At the end of January, Tim, a friend of mine from film school, was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
He’s started a blog (or in his parlance, “Cancer Info Board”) that’s chronicling his progression through chemo treatments. He has lost his hair, but clearly not his wonderfully dark sense of humor.
I asked him if he’d be cool with me linking to his blog, and I think the response I got from him says a lot both about him and about what it’s like to be fighting cancer at the age of 23:
…Although it is a personal thing, I’m kind of hoping that it functions as 1) a wake-up call to the many young males who don’t imagine that this kind of thing really happens (and it’s scary how many of my guy friends have never done a self-exam); 2) a testament that cancer doesn’t have to be a resoundlingly negative thing. Obviously, my humor is more than a little bitter, but I hope the blog shows that I’m just kind of plugging along, not making this into A Great Evil Thing.
I’ve seen many members of my family fight off cancer, and I’ve seen how having a good attitude helps immensely with recovery.
Tim, you’re well on your way.