On October 2, 2013, junior Patricia Valderrama was diagnosed with Myxoid Liposarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer.

“We found a lump two days before freshman year in August and then I was diagnosed early October,” Patricia said.

After her diagnosis Patricia went through many tests and was later notified that she would have to lose her leg to completely remove the cancer.

“We were so devastated. We were sad. We were all crying. It’s just so hard for us cause we’re the parents and we didn’t realize that it was really a huge thing that’s going to happen to her,” her mother Arlyn Valderrama said.

During her recovery at home Patricia said she stayed positive, but one of the toughest things she had to deal with was going back to school.

“I was an incoming freshman so you have like trying to adjust to high school but you can’t because you don’t go to school anymore and so like, instead of being able to enjoy freshman year and be normal, I couldn’t,” she said.

When she got back to school Patricia said she felt as if nothing had changed.

“I think they treat her very like, the usual person that she is cause she’s never had felt that there was a change at all when she came back, but there was more love and more acceptance from people,” Mrs. Valderrama said.

The Valderrama family said that this experience has made their family stronger and allows them to enjoy what they have right now.

“There’s always a bright side of everything…from the darkness there’s always light and there is always goodness in everything through the things they’re going through they can always see that they will be able to get up and walk back again,” Mrs. Valderrama said.