Life can change in the blink of an eye as sophomore KayCee Sanders found out earlier this year. Sanders was diagnosed with a bone cancer known as Osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a bone cancer that is normally found in teens and young adults.

“I went to the doctor for an ear infection and had my leg checked because it was bothering me. The x-ray showed that I had a tumor. I then had to go see another doctor for an MRI, and then another for a biopsy on my leg. The results showed that it was cancer,” said Sanders. Sanders found out about her condition in November of 2012.

“When I found out I got really upset and threw up,” said Sanders. She wasn’t the only one who was upset.

“I was terrified. I kept wondering, why my baby,” said Tammy Murphy, KayCee’s mother. Sanders friends were also very concerned about her.

“I was devastated. I mean, I know what cancer does to people, and to know someone younger than me was going through it, it’s hard to imagine,” said senior Camille Gunning. Gunning met Sanders through the tennis season. Gunning found out about her condition by a mutual friend and teammate.

As Sanders has come to know, many things change when you have cancer, especially relationships.

“My relationships with my friends kind of changed. I don’t see them as much, and we don’t talk as much either,” said Sanders. Some of Sanders friends think their relationship with her has gotten better.

“I started getting to know her during the tennis season this year, and now I feel like I know her better because all of us [the tennis team] have come together for her,” said Gunning.

Her relationships with her family members haven’t really changed, but one in particular has.

“We’re a lot closer now. We spend everyday together,” said Murphy. Sanders and her mom are together everyday. Murphy is Sanders’s primary care giver.

“Everything’s changed, our whole world was turned upside down. I don’t work anymore, and I moved in with my ex-husband,” said Murphy. Many of Sanders habits have changed since she found out she has cancer.

“I have a very different outlook on germs. I can get sick a lot easier than other people because of the chemotherapy, so now I don’t go to places where there are a lot of people. If I do, I always wear a mask, and carry hand sanitizer with me,” said Sanders. Although many things have changed, Sanders is learning to accept it.

“It still upsets me, but it’s okay right now,” said Sanders. Sanders is learning to cope with having cancer, but she doesn’t let it get her spirit down.

“KayCee has a really positive attitude toward having cancer. She is always able to see the positive side even though its hard for her,” said junior Sonja Cook. Cook was also on the tennis team with Sanders this past fall.

“Don’t ever take life for granted, it can change in the blink of an eye,” said Sanders.