the best day of my life

Hi guys! My name is Mariah Cornett, I’m fourteen, and in March of 2013 I was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma aka lymph node cancer. Now before I start and get into all of this I would like to thank Dayton Children’s for giving me the opportunity to write this blog post and be in the Dayton children’s commercial and so much more. I would also like to thank Dayton children’s for making my experience with cancer no worse than it had to be. I am so truly blessed and I will never take anything I have for granted.

A little about my story…

I had never been a very sickly or unhealthy child, and cancer does not really run in my family. It all kind of started when I began to find these lumps in my armpit, at first they were just lumps you know. So I showed my mom and she figured it was just from my deodorant or something. As time went on the lumps began to grow and they would hurt. One day when I was laying on the floor I felt a pain in my neck and I felt more lumps there. I told my mom again and she said she would try to get me into the dermatologist, but when my pains got worse and worse she finally decided to make an appointment with our pediatrician. We had many tests done and strangely enough they were all coming back negative. Finally I had an appointment with an infectious disease specialist and that’s when the idea of cancer was first brought up. In that day we ended up seeing three doctors and by the end of it I had a biopsy scheduled for the very next day. The surgery went smoothly and they biopsied a lymph node on my neck. They had told us they would know by a day or two after my surgery but it would be much longer tell answers were given. In this waiting period I started to get small low grade fevers and I couldn’t eat much at all. Finally near the beginning of March my mother got a call from the hospital, I had anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

From there I was put on a treatment plan where I stayed in the hospital for a week between every two weeks that went by. I would like to say that I am very, very blessed. I never threw up, I never felt sick in the hospital, only for a few days when I would come home. Granted I did lose my hair, like all of it as well as my eyebrows, eyelashes, leg and armpit hair and of course my head hair. My treatments went so smoothly and I was done two months earlier than expected. I am a survivor. All in all I did not take cancer as a burden; I took it as an opportunity to look at my life in a new light. It was an experience that showed me to be thankful and realize how good I have it, that I am lucky to be alive, that someone can always have it worse than you, and to values every second that your heart is beating in your chest. Cancer made me realize that life is a blessing, and I have decided to put one foot in front of the other and show the world that I can get through anything life throws at me…

The commercial…

I have always been one of those people who have wanted to be in the movies and on TV etc. Little did I know that I would get the chance to be a part of a very special Dayton Children’s commercial. One day when I and my friend were taking a walk outside I got a text from my mom telling me that she had a surprise when I got home. I was freaking out and trying to imagine what it could be. So when I got home my mom told me that Dayton Children’s wanted me to be in a commercial for them. Of course I said yes and was jumping around the house like a complete idiot. On the day of the commercial shoot we went to the hospital because we were filming in a hospital room. I got to have a film crew and a makeup artist!!!!!! I FELT LIKE I WAS BEYONCE!!! I got my makeup done and the camera guys positioned the cameras and lighting around me and I was just like in the clouds. Everyone was so friendly and made me feel extra comfortable. In the commercial I got to talk about what I was thankful for at Dayton Children’s. I decided to choose my nurses because we had all become so close in the short time we spent together and I’m not even joking when I say it’s like they became a part of the family. I also made a poster of a nurse to show in the commercial and one of my actual nurses to star in it with me. I had such an amazing time and experience getting to be a part of something so wonderful, I am beyond grateful for the opportunity!

Lastly…

I am so, so, SO grateful for Dayton Children’s and anyone who supports them. They have made my experience with cancer so easy and smooth. If you are supporting Dayton Children’s you are literally making the life of so many children just that much easier. I don’t think I could have gotten a better experience with another hospital than Dayton Children’s. I hope people will support #GivingTuesday so that other children that are just like me can have the same, if not better experience like I had. It’s such a great and worthy cause, and you seriously don’t want to miss out on this.

Now check out my commercial! It’s so cool!