In my English class we just read a story about a young girl named Lucy grealy who is diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma in just fourth grade. Even more painful than her battle with a lethal form of cancer was Lucy's battle with her self confindence. Due to the severity of her cancer she lost almost half of her jaw, had to complete many rounds of chemotherapy and multiple surgeries to try and reconstruct her face. Throughout the story she gives examples of other children picking on her, calling her "ugly" and comparing her face to someone's asshole. This kind of teasing can be torture for such a young child, especially for someone who had already gone through such a tragedy. She even goes on to say that the fact that she had cancer seemed minor in comparison to the pain that her "ugliness" caused her.
My dad was diagnosed with Leukimia when I was in the fifth grade. He was a very vain man, my mom used to joke about how he took three times as long as she did to get ready. When he started to lose his hair, he became very parinoid and self couscious. I can't imagine how this little girl must have felt. The end of Elementary school, beginning of Middle school is the hardest time for anyone, especially girls to be sure of themselves. To be constantly told how ugly you are would make it nearly impossible to bear. She was definitly a strong little girl to have survived both cancer and the harsh world of the public school system.
