Repurposing

There was never any doubt what I would write about when my classmates and I were given the freedom to repurpose any paper we had written thus far at Michigan. I had written extensively on my treatment for leukemia, but knew there was more to the story than a simple chronological summation of events.

When I was sick, my family had wanted me to keep a journal for several reasons. First, they thought it would be helpful to keep track of the treatment I was receiving and my reaction to it. This way, the next time I had that same type of chemotherapy, I would know how best to prepare myself for it to minimize side effects. Also, they thought it would be interesting to look back on after I was cured.

Unfortunately, I never took the time to keep a journal, though looking back I wish I had. However, my mom maintained a Caring Bridge account during my treatment to keep my friends and family informed on how I was doing. I had never read through all of her posts until I set forth on my repurposing project, but went through it looking for ideas for my project. Reading the posts was a very emotional experience, as each post brought back good and bad memories from my treatment. I realized that while I was sick, I had done my best to ignore the fact that I had cancer and proceed with my normal life as much as possible. As such, I had not spent much time reflecting on this period my life.

I decided it would be useful to write a letter to my 17-year old self sitting in the waiting room minutes before being called in to be told I had cancer. In doing so, I wanted to find a balance between maintaining positivity and including what I would have wanted to know about what was to come on that day.