this section is a journal of the few days before and after finding out about my cancer
next few pages are what I remember happening in the days prior finding out what was wrong with me.
12-26 I went to the field with Kevin Joseph and Chris Edelstein-
I was on the field with two successful college players, so I wanted to be my best. Kevin Joseph and Chris Edelstein were two of my father's former players. Kevin currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Chris' career was cut short do to injury. I was taking ground balls at third base, and every ball Tom hit to me I was not able to catch it even if I got on one knee. Two balls were coming at me off the bat, and I did not know which one to catch. When I was able to knock a ball down, I made the throw to first that totally freaked me out. Chris was at first, and another full body of Chris was right above him. I would throw the ball not knowing which Chris was which. I kept my mouth shut; it was stupid that I only wanted to play ball instead of care about my health. We went to the health club afterwards, and I thought I was just fine.
Tom, Kevin's dad, says I was aloof and I went to a stationary bike and rode on it for a while instead of exploring one of the nicest workout facilities in Texas. It was as if I was collecting my thoughts about what had just happened that day. I was missing balls very badly in the infield. Tom said I missed the balls by a foot or two, and he did not hit them very hard. He thought I was just either really bad, or there was something really wrong. I was wondering what in the world I was doing out there today. I was a socialable kid, usually interactive with older kids like Kevin and Chris, but instead I was on the stationary bike away from the rest of my group like a wounded dog distancing myself from friends licking my wounds. I was highly tested with self-challenges from God. Where did my strength come from? It came from the grace of God. Before I was a smiling and happy kid. Tom compared me to the little kid of the coach in the movie "The Rookie"
12-27 camp- A few days later, my father held a high school camp and I was in 8th grade. I was having problems with my eyes, and I was playing first base. We were throwing the ball around the horn, and the catcher who threw me the ball was Sean Smith from Coppell who ended his career at OU. He was a junior with great talent, and he threw me a ball at about 85 miles an hour and two balls were coming at me. I didn't know what to do so I threw my glove up, and by the grace of God the ball went into my glove. I became very scared, and I got out of there and told the coach that I was seeing double. We had gone to doctors since my father had seen something wrong, but now it was serious, and the next day we went to see a neurologist, doctor Steve Elterman. He realized that I had no upward gaze, and when I tried to look up my eyes would flutter. We had an MRI done on 12-28 because my mother had pull with a friend at the hospital. I thought nothing of the test that was getting ready to be done. I had a friend at my house going to the camp, and I told him I would be fine and playing ball again soon. I thought that nothing could break me down since I was indestructible.
12-29 I went to the doctor to see about my tests- I walked in to see the doctor to get my results, and I got the biggest shock of my life. This shock also ended up being the biggest blessing of my life. Doctor Elterman called us into his office and he said,"Aaron, we received the results of your MRI, an you have a brain tumor."
I sat there in total shock, and I didn't know what to do. I was scared to death. I held a grudge against doctor Elterman for a few years after that since I had no one else to blame, I didn' blame God because it didn't seem right. I sat there in complete shock not knowing where my career was headed. I couldn't even eat when we went to get food afterwards. We went back to our business, and I sat in the front room with my food. As I sat there in shock, my father's announcer for his games came in to see how the doctor visit went. I was in total shock, and I couldn't tell him anything. After a third time he came in, I began to finally cry in response to what was happening.
1-4 going back to school- we found that I had a brain tumor a week before I had to go back to school from Christmas. Our dear friends knew since we had told them what the doctor had said. I called all of my friends from school to let them know before we went back to school. I had two days to alert the people at school. I remember having to go tell my teachers that I needed to get my homework for the next few weeks since I was going to be gone a while. They asked me why, and I told them I was ... if you want to read more click on the button below
