Why WunderGlo?

Although you are all a largely clever bunch, I thought I'd take a moment to explain the reason why I've chosen "WunderGlo" as the name for this blog.

Part of it is an allusion to the word "wunderkind," which is defined as a child prodigy, or someone very successful in their field despite his or her young age (if that's not a perfect translation of the word, please don't hold it against me. I speak some Spanish and a touch of Italian, but not a lick of German). A WunderGlo, then, is a young person (under 30 qualifies) named Glo who is very successful in her field.  My field, although generally consisting of lawyering and lifting weights, is now all about one thing: beating cancer. Therefore, as I continue on this journey and ultimately beat this disease, I am a WunderGlo. Pretty straightforward. 

And for anyone who thinks this "wunderkind" title is rather self-absorbed of me, let me tell you this. Cancer is a self-absorbed little brat, and sometimes, you've gotta fight fire with fire.

Another reason I chose this blog name is to honor my oncologist, a brilliant USC doctor named Heinz-Josef Lenz, who is as German as they come. Much, much more on Dr. Lenz to come. He's a pretty funny guy.

Some failed names for the blog -- the only one listed here that I came up with was the last one (I thought it was hilarious) :) 

"Ready to Glo" 

"Glo's Got Guts"

"GloStrong"

"Globo's Blog"

"I REALLY need to do something about this peritoneal disease" 

Welcome to WunderGlo

From the first moment I found out the news that I had been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer -- news delivered to me post-surgery by my parents and hubby -- I felt a charge in me. An excitement, if you will. Excitement is probably one of the last things you'd think I'd feel after realizing the very tough road I have ahead of me, and that life as I knew it was changing radically. But yes, excitement.

You see, dear readers -- and you probably know this already -- I love a good challenge. And I love achieving goals, especially huge, sometimes improbable ones. The challenge is throughly beating down cancer, and the goal is not only survival, but survival with gusto. I am unwaveringly confident that I will succeed, not just because of my inner strength and toughness, but because of the love and support of family and friends -- the wonderful people reading this very blog entry. Your positivity and belief in my ability to overcome any challenge will buoy me on those days when my spirits need a lift. Together, we will win.

This blog represents to me something I've always tried to do throughout these past 28 fabulous years -- to live openly, honestly, and to share my life and experiences with the people I love. As I keep you in the loop via this blog, I'm planning on being brutally honest, pretty damn funny, and hopefully quite entertaining. Because honestly, if I'm going to have to beat down cancer with chemo and a super major surgery followed by some more chemo, I'm going to have a good time doing it and I hope you'll have a good time watching me do it and reading about me doing it.

Much love,

GloBo