Drawing on Humor to Cope With Cancer
I'm raising funds to help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy cope and heal with art and humor.
Crazy as it sounds, this coloring book about my personal experience with cancer and chemo began as a way to focus on something else, to keep my mind off of cancer and chemo. It worked! And because this coloring book frames things in my own humorous perspective, it may not be for everyone.
My cancer story began in September of 2020, when an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma put me in the hospital for 8 days. Subsequent chemotherapy and “chemo brain” kept me from thinking too deeply, but I had many singular thoughts about all the whole experience and started writing them down. I shared a few of these thoughts with my oncologist and chemo nurses and they liked my slightly off-center take on things, knowing humor can be essential to get through a chemo protocol. Soon after I spoke with friend and creative partner Cheryl Cook (Cookie) and suggested some of my ideas might make for good illustrations. She agreed, I kept writing. After 6 rounds of chemotherapy, with some infusions lasting 8 hours, it became clear that a coloring book, where cancer patients could see a bit of themselves or their experience, could be a great distraction for them during chemo, and it could also provide relaxation and comfort for family, friends, and med teams.
Time to get the wheels in motion. With over fifty ideas to potentially illustrate, and being a part of the Chicago advertising community, Cookie and I decided we needed to reach out to friends and colleagues to see who might want to help illustrate these ideas. The response was overwhelming, with 15 artists participating to make this book possible, and many more waiting in the wings for what’s next. To top it off, this was pulled together in less than 2 months. Whoosh.
The amount of talent and personality that has come together here leaves me incredulous, humbled, and extremely grateful…not just that these wonderful artists pulled together for me, but that they pulled together for all who might benefit. Wow, how cool is this?
AND WE WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!
Reaction from patients and the medical community to this book has been extremely positive and enthusiastic, so much so that I created a non-profit corporation, Extra Lineas. The corporation will develop the next volumes of Greetings from Chemo Country, expand the idea to create coloring books for children going through cancer treatments/chemotherapy, and support programs within the cancer treatment community that use art and humor to help patients cope and heal.
All donations are welcome, and if you are interested in obtaining a copy of Greetings from Chemo Country for a $20 donation, here is the link below...
Thank you so very much for your time and interest,
Jeri
https://www.nbcchicago.com/top-videos-home/cancer-patient-creates-humorous-chemo-coloring-book-to-help-others/2538389/