Flower Juice and X-Men

Troops,

I went through my second round of chemo a couple of weeks ago and it was a far cry from the first round. Lots of puking, lots of not feeling too great, a seizure, and a loss of confidence. No good at all.

It is at times like this when I am the most amazed by the people around me. They bring me back and help me focus on the next step - not the previous one. They help "unfunk" me. One needs a lot of unfunking when constant adversity is knocking. The J Karma Army International Spokesperson (who was recently featured here and here.) helped put me in touch with his friend Matt Fioretti. Fabrizio (JKA International Spokesperson - see the sidebar) is a great story teller and he used to tell me about how he lost touch with his good friend Matt and how he received a call from Matt's family one day asking him to come out as they weren't sure how long Matt was going to make it. Fabrizio went out, Matt got better, and the two of them are again close friends.

Matt has been a climber and guide for many years and he shares stories about the fight against cancer in a way which I can relate to. Matt went through 28 rounds of chemo, full body radiation and a bone marrow transplant before sending his illness out the door. This guy is harder to kill than Steven Seagal! Check Matt's story our here.

About the time I was beginning chemo I received an email from Matt out of thin air. He wasted no time and immediately went into his experience. He told me how he changed the name of his chemo to "flower juice." He told me about how this little psychological reframe completely changed the conotation of his treatment.

The new movie X-men Origins: Wolverine came out about the time I started my first round of chemo. Wolverine is the character who is famous for three blades which come out of his fists.

When I opened my bottle of chemotherapy pills I noticed that they had three little black stripes and they reminded me of the movie.

(They actually have two but two is basically three, right? Small details.)

Anyway, now when I take my chemo I pretend that I'm sending Wolverine in to kill my cancer. This is not to be confused with sending Hugh Jackman in to kill my cancer - somehow I think he'd be less effective (although he is immensely talented.) Anyone who can sing that well in public is pretty much amazing to me, but I digress.

Sending X-Men in to help might seem sort of silly but it works, and that's all that I'm interested in. Adverse times require a good attitude. Wolverine and I will be ready for round three.