Overcoming The Odds

The word "cancer" has the power to instill terror in almost anyone. The thought of developing cancer is so surreal that when the deadly disease is diagnosed it is often difficult to believe that it is happening to you. As awful as it is to develop cancer as an adult, it is even more tragic when it affects a young child or teenager. Once diagnosed the furious battle begins and the outcome is almost always uncertain especially in the beginning.

A little over two years ago Danica Meyers was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, Ewing Sarcoma, and given a 30% chance of survival. Today she is back at Burrell High School, working at Dairy Queen in Hyde Park and doing all the things that a normal teenager does. Anyone looking at her would not even guess the trauma that she has endured to be here today.

It all began when she started experiencing pain in her back and down her leg. Thinking that it was a simple pulled muscle or other minor problem her parents took her to the chiropractor. When the treatments didn't work, they took Danica to an orthopedic doctor who ordered a MRI and bone scan. It was then that they found a tumor the size of a football in her lower back.

At the beginning of her diagnosis a doctor asked her "If 100 people had cancer and half of them became depressed and the other half went on with their lives, which half do you think would have a better chance at surviving?" This question made a great impact on her and the way she decided to walk through the next year. Danica decided to keep a positive attitude through the fifty-one weeks of chemotherapy, seven weeks of radiation, countless trips to the hospital and all the side effects of the treatments.

Her mother, Debbie, said that she is amazed at how well Danica did. She didn't sit down and feel sorry for herself but continued on and excelled during one of the hardest times of her life. She had to be home schooled by her teachers for a year because of the side effects of her treatments but maintained high honor roll during this time. Even the doctors at the hospital were amazed at her wonderful attitude and she received the honor of writing about her diagnosis and how she handled it, which was published in "Failure is Not An Option". This publication is given to children who are diagnosed with cancer to help encourage them.

During a hospital stay shortly after Danica was diagnosed, a boy who had been out of chemotherapy three years visited the hospital and encouraged her. This made such an impact on her that she wanted to be able to do the same for someone else. So Danica and her mother Debbie went down to the hospital this Christmas and handed out gifts to the cancer patients at Children's Hospital.

It will be ten years before the doctors can say that Danica is cancer free. She gets scans periodically to make sure that the cancer it isn't coming back and so far they have been clear. Danica has continued to encourage other cancer patients by visiting the hospital and speaking to them over the Internet. She is also very involved in Make A Wish through her school. This year they raised $24,000. The students were told about some of the kids that were able to go on a wish and the best part for Danica was that she knew some of them from her time in the hospital. Next month Danica will be going on her own wish for her 17th birthday. She, her parents and her best friend will be going to Hawaii for fourteen days.

Right now Danica is focusing on living her life and not on the threat of cancer. The time that you have can be shorter than you realize and what you make of each moment really does matter. Danica has a greater appreciation of life and would like to pass on that appreciation to others. She lives with her parents, Debbie and Bob Meyers, in Markle.