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Beginning as young boy, the name cobra caught my attention as I witnessed a king cobra in the exhibit on a trip to the zoo during my time in elementary school. I was amazed with the one I experienced, it was of a dark black body with a faded yellow cover chest. The way we got face to face through the glass, the fangs from the hiss, fast vibrating tongue, and the movements just about ready to strike, it eases up slowly and slithers back to its shaded home. Such an unforgettable moment for me that it helped me decide a nickname when I joined a soccer team around the age of 6.
My time for the passionate sport unfortunately came to end around the age of 7…my childhood took a drastic turn when I was hospitalized from excessive bleeding from the nose that was caused by an accident at school. The bleeding felt endless, it took hours to finally slow down. It stopped just enough to get me transferred to another hospital for treatment. Going home was all I wanted to do…I had no other options as the doctors came to let my family know the hard unexpected news from the blood results. Everyone all of sudden was in devastation and tears from what was said. I cry in pain along with so much confusion because I had no idea what leukemia was or why was it found in my blood. The first stages of cancer treatment began…
In the first year of treatment, I began to experience all the effects that came with chemotherapy. After losing my hair, I always wore a bandana to cover up my head. I felt more comfortable that way. During my time locked up on the fifth floor (a special floor for cancer patients receiving treatment), I got to experience some of the things I would possibly be able to do outside. I truly had no idea if that day would ever come. I know I still had it in me to do something I like and can do. I got the opportunity to do some painting which I found was fun, I enjoyed playing video games but was hard because of the motion sickness, and then I found that I had the most excitement playing around with the electric piano.
My passion for sounds and rhythms began to spark as I play on the keyboard. There were times me and a couple other kids would hang out just listen to different music that was on the stereo inside a playroom. I heard a wide range of styles and music. From Beethoven all the way to DJ Tiesto, it was fun listening to all these songs during difficult times. Soon the good news arrived. After some studies and search for a blood donor, it was a blessing to have a donor found within my family to continue in reaching the end of my treatment. With a successful bone marrow transplant and in celebration that I was able to finally go home, it was unknown to me that life was not just going to go back to normal. Everything in my life had already shifted the moment I was diagnosed. Cancer is a battle with death…