Youths tell stories of cancer survival

Hali Potter looks much the same as any other 12-year-old. Her dark shoulder-length hair and bright eyes belie her past -- looking at her today you would never guess that three years ago she was bald, fighting for her life in Seattle's Children's Hospital.

"It was pretty scary," Hali said of her battle with lymphoma. "They had to explain to me what it was -- I didn't think it was very much. I just thought I'd go home in a couple weeks. When I was in Seattle, I realized I was pretty sick."

After undergoing intensive therapy that included blood transfusions and chemotherapy that made her hair fall out, Hali said she feels pretty good now as she prepares to enter seventh grade at Wasilla Middle School. Although she missed a lot of school during her illness and has had to attend special education classes to catch up, she said she is looking forward to school and playing volleyball.

One of the worst things about being sick, Hali said, was losing her hair. She got a wig, she said, but didn't like it.

"I got head bands with little alien antennas on them and butterflies on them. It made me feel better about people staring at me," she said. "And I hate the sight of blood. I saw the blood transfusions and it was pretty bad."

An animal lover, Hali also said it was difficult not being able to go around animals. Surviving lymphoma has also given the young girl a greater insight on life. "I realize how lucky I am," she said.

Nine-year-old Ariel Courtright of Chugiak also knows the fear of learning she was gravely ill.

"It was pretty scary," she said last week of the leukemia she was diagnosed with when she was three years old, in 1996.

Following nearly two years of treatment Ariel has been in remission. But she also said it has not been easy.

"It's hard," she said.

Her father, Paul Courtright, said he was always amazed at his daughter's high spirits during her illness.

"Before appointments, every area has a play area, and before she ever sat down to play she would go into every office greeting every doctor and nurse by name before she'd sit down to play -- she knew everybody's name," Courtright said, amazed. "It was some pretty tough times -- it's pretty scary for parents, too."