Chapter 1: The Diagnosis
The doctor's words hung in the air like smoke after a fire—thick, acrid, impossible to ignore.
"Cancer."
One word. Six letters. A lifetime of implications.
I remember sitting there, the examination paper crinkling beneath me as I shifted my weight. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting everyone in that sickly, greenish glow that makes even the healthy look ill.
"We need to start treatment immediately," he continued, already flipping through his calendar as if my agreement was a foregone conclusion. "I can get you in with Dr. Abrams next Tuesday. He's the best oncologist in the state."
I nodded, not because I agreed, but because nodding was easier than explaining that inside my chest, something wild and untamed was already rising—something that would not be scheduled, medicated, or cut away.
Something that whispered: There is another way.
This is not a story about ignoring medical advice. This is not a story about miracle cures or secret potions.
This is a story about listening to the voice that has been with you since before you were born—the one that knows exactly who you are and what you need.
This is a story about rebellion.
And it begins, as all true rebellions do, with a single, defiant word:
"No."
