Last Friday I played my Perfect Playlist for Lung Cancer Awareness Month as discussed in this earlier post.  It was fun!

I had never been at a radio station before.  It was very high-tech and not what I imagined at all.  (Note: My radio knowledge comes from WKRP in Cincinnati.)  Talking with Gustav, the show host, was very distracting.  It was odd to be talking face-to-face to the man who talks to me while I’m driving my auto.  His voice is just as booming in person as it is over the airways.

Here are the Five, Kim selected songs and why they remind me of my lung cancer story.  If you only have time for one song skip to the last one if its been a while since you’ve heard it.  It’s a good good reset button.

Song 1 – What it’s like by Everlast: You never know what other people are going through in their life.  People often ask me, “What do you do?”  I tell them I don’t work/I’m retired and they instantly judge me.  Then I follow up with…it’s because I have terminal cancer…with a smile on my face.  I err on being compassionate and I recommend giving that a try, at least for an hour.

Song 2 – Mad World by Gary Jules: Being diagnosed with cancer in your 30’s is sheer proof that it is a mad, mad world.

Song 3 – Paper Planes by MIA: Staying active has been important to me during all parts of my treatment.  Somedays leaving the house feels impossible.  I love to blast the radio and dance, even if it is for 1/2 a song.  This song always gets me moving!

Song 4 – Breathe by Anna Nalick – “Breathe” is what people tell you to do when you need to calm down or relax.  But what if breathing is the cause of your stress? It’s taken me a long while to learn how to breathe with lung cancer and still be able to go on hour long walks or do yoga.  Not everyone with lung cancer, or any cancer that has spread to the lungs, is as fortunate as I am.  Just please don’t ask me to talk while walking up a set of stairs!

Song 5 – Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann: I have stage 4 cancer; I am incurable.  People don’t particularly like hearing that from a 36 year-old.  People are often telling me what they read or saw and how it “cured” someone.  (Most people don’t even know that the term cure is reserved for people not having any detectable cancer in their body for 5-years.)  Well, this song is my advice to them.