Strong (Louis Tomlinson's Cancer story)

Chapter 41: Relay for Life

I was in my room watching Kenz color. I feel drained from this stupid chemo but the good thing is that I only have one more and I am free from this poison. There was a knock at the door then Dr. Ryan walked in. 

I stuck my arm out expecting to get another needle but the just chuckled and put it back. "Im not here to get more blood Lou I actually came to ask you something. Sort of a favor." He said. "Um what is it?" I asked. "Well you see there is this thing coming to town tonight called Relay for Life. It is a walk to raise money to find cures for cancer. The hospital plays a big part in this walk and I was wondering if you guys would be willing to go tonight and give a speech on our behalf. We find a cancer patient each year to represent us. If you are not feeling up to it we can always find someone else. I understand you might not be up to it." He said. I thought for a minuet. If I would go  I knew the hospital would raise a lot of money but then that would mean I would have to take loads of pictures with fans and I'm not quite sure i'm up for it. 

"I'll do it." I blurted out not really thinking. "Can I bring Ally with me though?" I asked. "hey what am I chopped Liver!" Kenz said crossing her arms. "Kenz you aren't attached to one of these things it's a lot easier to get you out of here." I laughed. "Oh." She said. 

"Ally can come. Her treatment is not as harsh as yours. You will just have to take the usual precautions you usually take when you go to concerts while on chemo." He said. I nodded. "Okay then. Thank you so much for doing this Louis. I will take everybody at 6 just meet me down in the lobby." He said before walking out. "We get to finally leave this place!" kenz said excited. I laughed at her cuteness. 

***

After they put all my medicine in my backpack and I put on a mask I grabbed Kenz's hand and led her up to Ally's room. I had texted her to get dressed before the doctors invaded her room to get her ready to leave but she had no clue where we were going. 

Kenz did the "secret knock" they made up while I was asleep yesterday. "Come in!" I heard Ally yell. We walked in to see her coming out of the bathroom with the same backpack as me and an oxygen tank. "Hey guys I'm ready I just needed to change." She said grabbing her purse. I grabbed Kenz and put her on my hip carful not to rip out any tubes out of me. Her tutu was huge it was kind of hard to keep her on my hip. Shortly after Dr. Ryan came in the first time he came back with this outfit for Kenz to raise awareness for Childhood cancer. It was a gold tutu and a top with her cancer ribbon on it. He also brought Ally and I matching T-shirts that had the walks logo on it. 

We got to the lobby and stood there waiting for Dr. Ryan. We didn't really notice we were 30 minuets early. 

"So this is really your first Relay for Life?" Ally asked me. "Yup. We don't have this kind of stuff in the UK." I said setting the squirming Kenz down from my hip. "It is really special. You get to hear these stories from these people, these survivors, that just inspire you to get up in the morning." She said with so much passion.

"Daddy what is that?" kenz said hiding behind my leg as this white robot looking this was moving in front of us.  Dr. Ryan came from behind us scaring Kenz again. "Sorry guys are you ready to go?" he asked. "Yeah. One question though. What is that thing?" Ally asked pointing to the robot. "Oh that is a new thing we are testing out. It is to help allow sick people to be places they usually cant be. It is like a facetime that moves around and is normal hight." He said. "See Kenz nothing to be afraid of." I said to her. she slowly came out from behind me and towards the robot. If you looked in the screen you could see a doctor and a little boy that were testing the machine. They waved at Kenz and she waved back. "This thing is cool!" Kenz said poking it. 

"I can show you more how it works tomorrow but right now we need to get going if we want to get there on time." Dr. Ryan said. We all walked to the car and He started driving to the football field it was being held at. 

***

Luckly nobody really noticed who we were or asked for pictures. We had been walking around looking at all the different booths but now it was time to give my speech. I hadn't really prepared anything. I was just planning on winging it. The guy finished talking and introduced me to the stage. I heard a few girls gasp and some scream but I that was blocked out by my nerves.

"Um hello everybody. My name is Louis Tomlinson and I have stage 3 Adenocarcinoma. I also have some cancer in my lungs and had a pretty big tumor in my brain before I got it removed a month ago. I have had my share of awful hospital stays with thousands of needles being poked in my arm, chest, thighs, and butt but in the end of the day I am glad I sat there and took it. That might sound crazy but last week I was told that I am going to be cancer free after my next treatment. I don't know if any of you know this but I am in a band named One Direction. I have had to miss many concerts, one being tonight, because of this decease and let me just tell you it sucks to not be there all the time. Whenever I feel sad about it though I thing of all the things I have gained from cancer.  One being able to come here to help raise awareness towards cancer research. Another good thing is being able to meet my wonderful girlfriend who herself is fighting through Cystic Fibrosis. And finally I have gained the best thing in my life. My daughter Mackenzie. She was fighting Leukemia and is now cancer free. I guess what I am trying to say is, Don't stop fighting. Look at the positive in this disease and love every gift you have been given on this journey. We can not let cancer win. Cancer needs to die not us. Thank you" there was a massive roar of claps. Everybody in the room was showing there appreciation towards me. 

I walked of the stage and kenz jumped up to my hip. 

"Now everybody clear the track and I want everybody who is fighting this disease to take a victory lap. Wether it be Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis or some other type of cronic disease to take a lap around the track to show that you are a survivor. Lets take a moment to celebrate life and the fight these people are putting up." The man said in the mic. I grabbed Ally's hand and led her to the track where we started walking with about 100 other people.

***

When we finally got back to the hospital it was midnight. We didn't mean to stay that long but we were having so much fun. Way more than I was expecting. We had walked Ally to her room and stayed there for a while making sure she was okay then I walked kens to our room and laid her down on on her bed after changing her into one of my shirts that was to big of me. I then changed into some sweatpants and went to my bed. A nurse came in a short time later and gave me a new IV but I fell asleep right after I felt the poke.