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cancer fiction cancer management cancer media cancer survivor

Why Is Cancer Always the Drama Queen?

It’s probably happened to you ten or twenty times over the last decade. You’ve entered the realm of fictional cancer and cancer survival through media. You’ve witnessed the hero or heroine battling cancer from your perch in the fictional trenches. It’s on the big screen in your local movie theater. It’s in the TV special that has you glued to your sofa. It’s in that bestseller you bought at the bookstore. It’s in that short story in your favorite magazine. By the time you finish living through the cancer experience vicariously with the main character, you’re emotionally exhausted.

But here are two questions for you. Why do fictional cancer tales always seem to stick with the same script? And why is cancer always the star of the show?

Oh, I understand all about the perils of cancer management. And you won’t ever find me dismissing the cancer experience as “minor” or “a blip on the radar”. But why do we always seem to put cancer up on a pedestal in fiction, whether it’s movies, TV, books, or short stories? Does the plot always have to be about the disease? Frankly, I’m far more interested in the people, real and fictional, who survive the experience.

Some of the funniest, sweetest, feistiest, smartest, most compassionate people I know in the real world of cancer survivors would make fabulous characters in amazing tales. It’s not because they have cancer, but because of who they are as human beings.

These people have lives beyond their disease. They are lawyers who happen to be talented musicians, journalists who live to box, social media experts who love their dogs…mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors who nurture fellow cancer survivors with some amazing outreach programs, — ordinary people who do some very ordinary things, even while they navigate cancer experiences as varied and as unique as they are.

If you were lucky enough to meet them, as I have been, the one thing you would not take away with you is the sense that life is a constant edge-of-your-seat drama. These are not hysterical, desperate people living terror-filled lives. Sure, it happens sometimes that things go wrong and inevitably another beautiful soul loses the battle. But for the most part, the cancer survivors I know are not afraid to speak up, to speak out, to take charge of their world. They make the effort to infuse their lives with laughter and love.

How I wish we could capture that spirit, that wonderful sizzle of spunk that often drives so many of these cancer survivors to live their lives out loud. How many times have I heard them say, “(BLEEP) cancer! I’m going to do what I’m going to do despite it! I’m going for it!” And that’s where the real stories of cancer can be found. Because so many choose to get around the obstacles cancer creates and achieve amazing things. So, why can’t our fictional heroes do the same?

One of the saddest personal stories I ever read was from a real breast cancer patient, whose treatment totally disrupted her marriage to a man she thought would be there forever. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion, I followed her tale and thought, “If only this doofus had some idea of what to expect from his wife’s cancer situation. If only he had heroes who had walked in his shoes and successfully managed to learn what to do and what not to do.”

To me, movies, television, and stories are the perfect place for us to find inspiration on how to live with cancer, but if we only see the terrifying tales of gloom and doom, we become conditioned to expect cancer to be a death sentence, a downer, a disaster. The truth is that for every life destroyed by cancer, there are many more that were saved by treatments. Shouldn’t our fictional characters share those experiences?

I was recently doing some research for a project I am working on as a mystery writer and I stumbled across something curious. Many of the writers who create cozy mysteries announce in their biographies that they are cancer survivors. Why is this? I have a theory. Cozy mysteries are all about people. We don’t like lots of blood and gore in our stories. We don’t like horrid characters who give us nightmares and do vicious things to our fellow human beings. In some ways, the cozy mystery genre is the perfect place to find comfort and happy endings for weary cancer survivors. Maybe that’s what attracts writers and readers to the genre. We want to believe that life can be good. We need to believe it, because we will take that inspiration and use it in our own lives, when we or our loved ones are diagnosed with cancer.

But it’s not only short stories and books that make a great platform for characters with cancer. Television and movies would be well served to utilize them. Why? Think about the people you know who have cancer. Think about the often profound changes they have experienced as they go through life after diagnosis. The truth is cancer changes everything. It’s that unexpected wake-up call no one wants to get, and yet when it comes, it often seems to shake us up in ways that are often unpredictable and unexpected. It’s not the cancer that makes people amazing. It’s what they do in spite of the cancer.

As for interesting characters, I can attest to the fact that many of the cancer survivors I have had the pleasure of meeting are inspirational and memorable. If you can keep your sense of humor after a cancer diagnosis, if you can maintain a sense of hope in the face of such terrifying news, if you can carry on despite the uncertainty of having too many lemons and not enough sugar to make lemonade, you’re probably going to have some great throw-away lines for any script.

The truth is cancer survivors are people who learn to live with the disease. They learn to manage it over time, to know when it’s time to get a “tune-up”, and even to expect that it might return at some point down the road. But as more and more cancer survivors go through multiple bouts of the disease and live to tell about it, our fictional tales should reflect this fact.

My hope is that one day, authors, publishers, scriptwriters, producers, and directors will come to understand that cancer shouldn’t always be the drama queen of a story. Sometimes cancer can be the fictional challenge that teaches a tenacious survivor how to get past even bigger obstacles. Or, better still, we can begin to treat cancer as the occasional footnote in our lives. For those whose cancer is caught quickly and wrestled to the ground, we might find fictional characters who use perspective and common sense to put cancer in its place.

Oddly enough, I think if William Shakespeare lived today, he would have done just that. Cancer would have been just one more challenge that his characters faced, some bravely, some cowardly, some with humor, but never without something interesting to share. I long for the day when cancer is not the lead player on the stage, but merely an act or two in a lengthy production:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

From “As You Like It”, monologue of Jaques, Act II, Scene VII

Categories
cancer cancer fiction Cancer Treatment Centers of America colon cancer Michelle Hastings Mission:Remission

Would Real-Life Cancer Survivor Michelle Make a Great Character in a Novel?

I first met Michelle Hastings at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America facility in Goodyear, Arizona almost a year ago. I was sitting at a table in the conference room when in blew this vision in wildly colored, spiked hair, looking like a rock star. A generation younger, with a very positive energy, she bustled around with the confident air of a regular visitor to the hospital. That’s because she is.

Back in 2008, Michelle found out she had colon cancer, but she was determined to beat it. She wrote about her journey in her blog; once known as Michelle Will Win, it has transitioned to Mission: Remission. (It’s a great resource for anyone facing a tough cancer battle of any kind. Her spirit, her energy is uplifting and inspiring. Check it out.)

When you look at Michelle’s definition of herself, you’ll see this: wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. She doesn’t talk about her career as an astronaut on the last space shuttle or her amazing stint as a famous movie star in Hollywood. She never mentions anything about winning the Miss Fabulous beauty contest or how she learned to conquer her fear of octopuses by scuba diving to 1000 meters without a spear gun. Oh, no. That’s because Michelle is a people person. It’s all about connections. It’s all about love, life, and loving life.

If you stuck her in an isolation tank, you would break her heart, not to mention the hearts of all those people who love her. That’s because Michelle embodies the very essence of humanity — the ability to connect with other people in a way that leaves you feeling like the world is a better place because she’s in it.

As a mystery writer, over the last few months, I’ve toyed with the idea of creating a new series, wondering if I could ever invent a character with her joie de vivre, her tenacity, and her single-mindedness to overcome adversity. Is it even possible? What kind of storyline would I write? And what would that character be like?

I can tell you this much. It would be a “cozy mystery”, without gruesome, bloodsucking beasts or insidious villains who practice unspeakable cruelty. It would be the perfect story to read while curled up in front of the fireplace on a rainy night with a cup of hot cocoa, because that’s the kind of person she is. Michelle was so happy the other day when the Christmas lights went up and she could revel in their twinkling glory. She even remarked that most people would think it was too soon to start decorating, but she didn’t care. She was going for it. This young woman knows too well that you must seize the moment when it presents itself. She does not procrastinate when it comes to embracing fun. She grabs it with both hands and holds on tight.

And as far as the action part of my tale, it would have to be a good match for Michelle’s vibrant persona to be believable. I’d give my heroine a warm, supportive family for her crime-solving activities, a fun cast of characters, and more than one wacky sidekick. Maybe I would send her off to Disneyland, and have her discover a lost child in the crowd. Michelle is the kind of woman who would recognize that “deer in the headlights” look from a frightened youngster in a crowd. She is, after all, a mother. I could have her search for the missing adult, letting the story take a thrilling, twisting trajectory, but with a happy ending, because that is what Michelle constantly seeks in life.

Or maybe I would send her fictional alter ego on a vacation to a dude ranch, and while on a trail ride, let her stumble upon an abandoned horse in the middle of nowhere. She could track down and rescue the rider. Michelle could certainly hold her own out in the Wild West. After all, she’s been battling cancer all these years. Why, I bet she could scare the rattle off a sidewinder with just a look and some of her fierce determination.

Then again, with her work as a cancer advocate, maybe I could create a mystery in a hospital, with a patient who is too overwhelmed to reconnect with family. Michelle’s character could reach out to all her social media contacts and help a patient reunite with a lost family member, someone who slipped away decades before, and they could come together when it matters most. It would have to be a heartwarming tale, because that’s the epitome of the real Michelle, overcoming adversity with gumption and guts. Perspective is half the battle when it comes to conquering cancer. You might not beat the disease, but you can beat the hold its terror has on you, and when you do that, another door opens, or another window, and you’re off on your next adventure in Cancer Land, finding those hidden moments of beauty, those tender minutes when the universe seems to stop spinning out of control and life, in that brief few seconds, all makes sense. We are here to love, to laugh, to share with one another, and nothing else really matters except what passes between united hearts.

As you can see, an inspirational character can drive a storyline in all kinds of wonderful directions for an author. A wise writer lets the heroine go her own way, in her own style. In Michelle’s case, her fictional counterpart would have all of her amazing qualities to lead her down the path to adventure, and she would take her ever-widening circle of family and friends, her “peeps”, along with her. They are so much a part of her that I can see them having a hand in solving the “cozy mystery”.

Oddly enough, in my vision for this mystery series, I wouldn’t want to bump off lots of victims, leaving a trail of dead bodies strewn across Arizona, California, Colorado, or anywhere else I sent her. I’d pack the stories with lots of frights, and maybe a few bang-ups, chills, and spills, but my fictional heroine would be about saving lives, not taking them. Michelle is, after all, a healer. She’s not here to destroy the world; she’s here to save it. The fictional Michelle would want to do the same.

But there’s only one problem with the idea of creating a heroine based on a real woman for a new mystery series. How can my character ever hope to compete with the real thing? She would be forever a poor substitute for Michelle Hastings. That’s because I never really know what I will find when I see she’s added a post on her Facebook page. It could be just about anything. One day, it might be that things are going great for her. Another day, it might be that her blood work is absolutely dismal. Michelle is a very real cancer survivor, struggling with managing the disease. She’s allowed people like me a glimpse into her visit to Cancer Park, where she sometimes gets to ride the Ferris Wheel and take in the pretty vista, and other times, goes into the House of Horrors, where the floor slips out from under her as she tries to navigate the dark and scary maze that is cancer. The hardest thing to watch is when she climbs into a car on the roller coaster and it leaves the platform. I never really know if she’s coming back in one piece. But as scary as it is for someone like me, that’s nothing compared to the whirlwind emotions that Michelle and those with her on that ride must experience.

And yet, I am still tempted to create a series with such a heroine. The truth is the world needs people like Michelle — to teach us what really matters about life, about living. We need to know that our circumstances aren’t always very fair, but that shouldn’t stop us from pushing back, from striving to be more tomorrow than what we are today. Could I create a cancer character that would move readers to embrace the good in life? I probably could, if I stick to the heart of what makes the real Michelle tick. She’s been a great teacher to many, a winner several times over, even through her toughest battles. That’s because she’s Michelle, one-of-a-kind and unique. I’m glad I had the chance to meet her in Arizona, all those months ago, but I’m delighted that I had the great wisdom and curiosity to listen to this voice of courage.