Hello, I'm Kai, a 19 year old biomedical science student from South London. Roughly eight years ago, I started to get really painful headaches which would never go away and restricted me from moving my head.
It felt like I was paralysed from the neck up. Worse of all, it stopped me from playing football in the playground with my best friends. After a short while, I was sent to the hospital where they diagnosed me with a brain tumour: a Pineal Germinoma. My treatment plan was to go through two weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy.
The chemotherapy meant I was incredibly fatigued and I felt super isolated. I lost my hair with the radiotherapy, which made me a bit insecure and the treatment has impacted my memory.
The diagnosis changed my life. I became a lot less social around people and I went through a phase of imagining what the implications would be if it came back. The main thing going through my mind after treatment was the increased susceptibility/risk I have to other diseases mainly due to chemotherapy and the possibility of the cancer returning.
Teens Unite has enormously supported me through events like Discover You and the Activity Stay. They help turn negative thoughts into a positive, but most importantly they bring teens together and support us as a unit.
Interacting with other teens who have or had reminds me that I'm not alone in such a battle. With Teens Unite, nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
