79Kviews
I Was Diagnosed With Cancer, So I Started Drawing Comics To Combat The Terrible Misconceptions About Cancer
I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2014, which included chemotherapy, radiation, multiple surgeries and an ostomy bag. This happened while working full time as a therapist and being married with a small child. I'm currently cancer free, but the experience was a complete life-changer.
To cope with the process, I started drawing up a comic while recovering from my first surgery in the hospital. I drew a cute little owl and Cancer Owl was born. I attempted to articulate what was so hard to articulate in the cancer experience: how it feels to have chemotherapy and radiation, working while in treatment, the emotional highs and lows, combatting the terrible misconceptions about cancer, and dealing with others who (sometimes poorly) attempt to deal with you while going through treatment. I also stuck with drawing animals only, and using bright colors and fun fonts.
Long story short: this resonated with people. Especially those going through the cancer experience. I get messages and emails almost every day, and people started sharing their stories. I've had many people tell me it got through a rough patch or it was the first time they smiled in months. Now that I've told my story through many comics, I devote most of my comics to telling other people's stories. I believe that the more people share their stories, the more we lessen the stigma and help anyone dealing with this damned disease to not feel so alone.
More info: cancerowl.com
This post may include affiliate links.
Good Patient
At least 1, maybe 3, and 4 are quite similar to how people talk about depression.
Support
Emojis
Superstar
also the cancer patient the media loves tends to get cancer from something like saving puppies from nuclear waste and not say smoking or just bad jeans
That Look
Patient Rant
It's true, everyone seems to have an opinion about it. And my mom had to endure every single suggestion. Including, a few weeks before she died, someone making her watch "The Secret" and telling her she just had to want to get better. Fun times.
Lucky
Child
Owlet At The End Of The World
I don't like Trump but it disturbs me if people think he's ''as bad as Hitler'' or that his supporters are ''subhuman'' or ''deserve to die''
Company
Peace
I read a book once about HELA cells. They are cancerous but have helped so much in the medical field especially in helping eradicate polio. It's ironic but those cancerous cells have saved alot of lives.
Rock The Chemo
Happy
Ya know, chemicals in our food, environment and the products we use daily are a major cause of cancer but to cure it, unfortunately we can't just passively wish it away or use some random, newly discovered "power food". Also Ayurvedic medicine IS a thing but it is also scientifically backed (albeit in a different scientific language)-it's not just random s**t like "the internet said Kale so just drink a s**t of it and that's enough" but enough people seem to have 0 scientific knowledge about any type of natural remedy.
I was a door to door sales rep once and I tried to sign up this old man one day. We did a credit score check and he came back with a REALLY low score and it said if he wanted cable, he needed to pay a $200 refundable deposit. He told me that the reason he had such a s****y score is because while he was busy taking care of his ailing wife of 40 years who had cancer, some ASSHAT stole his identity and used all his savings and depleted his bank account. In the end, he could barely afford medicine for his poor wife and she died in so much pain. He didn't even have the $200 for the deposit because he was living paycheck to paycheck, having either lost most of the money to the identity thief or having spent it on his wife. It was an awful story. The look on that man's face when he told me he lost the love of his life...omg.
Prognosis
This comic gets to me so much. My mom was a lifelong vegetarian who faithfully exercised and was really into health. While she had cancer she went vegan, cut out all sugar, and started juicing beats and carrots. She died in 3 years later.
Healthy
When I was a kid, my mom had osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in her leg and her leg was amputated, but they didn't get it all and the cancer metastasized to her lungs. She had to have chemo, lost her hair, and was often weak and tired. At one point, she was strong enough to be out with me and my dad, but not strong enough to be on her crutches or use her wooden leg. We were at the Fair Oaks mall in Virginia, my dad pushing her in her wheelchair, when a woman and a little girl walked by. The little girl smiled at my mom and waved, but the mom freaked. She started screaming at us for being horrible people and snatched up her child and ran away still screaming insults at my parents. I think she thought my mom was contagious. It was bizarre.
My mom passed away from a 3+ year fight against ovarian cancer almost 5 years ago. These comics are so true. People can be great to cancer patients...but they can also suck. A lot. One "friend" of my mom's didn't see her while she was on chemo but when she'd go into remission she would come around. A month before my mom died my mom called this "friend" hoping to see her since it had been a long time. The "friend" told her that it just was "too sad" for her to be around my mom since she was dying. It broke my mom's heart. At my mom's funeral guess who was the first person up to talk about how great my mom was and what great friends they were? Yup. It was her.
She thought she would clean her hands off guilt. Understandable, but not acceptable.
Load More Replies...
I guess you found a good way to deal with your cancer Matthew. A good dash of humor inside but sometimes also painful accurate to the real life. I wish you all the best.
When I was a kid, my mom had osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in her leg and her leg was amputated, but they didn't get it all and the cancer metastasized to her lungs. She had to have chemo, lost her hair, and was often weak and tired. At one point, she was strong enough to be out with me and my dad, but not strong enough to be on her crutches or use her wooden leg. We were at the Fair Oaks mall in Virginia, my dad pushing her in her wheelchair, when a woman and a little girl walked by. The little girl smiled at my mom and waved, but the mom freaked. She started screaming at us for being horrible people and snatched up her child and ran away still screaming insults at my parents. I think she thought my mom was contagious. It was bizarre.
My mom passed away from a 3+ year fight against ovarian cancer almost 5 years ago. These comics are so true. People can be great to cancer patients...but they can also suck. A lot. One "friend" of my mom's didn't see her while she was on chemo but when she'd go into remission she would come around. A month before my mom died my mom called this "friend" hoping to see her since it had been a long time. The "friend" told her that it just was "too sad" for her to be around my mom since she was dying. It broke my mom's heart. At my mom's funeral guess who was the first person up to talk about how great my mom was and what great friends they were? Yup. It was her.
She thought she would clean her hands off guilt. Understandable, but not acceptable.
Load More Replies... I guess you found a good way to deal with your cancer Matthew. A good dash of humor inside but sometimes also painful accurate to the real life. I wish you all the best.
