Encased in an incubator, constricted by tubes and wires, I experienced my first moments in the world under a dreaded diagnosis, cancer. When I was born, my inability to breathe normally prompted doctors to take x-rays of my chest. This led to the discovery of a neuroblastoma tumor inside my ribcage but outside my lung. My parents later relayed to me that the doctor described my tumor to them as shaped like a long, narrow eggplant. At just six days old, a doctor performed surgery on me to remove the tumor. I still have a scar from where the surgeon sliced me open from the front of my chest around to my back. The operation was extremely successful because I never had to undergo chemotherapy or radiation, so I have no risk of a secondary cancer.