Being a trouper
By Thomas Rosseel

My whole experience with cancer started halfway through my freshman year of high school in 2008. I was experiencing headaches, but I had a history of sinus headaches so initially wasn’t very concerned.

After a week my mom started to worry, so she took me to urgent care in Huntersville. Since these headaches were not accompanied by flu or sinus congestion and had been going on for a while, the doctor at urgent care wanted us to go to the emergency room at Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center.

When we arrived, the doctor gave me a narcotic for the pain and decided to do a CT scan to figure out what was going on. The results showed something, so they ordered an MRI to investigate in more detail. Soon enough they came back with bad news: it was indeed a tumor, about an inch in diameter, and I would need to be transported to Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital for treatment. I was tired and under the influence of the narcotic they gave me, so I did not realize right away how serious this was. My mom tried hard be strong and told me she and Dad would make sure that I got the best care.

Later that night, I was transported to the pediatric intensive care unit at Hemby Children’s Hospital. The doctors there ran some more tests and kept a close eye on me until I met my cancer care team that Monday. Understandably, my parents were in panic mode, but since I was under heavy medication it all went over my head. Looking back, I am thankful I didn’t have the opportunity to over-think my situation and start to get scared.

Once Monday came, I met more doctors, underwent more scans and tests and found myself scheduled for a surgical biopsy the following week. Soon after, additional scans showed the tumor was bleeding, which led to emergency surgery to remove it. After a few weeks of post-surgical recovery, I geared up for the rest of treatment for what had been confirmed as a pineal germ cell tumor: six months of chemotherapy, followed by six weeks of radiation.

My family was blessed to have support from friends, neighbors and even my grandparents who came over from Belgium. The hospital and Novant Health Blume Pediatric Hematology & Oncology staff were great as well — like Gretchen, who helped improve my memory, and the entire child life team. But for the most part my parents, sister and grandparents were my support group. We kept long-distance family and friends informed of my treatments and healing progress through CaringBridge.

What I know from my hospital stay I know from my parents because at first I did not remember what happened due to memory loss. Later on, some things came back to me like a black and white movie in my dreams.

I do know that chemotherapy treatments were pretty harsh — especially the ones where I had to stay in the hospital for a week. I coped by sleeping the days away. Radiation was also challenging at times because they had to put the mask on to prevent me from moving my head.

My mom keeps saying that I was a trouper throughout the whole ordeal. I just tried to keep going on as before.

My advice is to try not to overthink your situation, listen to your caregivers and stay positive. And, if you’re a teen or young adult facing cancer, come to ALL OUT (our adolescent/young adult cancer support group) when you feel up to it. We promise to make you laugh, and you will leave with new friends!