctor. Her name was Dr. Mathias, and she spoke to my parents and told them that my chances for survival were really high. She was very confident because the medicine was state of the art and had already saved thousands of other lives. She did however inform them that this was still just an experimental procedure and there were no guarantees. My parents were devastated to hear the news about what I was going to have to go through and knowing they couldn’t make my pain go away.
?Soon or later the procedure I was going through had ended. I woke up in my room unaware of what was going on.  I was afraid at first because my parents were not in the room and I didn’t know where they were.  It was dark in my room except for the light which shined in from another room where the doctors were. I looked to my right and saw a little boy. He seemed sick and sad and also had tubes coming out of his body. I was unsure of what was happing to him but it looked like it hurt and was probably very uncomfortable. I asked for his name but I do not remember it these days, it was long ago. I had told him mine and it seemed as if we became friends.
? It was late when I saw my Mom and Dad again.  They had spent hours in the prayer room of the hospital praying to God for me to survive. When my Mom and Dad walked into my room they came toward me and I could see that they had been crying but were trying not to show it. They told me that they had called the rest of the family and informed them of my situation. I asked what was going on and what was happening to me. They scooted closer toward me and told me everything was going to be okay. My parents said that I was going to have to stay in the hospital for a while but assured me that I was going to be safe and the medicine that the doctors gave me will heal me. Then they told me that I had been diagnosed with leukemia which is a type of cancer. Then they said everything was going to be okay and it was time to go to sleep. They tucked me in and kissed me on my forehead and told me that they loved me and said goodnight.
?In 2008 I received my final treatment and no cancer has been detected since.  It is said that the hardest part of any journey is the first step.  Sometimes a person chooses the journey; other times it just happens.  My journey through cancer was like hiking a hard and rough trail.  Sometimes I stumbled and sometimes I nearly fell off, but I learned a lot and faced my greatest fears and I beat them.  I just wanted to share with you my first, very unexpected step.