Life List #2 Record an EP and Video of my Songs about my Cancer Journey

I know you are a caring person wanting to make a difference like me, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. I’m looking for advice and assistance on this project and I want to gift the results to the Cancer Society so that many people can benefit from it.

Music is a great healer and I used it as one of the tools that helped me and continues to help me through my journey. When I first was told “You Have Cancer” and got past the initial shock, I watched shows like The Voice and saw the stories of people who had turned horrific times in their lives to good purpose, wondering what did it take for me to do something positive and values driven.

Where we leave our clothes when we go in for radiation treatment

I decided I wanted to do something too, which started with setting up the Facebook page Musicians with Cancer and other Maladies, I also wanted to try to do something really positive for other cancer patients and their families and friends.

 

So my Life List goal #2 is to complete an EP and music videos to help tell the story of my journey in terms of a cancer patient that may help other people relate to this horrible illness.

It’s 24/7, it’s scary and in many cases results in anguish, fear, depression, pain and death. The story isn’t unique, it applies to other conditions too like dementia.

Last night I watched the movie ‘Glen Campbell I’ll Be Me’ on TV and had tears in my eyes throughout the whole movie and my heart goes out to people suffering from dementia, which our family is also dealing with.

One of my songs for the EP is called “Who Stole My Words” which was about an experience I wrote about recently about falling out of an ocean kayak and due to my condition wasn’t able to come up with simple words like current and tide after I swam it to shore, not having the strength to get back in because I am not producing cortisol (i.e. no adrenalin). For a wordsmith, not being able to recall simple words is pretty scary.

So my challenge is that I need to fund this work and then make it available at no cost to people who are going through the same experience, because even with insurance, having cancer is very expensive and many people have to sell their homes or spend their life saving to help pay for their treatment or even to travel for treatment if they don’t live in a town where it is available. We had to spend a 5 figure sum to top up the gap for my treatment to date, so I know what it’s like. So I’d like to gift the album / video to the Cancer Society when it is complete.

I’m going to need additional musicians, possibly a backing choir for one of the songs, a videographer, editor and more people to help me. I’m going to need a studio, a sound engineer, a cast of several people and then there’s production and distribution. It’s pretty scary.

I’m keen for advice and help. First of all, where do I go for money? I’m thinking about whether to use New Zealand’s ‘Give a Little’ service. To raise funds because this is a charitable exercise. The finished product will be gifted to the Cancer Society and anyone who can benefit from it for free. There won’t be any profits.

Then I need a bit of a team to help me make this happen. Can you help with advice, or would you like to join the team? I can write the songs and I want to perform them with various artists, but that’s about the limit of my expertise.

So will you help? I need people and I need advice. You can contact me via Twitter Facebook by joining the group Musicians with Cancer and other Maladies, LinkedIn or Email.

 

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Relay For Life 16 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

It’s almost over and tomorrow is the start of the big weekend. I want to thank all of you for your amazing support for my journey with prostate cancer and Relay For Life 16 which starts tomorrow.

If you are in the neighborhood, the Opening Ceremony at the Millennium Institute will be at 3:45 PM and I will be one of a small group giving a brief speech, which is a huge honor in part due to the number of you who have donated to our team Early Birds. Following that we have the first lap led by those of us who have been told “You have cancer” and our supporters and partners. It would be great to have you join us if you can.

If you want to come and say hi or walk a lap with us, our tent is at site A8 right on the side of the track on the opposite side to to main Millennium building.

We have dropped to 5th place in the fund raising rankings, being beaten by 3 schools and a bank, which are hard acts to follow as we are just a small group supporting friends and family. But what a great job you have done! For me personally you have donated over $1,500, our team over $6,000 which adds up to about 4% of the total of around $150,000 which will help the Cancer Society save lives and make the journey easier for cancer sufferers like myself.

I want to give a special thanks to Gemma and Tracy, my daughters, who set our team up for me after asking what they could do to help me get through this horrible disease. They have been awesome. Also to Gemma and Mark for the awesome singlet and hoodies they designed and had made. The 16 (for 2016) is made up of the names of the people our team are walking and running for (for 18 hours!), so we can carry those people with us.

It’s not too late to donate $5 if you haven’t already done so, by going to my page at https://aucklandnorthrelayforlife2016.everydayhero.com/nz/luigi. It’s also never too late to go and get a PSA test guys and I am so proud that 13 of you have been motivated by me to go and get tested and as well as all being clear, now have a base line for future tests.

I will be posting pics on my Twitter account https://twitter.com/bluesbro so if you want to stay in touch and see what’s happening and send me some support.

I am very grateful to the Cancer Society for what they do and to your for your support. This isn’t just about supporting the 1 in 3 people in NZ who will be diagnosed with cancer during their lives (think about those numbers in terms of your family, friends and colleagues), it has also been a welcome distraction for me, something to be focused on and excited about.

As I go through this journey it is about having things to look forward to and making the most out of one day at a time. I am working on lots more things to look forward to, but most of all it is about friends and family. Things are cool, but ultimately its about people and you have helped me more than you realise.

I have never been one to ask for help. The support helps me, but the money may help you and yours in the future. The Cancer Society is not funded by taxes, rates or anything other than donations. So this is the last time and I won’t be asking again. If you can spare $5, please do so at https://aucklandnorthrelayforlife2016.everydayhero.com/nz/luigi.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I have to get to work!!!!

 

It’s my birthday and have a request

I don’t ask for much and I don’t need much. I am the worst person to buy presents for, ask my kids.

As you may know I have prostate cancer and I am doing the Relay For Life, as per countless posts below. What I am asking for is for all my friends to donate $5 to my Relay For Life entry at https://aucklandnorthrelayforlife2016.everydayhero.com/nz/luigi. If you are in NZ it is tax deductible. The money goes to the cancer society, but I would consider it an awesome gift to me. Do it now.

I know $5 seems like such a piddly amount that it’s hardly worth the effort. But it is. I have a lot of friends and associates and if you all did that, it would add up to helping the cancer society deliver on the needs of a growing client base, big time. Every single person in New Zealand, diagnosed with cancer gets offered a pack with brochures and booklets giving them information about their condition and support services available to them. 60 people will be diagnosed with cancer in NZ today going by averages.

If you really don’t feel that this is something you want to do, here’s something else you can do for me instead. Guys. go get a PSA test. It’s just a blood test, and even if it comes up healthy, you now have a base line for future tests. I didn’t have any symptoms and his simple blood test led to us finding out that I have cancer. At this point due to my urging 13 men have had their blood tested and a woman has also had a lump tested that she had been putting off. 60 people are newly diagnosed with cancer in little old New Zealand every day. If you do, let me know, I’d love to know that I have helped more people.

How am I doing? One day at a time. The side effects are slowly reducing, but I’m generally nodding off to sleep from about 6:30-7PM every night which doesn’t make me very good company for my wife and family, but I have lots of support and lots to look forward to. My next meeting with the oncologist after another PSA test is the beginning of April, so I don’t have too long to find out how I’m doing.

The Cancer Society has asked me to do a brief speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Northern Relay For Life on the 19th of March at 15:45 before we start our 18 hour baton relay around the running track at the Millennium Institute. That will be a real honor and I have promised to keep it brief, but I will be thanking you. Come and check it out and keep an eye out for Team Early Birds.

So as to my birthday request. Got five bucks you can spare? Don’t do it for me, do it for one of the many people that you know or are related to that are battling or have battled cancer. 1 in 3 Kiwis get it at some stage in your life so you will be helping someone you know or care about. Don’t put it off. Do it now. If you know someone else who is doing the relay, donate it to their account, it all ends up in the same pot. And guys get that blood test.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart. In the meantime, I’m off to work. Busy day ahead before I catch up with my family tonight before I fall asleep again:)