Text to Self Isabella M.

     The Fault in Our Stars, written by John Green, is about a sixteen year old girl that was diagnosed with Stage 4 thyroid cancer, but eventually spread to her lungs. She has lived with cancer since she was diagnosed with it at the age of 13, taking an experimental drug named Phalanxiphor. While attending a weekly Support Group, Hazel meets a boy named Augustus Waters, an amputee and survivor of osteosarcoma. Augustus and Hazel become friends, although Augustus has a crush on her. They start to unofficially date, because Hazel thinks of herself as a grenade, eventually going to explode and hurt everyone close to her. Both teens have/had a disease, so they are qualified for a Wish at the Wish Factory, a place that grants wishes for sick children. Augustus saved his wish, but Hazel spent hers on Disney World. He decided to surprise Hazel with a trip to meet her favorite author, Peter Van Houten, in Amsterdam. She wanted find out the end of An Imperial Affliction, her favorite book, which ends in the middle of a sentence. She ended up taking her mom with her for medical reasons. The day to meet Peter Van Houten finally arrived, and the author isn't who he seems. If you are interested in this book and want to read it, stop here. When the group of three returns from Amsterdam, Augustus tells Hazel that he had osteosarcoma again, in his chest, left hip, liver, and pretty much everywhere. A "prefuneral" is held with Hazel and Issac, Gus's best friend, because Augustus wanted to be at his own funeral. He ended up dying, eight days after the "prefuneral".
     This reminds me of somebody I know because my brothers' school nurse at another school had breast cancer. She is like Hazel because she only told a few people because she didn't want to scare anyone, just like Hazel thought of herself as a grenade. The school nurse can also relate to Hazel because she survived cancer. Hazel is surviving cancer, because she still has it, unlike the nurse, who is cancer free. Both stories are important, because both are/were living with a life-threatening disease, and it's a miracle that they are still living.
     I find it difficult to comprehend that such horrible, life-threatening things could happen to such innocent people, so it is inspiring to find that these people that have to live with such a disease stay so strong through it all. I am grateful that my family, friends, and I are healthy. I wish there was a way to cure all sicknesses, but just as Augustus said, "The world is not a wish granting factory."