Cancer saved my life

It has been almost 7 years since Scott was first diagnosed with Leukemia. I remember the doctor coming in and writing it on the white board. Monochromatic Mylosidic Leukemia to be exact. We were lucky because the type he had was the best kind to treat but is it fair to say there is a good kind of leukemia? Cancer is usually a bad word to most but for me cancer saved my life in more ways then one. It was Fair weekend in Burley. Which is a very big deal to all locals. Scott had flown in from Seattle and my mom and I had driven to Boise to pick him up. He had been sick with what they thought was mono, but one look at him getting off the airplane told us he was sicker then we thought. He was a grey color and looked completely worn out and terrible. We shuffled him into the car, and he told us there was a sore on his leg that was just getting worse, and that every time he tried to shave his face would just bleed. Kind of like a cheese grater was the mental image he gave us. We should have known then this was more serious then mono. So we get him home and Janna, his 8 month pregnant wife, drove up form Utah with 2 year old Taylor. The next day Scott got a nose bleed that didn't stop for hours. it just bled and bled and bled all day long and he just layed on my parents bed and was soo sick. That same night I went out on my first date to the movies. I was almost a Junior in High School and this was my first boyfriend. So it was a big night for me. I left for my date right when my mom got home from work and she took on look at Scott and immediately called over my cousin who was a doctor to help. When I got out of the movie I had a new voice message from my mom. She said that Scott had started puking up blood and when they went to get him in the car to take him to the hospital he passed out in the front yard. So they called 911 and an ambulance came and took him to the ER where they quickly decided to fly him to a bigger hospital. So they fly him to LDS hospital in Utah as I literally jumped out of one car and into the other. My mom had packed and we were on our way. It was the fastest drive to Utah ever. I don't really remember much just that it was late and we didn't know what was really happening. I wont go into too many more details of the event because there are alot, but the gist of the story is Scott had cancer and his 8 month pregnant wife was handling it better then I was. We stayed about a month in Utah before I had to go home for school. I would go up everyday to his room. Some days were better then others. One day I watched them try to stick an IV in his neck and miss the vein, and then he swelled up like a balloon and I cried all night. One day the Doctor came in and asked if he had any full blooded siblings. Yes, one my mom said and pointed to me. And the doctor told us that Scott seemed to be doing good, but if he had troubled within the next couple days with treatment then I was going to be tested as the bone marrow donor and would be a most likely match. I don't know why but this affected me the most. Here he was soo sick and we all just waited there helplessly for the doctors to make everything right, and now I was told I would be able to maybe plan a major role in making this better. I have a confession to make. I prayed for them to use me. I prayed every night for them to take my bone marrow and make him better. I wanted to be the hero in all this. Because from the day I was born I had a instant protector who was my hero, and I wanted to return the favor and save him. Turns out he wasn't the one who needed saving because he was a strong fighter. Turns out that it was me who needed saving and once again my big brother came to the rescue. It was from that day that I decided life was worth living. There are always two roads you can take. The right one or the wrong one. I had seen many examples of wrong roads taken in my life and Scott was never one of them. He always seems to make the right decisions and do the right things and so I am positive that he was sick not because he needed it, but because we needed it as a family to unite, and because I needed to be inspired on how I needed to live my life. He has always been a hero in my life. So almost 7 years later when he starts running marathons and triathlons I am once again inspired to do the same. He has survived cancer and is accomplishing things some only dream about and I have no excuses. I have said before the running is the hardest thing I have ever done physically and emotionally, but if he can do it so can I. When the alarm goes off at 5:45 in the morning it is these pictures that get me out of bed. There are only limits in life when you put them in your path. I am finally going to live up to my potential for the first time in my life and it is all because of Scott and his strength and his will to live life to the fullest. I run because I am healthy, I run because I can, I run because I am alive. Cancer has once again saved my life.