I Have Cancer

Whaaaaat is that?  

I stand up from the sink and look in the mirror.  What is Stacy talking about?  Did my luscious bangs decided to become unparted and find their way down my forehead?  Did I forgot to wash toothpaste from face?

“What is going on with your neck” she said.  I look in the mirror and ask myself the same question.  Staring back at me is a now golf ball sized swollen lymph node.  

Six months later I’m sitting in the cancer center of Metro Health in downtown Cleveland waiting to be pumped full of chemo directly followed by my first dose of radiation.  I have throat cancer.  

My name is Jason Alan, and I’m a professional Magician.  My job skills include the ability to spread a deck of cards in front of you, allow you to pick one card, put it back in the deck, and magically locate your card or reach inside of a hat and pull-out wonder or countless other magical happenings. I am not skilled however at talking about the psychological suffering that occurs when you receive a call saying, “Yeah, that’s more than likely cancer, you should get that checked out”.  

            Since my diagnosis I’ve debated on whether I would speak up about my experience.  As I mentioned, I am a Magician, and my job is to entertain.  Over the past year I watched as Stacy’s sister-in-law, a military wife and mother of 5, went through and beat stage 3 cervical cancer.  The one thing that sticks out in my mind was the response to her story.  I watched as hundreds of women wrote to her telling her how her story made them prescreen and catch problems before they turned into something worse. People who typically wouldn’t visit the doctor but twice a year were going the next day and making a difference before it was too late.  If I can talk about my situation and help others, then that’s great because my job for the next while is to fight cancer.  

            As of this moment I am starting week 3 of a 6-week treatment plan. I will receive two treatments of high dose chemo (already have one down) and five days a week (twice on Fridays) I will receive radiation.  I can honestly say I don’t know what my situation will be next week let alone tomorrow.  As of this moment I’m experiencing a bit of weight loss and a handful of mouth sores which are manageable at this time.  I will do my best to keep this blog up to date and I hope you will join me on this journey.