Lift Off

The next song in my cancer-killing playlist will be the first song I will listen to as I'm wheeled to the operating room on Thursday. Kanye West and Jay-Z were joined by Beyonce for this Watch The Throne track which fills me with the perfect blend of energy and optimism to start my hallway ride to surgery off right.

Ah, the hallway ride to the OR. Those moments when you say goodbye to your family and friends and push off for greener, anesthesia-laden pastures. This is when you're truly tested as a cancer warrior. There's nobody in those moments but you -- you and your thoughts. Things move relatively fast at that point: you're at the operating theater in no time and soon you're hoisting yourself off your bed and on the operating table. You settle in, chat with the nurses, but despite your medical team gearing up and getting everything together for the big show, there is some silence. And in those silent moments, that's when you find out how tough, positive, strong, and courageous you really are. There's nobody to hug, no jokes to tell, and no turning back. In just a few minutes you'll be out and your future will hang in the balance and in the hands of your surgeon.

It's an intense feeling. There's no doubt about that. But it's also an opportunity. An opportunity to pump yourself up and calm yourself down one last time before the big event. An opportunity to truly and finally get in the zone.

"Lift Off" will definitely help me get in the zone in those silent, pre-op moments. First of all, you can't beat a song that samples audio from a space shuttle countdown. Second, these lyrics, sung at full blast by Beyonce, is exactly how I feel about this upcoming surgery and, in a larger sense, about my audacious, aggressive fight against cancer. Here are those lyrics: 

We gon' take it to the moon, take it to the stars 

How many people you know can take it this far?

I'm supercharged

I'm 'bout to take this whole thing to Mars

Now we gon' take it to the moon, take it to the stars

You don't know what we been through to make it this far

So many scars

'Bout to take this whole thing to Mars

This song is about how far I've come and where I'm still going. And the success that Dr. Genyk and I are about to achieve in the OR. It's almost time to lift off!!