“Emotions—expect everything. You go through sadness and anger. But with the help and love of your family, you can get through it.”

“When you’re first told you have cancer,” Andres Padilla Infante reflects, “you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you never, in a million years, thought you’d be.” For Andres, the hardest part was telling his mother. Second was the realization that as a very young man, he could be close to death.

“You’re terrified, and furious, and overwhelmed with love. It’s definitely life-altering. I call it Cancerville, where you lose your hair but find out what you’re really made of.”

Andres fought back with the support of his family. Today, Andres is back from Cancerville. “I’ve learned to live my life more, not less.”