Our Story
Hi, I'm Andrew Rainey, but most people call me Andy. I am 15 and this is my story.
It was 3rd grade and one day during class, I had to throw up, but I didn't want to make a scene. So I asked the teacher to go to the bathroom. I then speed walked to the bathroom, and made sure no one else was in there to throw up in one of the toilets. Then this happened the rest of 3rd grade.
When I finished 3rd grade, it was Summer break. Yet again, I would throw up every so often, which they thought was because I wasn't drinking enough water or I was just sick. So I would drink a lot of water, but I would still throw up.
So Summer flew by, and when Summer was over, it was the first day of 4th grade and my life changed. I woke up, opened my eyes, and tried to take my first breath, but I could barely breathe. So I was panting, "Mm... Mo... Mom." When she finally heard me, I told her I could barely breathe. So she then drove me to the hospital.
When we got there, that was when we found out that I had brain cancer and the tumor was the size of a peach. After that, they drove me in an ambulance to Lurie Children’s Hospital. I still remember lying in the ambulance watching Sing on the TV, having no clue what was going on.
When we reached Lurie Children's Hospital, they found us a room. Then in a couple of days, I had many surgeries. After the surgeries, I had to learn how to walk again and write with my opposite hand. I also lost a percentage of feeling in the right side of my body, lost my peripheral vision in my right eye, and made my right arm and leg shake.
We stayed at Lurie Children's for a month and then went to Surely Ryan for a month. The whole experience at both of the hospitals was really fun. At the hospitals, I met so much fun people, my family members came to visit, we explored the beautiful city, and so much more. But mainly, the doctors saved my life and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here, their heroes.
After those two months, we went back home. My friends and family surprised me when I got home and then we later had a party. A few days later, I had my first day of 4th grade. When I went to school, everyone was so nice and caring.
During 4th grade, I was doing Chemo and had a button put in the top right of my torso. Then during 3 days of school a week, I would have 3 hours of therapy. An hour of physical therapy, an hour of occupational therapy, and an hour of speech therapy. The people there were also super nice and fun.
I also had to wear a leg brace to prevent me from bending my right leg back. My leg brace was green and had a 4-leaf clover on the back of it because we called one of the doctors Dr. Lucky Charms because her favorite cereal was Lucky Charms just like mine.
So I did the therapy for a couple of months until I finished. On my last day there, they got an avocado pinata for me to knock down and break. Then a couple of weeks passed and then Covid-19 started. So for school, we did E-Learning for the rest of the year.
I’ll admit, I loved e-learning because not only would I finish school at noon, but stay in my pajamas the whole time and eat whenever I wanted.
Then those days flew by, which led to Summer break. During that Summer though, we were told that Chemo wasn’t working. So instead, I had to take medication for 2 years. After Summer break during 5th grade, I got surgery to take out the button that was used for Chemo.
But before I could get that surgery, I had to get tested for Covid-19. When I did get tested, It said I was positive. So I had to get another test, this time it said I was negative, which let me get the surgery.
Then years passed, leading to the Summer after 6th grade. During that Summer, I was officially off of my medication and then had a party. But a year later, we were told that the tumor grew. So I had to be on it for another 2 years.
Also during that Summer, I got the dream of becoming someone massive in the future, which leads to the present. I am a sophomore in high school, and I am finding ways to fulfill my big dream. To either succeed or die trying.