All my life I wanted to be a soldier. I considered it to be the highest honor. Samurai, Spartans, Centurions, even Vikings; they were what I wanted to be. It’s how I’m hardwired, how I think. Of Fighting, following a code, it’s my religion. I don’t see it as a violent thing; it’s an art, downright spiritual. Growing up, I knew what I wanted to be, and then the fight to end all fights happened. I had the big “C,” Cancer.
At age 14, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma; a rare and particularly aggressive form of bone cancer. It took a portion of my left leg. The cancer literally ate part of my femur. A little less than half of my left leg is metal, roughly nine inches of my femur, my entire knee, and part of my tibia. I endured 450 hours of the …show more content…
Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. I lost the thing I felt called to do, but not everything was lost. That year I had a lot of time to think, contemplate what is important to me. I use to read a lot and what I read influenced me. I no longer cared about the "normal" thing to do in society. My ethos, my code was finally solidified; fight like hell, take care of family, friends are family, never rat, never support those who rat, remember the past, and even if it means alienation never let go of these rules. Two words sum up who I am loyalty and honor. The tenets I live by were carved in my brain due to the fact that I had nearly died. I knew one thing for certain; no one was going to take my freedom ever again. My life view is different. My top priorities in life are no longer getting a good job or a solid education. My goal is to live free, doing what I want on my terms, within reason. Just so happens the way to do that in this society is to do the “typical” thing, four year degree or more, nine to five job, the whole …show more content…
I was always my own person and never followed anyone else prompts, I did my own thing. But on chemo, I never really had the ability to choose what I did. Most of the time I was so tired and weak that just getting out of bed in the morning was a production, everything was that way. Going to the bathroom meant I had to sit down and take a breather. In my mind, my freedom was gone, and I did not like it. Ever since then I do things my way whenever possible. Having cancer impacted my life in more ways than just the physical. My brain needed re-wiring, and my emotions resembled tumbleweed rolling through a dusty, decrepit, western town. It had a good part though; it gave me time to think. I found my ethos, my code that I follow and one that has had a large part in keeping me this side of the grass. I am the guy who survived cancer; it is who I am. What I know and in the end, while the toughest crucible on this earth; it has had a fair upside. In the end, it comes down to this, honor the dead and fight like hell for the
At age 14, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma; a rare and particularly aggressive form of bone cancer. It took a portion of my left leg. The cancer literally ate part of my femur. A little less than half of my left leg is metal, roughly nine inches of my femur, my entire knee, and part of my tibia. I endured 450 hours of the …show more content…
Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. I lost the thing I felt called to do, but not everything was lost. That year I had a lot of time to think, contemplate what is important to me. I use to read a lot and what I read influenced me. I no longer cared about the "normal" thing to do in society. My ethos, my code was finally solidified; fight like hell, take care of family, friends are family, never rat, never support those who rat, remember the past, and even if it means alienation never let go of these rules. Two words sum up who I am loyalty and honor. The tenets I live by were carved in my brain due to the fact that I had nearly died. I knew one thing for certain; no one was going to take my freedom ever again. My life view is different. My top priorities in life are no longer getting a good job or a solid education. My goal is to live free, doing what I want on my terms, within reason. Just so happens the way to do that in this society is to do the “typical” thing, four year degree or more, nine to five job, the whole …show more content…
I was always my own person and never followed anyone else prompts, I did my own thing. But on chemo, I never really had the ability to choose what I did. Most of the time I was so tired and weak that just getting out of bed in the morning was a production, everything was that way. Going to the bathroom meant I had to sit down and take a breather. In my mind, my freedom was gone, and I did not like it. Ever since then I do things my way whenever possible. Having cancer impacted my life in more ways than just the physical. My brain needed re-wiring, and my emotions resembled tumbleweed rolling through a dusty, decrepit, western town. It had a good part though; it gave me time to think. I found my ethos, my code that I follow and one that has had a large part in keeping me this side of the grass. I am the guy who survived cancer; it is who I am. What I know and in the end, while the toughest crucible on this earth; it has had a fair upside. In the end, it comes down to this, honor the dead and fight like hell for the