Around The Islands
Mini Profile
Ryan Kitamura:
Overcoming Adversity
by Alyssa Tsuchiya
"Why me?" said Ryan Kitamura, when he found out that Transition! Magazine was doing an article on him.
You've been through so much…you deserve it.
"But so many other people have been through it too," said Kitamura, who is humble after everything he's been through.
Sporting a surf tee shirt, navy blue baseball cap, and sunglasses, Kitamura looks like any other 16-year-old seated in the ubiquitous high school chair desk at Kaiser High School. He's attending a driver's education class, and laments to me how he'll never be able to make the required 50 hours of driving time before he can get his driver's license. "Right now I have like five hours," he says, laughing.
Last year, learning how to drive was the furthest thing on Kitamura's mind. The Acute Lymphocytic B-Cell Mature Leukemia he battled in 2002 had recurred, pulling him out of school and away from the friends, activities, and the foods that he once loved.
But now, with the cancer in 100 percent remission, Kitamura has picked his life up right where he left off. He's now able to get involved with his Boy Scout troop, participate in JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps), and resume playing the violin in the school orchestra. Kitamura has slowly progressed from taking classes over the Internet, to returning on a half-day basis, to being able to take all six classes in a full day. And, with returning to high school comes the friends. Many friends. It's actually his favorite thing about being back in school. "There are people to talk to. You get so bored at home that you start talking to yourself. What else would you do if you were home alone by yourself for a year and a half?" He chuckled. "I think I married my computer."
A year ago, in response to being told of the cancer reoccurrence, he said, "Lucky me, huh?" But in the last 10 months that same luck has taken a turn for the better. Kitamura found an unrelated bone marrow donor, and he's currently recovering from a successful bone marrow transplant. Now he can finally transition to leading a normal life, yet again.
Kitamura said lucky me…Well, I say lucky us for having known a true survivor like him. If the rest of us could only apply that same perseverance to our daily lives, there would be no obstacle we couldn't overcome.
