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Karl Gangloff
Mrs. Cramer
Comp 1 Pd. 5
22 February 2019

“Karl, Alex, come down and feed the animals it is time for dinner,” said my father, as he

did every day of the week. I and my brother fed the animals and sat down for dinner, just as we

would every day. The outside air was warm and peaceful, but I could feel in the air something

was going to change. Dinner was quiet, as we all sat in silence the whole time eating our meals.

After we all had finished, my dad had said, “kids.... me and your mother are hiding something

from you two,” My mother was now in tears. On June 19, 2018, I was told my father was

diagnosed with thyroid cancer, an experience that would impact my life forever.

The next few days that had went by were tough for all of us. I had no clue what “cancer”

really was. I heard of it in movies, online, newspapers, but I never really understood what

“cancer” was. My family constantly checked on each other, asking “are you okay?” Every day I

would say that I was okay but hearing the words, “the doctor predicts I have 6 months to live,”

didn’t make me feel okay on the inside. Everyone in my family was disquieted for my father's

life.

The next months were very bad for my father and our family. In and out of the treatment

center, hospitals, surgery and cancer research facilities. He began Chemotherapy and Radiation

in June, days after he was diagnosed with this “terminal” form of thyroid cancer. I took my

father to his radiation treatment with a smile on my face, though it killed me to see the man who

brought me up in this horrendous state.


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Before June 2018, I was a naïve sixteen-year-old, who believed that everything was great

in life, as well as there would be no changes to this great life I had been living. If you were to

ask my friends to describe me, most would say that I was filled with happiness. Who would have

imagined this ecstatic kid, would revert to the same jubilant person on the outside, but on the

inside, be filled with sadness.

While my father had underwent his various forms of treatment for his cancer, my family

had acted as if nothing had changed. We all acted the same, as if nothing was going on. Though

my father's physical appearance had gone from tan skin and rosy cheeks, to a pale ghostly figure,

he continued to go through every day just as he would have before everything had changed. My

father finished his last radiation treatment in August. Before this the doctors believed he would

not make it through. Patients who have Anaplastic Sarcoma Thyroid Cancer are said to live 5-7

months after initial diagnosis and only 5 percent of patients beat this form of cancer. Amazingly,

thought, my father was part of the 5 percent of people who beat this cancer.

My father’s cancer journey most definitely had the most impact on his life, but there was

a significant change in me, my family, and my friends. I learned life lessons from watching him

battle this horrid disease every single day. One motto I live by every day of my life because of

my father’s journey is love what you have now because it could go away in the blink of an eye.

My father could have been taken away from me, my mom, my brother, my family, my

community, and the world. I am exceedingly grateful that he is still here with me and I would not

trade my relationship with him for the world.


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