On March 14th, I volunteered at Loma Linda Hospital and while I was talking to the Child Life Assistant. She told me that they finally have the video games I donated on a cart so the teen patients could play them in their rooms.
When she told me the good news, I felt like they are getting the ball rolling. She also said that one teen patient helped set up the video game systems on the cart and another teen patient played two games: Madden 16 and The Uncharted Collection.
Unfortunately, after hearing the good news about the video game cart, the Child Life Assistant said it was taken away due to some internet problems. Need for Speed and Destiny were two games that were donated, and they both require a stable internet connection in order to enjoy the experience. I'm confident that it will be successful, once the cart is fully up to code and is acceptable for the hospital.
I attended Toastmasters on March 16th, and before I went to the meeting. I met up with The Staff Sponsor of the club during her office hours on the California State University, San Bernardino campus. The third speech I did for Toastmasters was about my personality type, which is INFJ, which stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging.
Introverted: I’m energized by quiet time alone
Intuitive: I see patterns and possibilities
Feeling: I prioritize people and emotions
Judging: I prefer structure and order
INFJ is the rarest type in the population:
2% of the general population
2% of women
1% of men
Famous INFJ’s:
Martin Luther King Jr
Eleanor Roosevelt
Mohandas Gandhi
Link to the INFJ Profile: http://www.truity.com/personality-type/INFJ
When I finished my third speech, The Staff Sponsor came up to me and said she knew there was something special about me because she is also an INFJ. At her office, we talked about how difficult life could be for us, but we still are able to pull through it.
While walking to the Toastmasters meeting, she asked me about how I dealt with having cancer and how did I get knee cancer. I explained to her I had Osteosarcoma, which is the most common bone cancer, and accounts for 3% of cancer that happens in children. I told her I got it because when I was 14 years old, I experienced a growth spurt and the cancer grew in my knee cap. I then explained that this cancer was not hereditary.
I also stated I only attended the first week in high school during my freshman year, and from 1999-2000, I was doing my chemotherapy treatment regimen and had to get a knee replacement. I returned back to high school my sophomore year, and made the junior varsity basketball team in my junior year.
The cancer came back my senior year and I told her doing chemotherapy wasn’t that difficult because I knew what to expect (my chemotherapy treatment regimen was from 2002-2003). The most difficult thing I had to deal with was getting my right leg amputated. She then asked me how high was the amputation, was it below the knee or above the knee.
I told her I am a hip amputee which means my whole right leg was amputated and my prosthetic leg is more like a body brace because I put it on like pants. Before my surgery, I said while doing my chemotherapy regimen, a routine MRI showed that the cancer had traveled to my right lung. Doctors ordered a needle biopsy, which was used to take the cancer off my right lung, and was a success.
Before entering the CSUSB Santos Manuel Student Union, she asked me how did my parents feel when they first heard that their child had cancer. I told her that my parents were hurt by it, because it was so unexpected. I also told her that both of my parents said that if they could, they would give me their right leg, so I wouldn’t have to go through this difficult ordeal.
The other thing she asked me was if I ever thought I was going to die. I told her no, I never thought I was going to die. I always knew I was going to pull this and defeat cancer somehow. I told her this is why I joined Toastmasters and want to be an Inspirational speaker because I have a unique story to tell.
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