Sketchbook story, a ten page preview.

    In May 2008, with my wife nine months pregnant, I found out I had testicular cancer.  Surgery followed and Sebastian soon joined our family.  This was a strange time full of elation over the birth of my second son and dread in facing the reality of cancer.  Another surgery, much more involved called retro-peritoneal lymph node dissection, was conducted later that summer.  In this process, I began to record the visual story through my sketchbooks.  Fast forward a year and a half later, bad stomach aches lead me to hospitalization where I find out I have scar tissue build up that has caused a bowel obstruction.  More bad news follows, my cancer has surfaced again.  This time I do chemo.  

     I have been, Thank God, cancer free the past three years.  It has taken me a while to process these events in my life and as an artist I have grown immeasurably from this experience.  I created a series of collages called "Calm" and they are directly linked to the battle I faced with Cancer.  These can be previewed further in my blog postings.  I have also continued to record my life through way of a sketchbook and understand better about the importance of having a voice and letting our stories out. 

These ten panels are an excerpt from a sketchbook story I am putting together.  It is my hope that I can put them in a book format and have it published.