We Can Be Heroes

It’s Halloween and (thank heavens) the end of the over-commercialized hype that Pinktober has become. It’s been a long, strange month for those of us who aren’t ‘in the pink’, and I for one am glad it’s over. It’s been a month in which Broncos quarterback wannabe Tim Tebow, a personal brand marketing machine, auctioned his pink cleats and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher did a very nice breast cancer awareness PSA in honor of his wife without mentioning she died of melanoma. One of my favorite blogs, www.adventurewithmelanoma.blogspot.com, carried an American Cancer Society ad for breast cancer awareness. And my package of Kroger deli sliced turkey breast carried a pink lid and a “you guessed it” awareness message on the label—something I found just a bit creepy and unappetizing.

Do you have any idea which brand in the Hotel Carcinoma gets November as its awareness month? I had to look it up, but it’s the biggest killer of all, lung cancer. It killed my father-in-law and an aunt. One can only hope we’ll hear as much about this beast in the coming month as we did pink cancer in October, but I’m not holding my breath.

I hope that someday all of us living at the Hotel Carcinoma can get past this zero-sum game of awareness competition and that the general public and corporate ‘marketeers’ will care about and support everyone’s cancer. Until then, I guess we have to do what we have to do to compete, so with thanks to all of you melanoma walkers, runners, riders, bikers, etc., here’s a new version of
The Wallflowers’ “Heroes”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g2VdB4YpzQ


I, I wish you would walk
Like the warriors, like warriors will walk
’Cause something, something will bring us together
We can beat this, for ever and ever.

We can be Heroes, just for one day.

We, we will be kings
And you, you will wear ‘screen
’Cause something, something will drive this away
We can be Heroes, just for one day
Black can be ours, just for one day

I, I remember fearing, Black C’s call
And the birds, sing above our heads
And we’ll walk, because cancer will fall
’Cause the pain, is on the tanner’s hide
Oh we can beat this, for ever and ever

Then we could be Heroes, just for one day

We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
Just for one day

We Will Survive

Hey, Pinktober is almost over! I had a checkup with my smiling oncologist (I’m a clean machine!) at my cancer center yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find the only predominant color scheme was orange, because it seems the entire medical campus is one big construction zone. I’ll leave you with a request from a blog reader, a new version of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. Go find a DVD of the football movie classic “The Replacements”, and get down and boogie in the endzone…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I


At first I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
with Black C by my side
But then I spent so many nights
thinking how tans did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along
and wear my black
and pink replace
I once checked in and found C here
with that sad look upon my face
I should have shunned that burnin’ sun
I should have known to wear my ‘screen
If I had known for just one second
C’d come ‘round to bother me

Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with those fries
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
oh as long as I know how to fight
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my life to give
and I'll survive
I will survive (hey hey)

It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart
kept trying hard to mend
the pieces of my fighting heart
and I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself
I used to fry
But now I hold my pale up high
and you see me
somebody new
I'm not that drugged up sickly patient
still in fright of you
and if you feel like dropping in
just don’t expect you’ll win with ease
”Cause now I'm saving all my fighting
for someone who's stalking me

Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to break me with sun fries
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
oh as long as I know how to fight
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my life to give
and I'll survive
I will survive (oh)

Go on now go, walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to break me with sun fries
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
oh as long as I know how to fight
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my life to give
and I'll survive
I will survive
I will survive...!

Amidst The Pink

I don’t know about you, but I’m really, really ready for “Pinktober” to end, and I just may have to watch the NFL this weekend in black and white. An upcoming checkup at my cancer center on Thursday could be the end of me-- so if I get there and find the place swathed in pink, I’m turning around and leaving and will reschedule the appointment for next month. I was last there in May and found no mention whatsoever of Melanoma Awareness Month.

I’ll end this rant with a new version of Bob Seger’s “Against The Wind”…

Bob Seger - Against The Wind from Lyubove Dze on Vimeo.

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Tanning was lovely, it was the start of my plight
There in the brightness with my baby oil brazing slow
And the sunscreen that I spared
The bronze look that I grooved
Started a wildfire out of control
Till there was nothing left to burn and tumors left to move

And I remember what docs said to me
How they swore that this never would end
I remember how they drugged me oh so right
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Amidst the pink
We are livin' amidst the pink
We are tough and strong, we are livin'
amidst the pink

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found I’m not alone
Surrounded by warriors that now are my friends
I find myself further and further from pink’s throne
And I guess I found my way
There were oh so many roads
I am blogging for fun and hoping to give
Never worry about paying this Hotel how much I owe
Writing eight lines a minute for hours at a time
Stealing all of the songs I can bend
I began to find myself searchin'
Searching for shelter again and again
Amidst the pink
A little something amidst the pink
I found myself seeking shelter amidst the pink

With those pinker days near past me now
I've got so much more to write about
Blogging ‘bout awareness
What to leave in, what to leave out

Amidst the pink
I'm still livin' amidst the pink
Well I'm older now and still livin’
Amidst the pink
Amidst the pink
Amidst the pink

Still livin'
I'm still livin’ amidst the pink
I'm still livin’
I'm still livin' amidst the pink
Still livin'
Livin' amidst the pink
Livin' amidst the pink
See this old man live
Watch this old man live
Watch this old man livin'
He'll be livin' amidst the pink
Let the warriors ride
Let the warriors ride
They'll be ridin' amidst the pink
Amidst the pink ...

We Got The Fire Down Below

Was I dreaming yesterday or did I really see former Steelers coach and now CBS’ NFL analyst Bill Cowher doing a commercial promoting the breast cancer cause in honor of his wife? Nice gesture, Coach, but according to the New York Times she died in 2010 from melanoma. Is the commercialization of “the pink” now so dominant that even a sports celebrity who’s lost his wife to melanoma will jump on that bandwagon?

Yikes, but I guess we at this Hotel need to stick together and not count on any celebrity help to champion our cause. Melanoma is an indiscriminate bastard that strikes people of all ages, sexes (I say all because I don’t want to leave out our transgender friends), tax brackets, and skin tones. We may have but one common and un-chosen bond, but it’s nevertheless a bond of common experiences and interests that we should value and nurture. Melanoma is a sneaky disease that may be lurking dormant within even the most fortunate of us, and we share a deep-down and primal urge to do battle with that beast for our own lives and those of our fellow warriors. In short, we “got the fire down below”. And there just happens to be a great old Bob Seger rocker by that name…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJNxlG-0ZDk


Here comes old Rosie, her scans look mighty fine
Here comes young Nancy, she checked in right on time
Here go UV lights, bringin' on this plight
Here come old men, with scars hidden from your sight
All through this Hotel, ah we come and we go
With only one thing in common
We got the fire down below

Here come the rich man, in his big long limousine
Here come the poor man, both forgot to wear their ‘screen
Here come the banker, and the lawyer and the cop
One thing for certain they ain't never checked sun spots
When nodes all get too heavy
That's when they come and they go (they go)
With only one thing in common
They got the fire down below

Yea, it happens down in Houston, it takes a lot of green
In the clinic halls of Anschutz
New York City’s Sloan Kettering
And it goes on everyday and we’re keeping up the fight
Somewhere there's some doctor that’s treatin' somebody right

And we’re reaching out for Ipi, it’s working mighty fine
And we’re walking the streets for Black C
And we'll take your every dime
And with Black C we’ll bicker, bringing on the fight
Well we'll be slipping out of pinkness, wearing black with pride
Break through to spotlight
Watch us come and beat this foe (let’s go)
With only one thing in common
We got the fire down below
Oh, burnin' down below

Yea, it happens down in Houston, it takes a lot of green
In the clinic halls of Anschutz
New York City’s Sloan Kettering
And it goes on everyday and we’re keeping up the fight
Somewhere there's some doctor that’s treatin' somebody right

And we’re reaching out for Ipi, it’s working mighty fine
And we’re walking the streets for Black C
And we’ll take your every dime
And with Black C we’ll bicker, bringing on the fight
Well we'll be slipping out of pinkness, we’re wearing black with pride
Out from the shadows
Watch us come and beat this foe (oh let’s go)
With only one thing in common
We got the fire down below
Oh, we got one thing in common
We got the fire down below
Only got one thing in common
We got the fire down below
Cancer free!

Sun Bed Mash

It's almost Halloween.  And a certain indoor tanning industry trade association is holding a convention with tanning twits like Snooki and assorted Kardashians in attendance.  Anything for a buck.  So here’s The Hotel Melanoma version of “Monster Mash” by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers…

I was working in the lab late one night,
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight.
For my patient from his bed began to rise,
And suddenly to my surprise,

(He did the Mash,)
He did the Sun Bed Mash.
(The Sun Bed Mash,)
It was a graveyard smash.
(He did the Mash,)
It takes all of your cash.
(He did the Mash,)
He did the Sun Bed Mash.

(Wah-ooo.)
To my laboratory in the clinic east,
(Wah-ooo.)
From the tanning salons where the sun beds feast.
(Wah-ooo-wah-ooo.)
The fools all came with their swollen lymph nodes,
(Wah-ooo.)
To get a jolt from my Yervoy lode.

(They did the Mash,)
They did the Sun Bed Mash.
(The Sun Bed Mash,)
It was a graveyard smash.
(They did the Mash,)
It takes all of your cash.
(They did the Mash,)
They did the Sun Bed Mash.

(Wah-ooooo.)
The patients were having fun.
(Tenna-shoop, wah-ooo.)
The party had just begun.
(Tenna-shoop, wah-ooo.)
The guests included tan fans,
(Tenna-shoop, wah-ooo.)
Oncologists by the ton.

(Wah-ooo.)
The scene was rockin', all were diggin' the sounds.
(Wah-ooo.)
Doctors on call, back from their teaching rounds.
(Wah-ooo-wah-ooo.)
Sun coffin-sellers were about to arrive.
(Wah-ooo.)
With their vocal group, "The Mole-Kicker Five."

(They played the Mash,)
They played the Sun Bed Mash.
(The Sun Bed Mash,)
It was a graveyard smash.
(They played the Mash,)
It takes all of your cash.
(They played the Mash,)
They played the Sun Bed Mash.

(Wah-ooo.)
Out from the hallway, doc's voice did ring,
(Wah-ooo.)
Seems he was troubled by just one thing.
(Wah-ooo-wah-ooo.)
He opened the door and shook his fist,
(Wah-ooo.)
And said:
"Whatever happened to my Interferon twist?"

(It's now the Mash,)
It's now the Sun Bed Mash.
(The Sun Bed Mash,)
And it's a graveyard smash.
(It's now the Mash,)
It takes all of your cash.
(It's now the Mash,)
It's now the Sun Bed Mash.

(Wah-ooo.)
Now everything's cool, docs are part of the band.
(Wah-ooo.)
And my Sun Bed Mash is a hit for the tanned.
(Wah-ooo-wah-ooo.)
For you, my pale friends, this Mash was meant too,
(Wah-ooo.)
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you.

(Then you can Mash,)
Then you can Sun Bed Mash.
(The Sun Bed Mash,)
And do my graveyard smash.
(Then you can Mash,)
You'll lose all of your cash.
(Then you can Mash,)
Then you can Sun Bed Mash.

(Wah-ooo.)
Mmgrrrr! (Sun Bed Mash.)
(Wah-ooo.)
Mmmash good. (Sun Bed Mash.)
(Wah-ooo.)
Easy, Yervoy, you impetuous new ploy.
(Sun Bed Mash.)
(Wah-ooo, Sun Bed Mash.)
Fade.
(Wah-ooo, Sun Bed Mash.)

Happy Halloween! And thank you Al, host of Black Is The New Pink, for the photo.