Connie Marois: Her Brain Tumor Story on Tuesday, 12/8 @ 1PM EST

I think survivor stories are important. When I was in drowning in the emotional quicksand of the aftermath of my initial operation,I would have loved to read a survivor story. I’m sure they would have given me some hope, some motivation and some faint belief that if this person could survive, I could too. 

When I did find other brain tumor survival blogs I found some comfort in fact that there were others who had some idea of the pain and uncertainty and terror that I was going through.

So, for those of you who are going through that pain and uncertainty and terror, I want to make you aware of this upcoming survivor story on healtheo360:

“Brain cancer survivor Connie shares her inspiring story from diagnosis to treatment and what motivates her as an advocate for brain tumor awareness and funding. Recently, she participated and spoke briefly about her experience at this year's New York BreakThrough 

For Brain Tumors Run/Walk. She joins Dave and Courtland at 1pm right here on healtheo360.com/livestream.” (That's Tuesday December 8th at 1PM EST.)

Here’s the link: http://www.healtheo360.com/livestream/h360-live-connie-marois-surviving-a-brain-tumor/

Terminally Illin’ – “Chaos in Humanhattan”

Today I got a real treat, my own personal copy of Chaos in Humanhattan - the scary, cynical, irreverent, twenty-something, mash-up of a memoir, a ”chemo-induced ‘Alice in Wonderland’ story and a “campy ‘Hollywood’ action adventure” graphic novel that focuses on the Kaylin Andres and her Ewing Sarcoma cancer battles. http://www.cancercomicbook.com/

While the story is fantastical, so is the fact that Kaylin is still alive. I believe she’s still living because she found humor – black humor, gallows humor, sardonic humor – an vehicle for empowering her fight with a dark, hideously unrelenting cancer that whacked her at twenty-three and kept trying to drag her into the grave.

“Chaos in Humanhattan” is written and drawn for millennials. If you aren’t a millennial in your age or in your soul, you might find it flippant or upsetting. To my way of thinking, Kaylin addressed that when she wrote her book and blog’s subtitle – “Cancer is not Funny … Cancer is Hilarious.”  If that line doesn’t resonate with you, don’t read this book.

But it you are a millennial, in age or attitude, you should read this book. The story, by Kalin and Jon Solo, is in turns bleak, poignant, darkly comedic and upsetting – like many cancer survivor stories. 

The graphics by Jon Solo and Jade Takushi are terrific - powerful, complex, and vivid. They are just as good as any Manga I’ve ever read.

What I really like about Chaos in Humanhattan is that Kalin and Jon capture all the horrible emotions that cancer victims go through, from “Why me?” to “Oh no!” to “I’m done” to “Now, I’m really pissed” and everything in between.

Here’s a link to their Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Terminally-Illin-The-Comic-Book/178624932149196

Benign Brain Tumor ≠ Good Health

One of the oddities of having a benign brain tumor is that friends, family and co-workers often assume than you’re going to be just fine/just like you used to be before the operation. 

A recent article from the ABTA entitled “I may look OK, but I’m not.” explains this disconnect.

In the article, Paula Sherwood, R.N., Ph.D., C.N.R.N., associate professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and medicine says observes that “Friends and family members may assume that just because the brain tumor has been removed that all the problems have been solved.” said 

She goes on to say that “patients are happy it’s not malignant; happy it’s been taken out. And some do very well with few side effects. But there are others who have significant side-effects.” “Benign is a tough word. It conjures up the sense that everything is going to be OK.” She goes on to say “I get the sense that patients are not adequately prepared for “the reality.”

Terri Armstrong, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Texas-Health Science Center School of Nursing and adjunct professor at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reiterates that thought - “Benign is a tough word. It conjures up the sense that everything is going to be OK”.

Providing the patient viewpoint, is Nancy Conn-Levin, a 15 year brain tumor survivor, author and facilitator of a large brain tumor support group who says “there is still a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the impact of non-malignant brain tumors, particularly when their effects can be life threatening.”

You can read the entire article at : http://www.abta.org/sitefiles/pdflibrary/HeadlineNews16pgr_SS11-F.pdf (be sure to scroll down past the first article in the newsletter).