Be inspired to take action and live your best life.
My Story:
When I turned thirty years old, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I was scared – I had lost my father to cancer the year prior. After numerous tests and multiple operations, I thought I had beat it, but in the process, I lost my ability to father children. My only hope to start a family became through in vitro fertilization. It was at that time when I had the idea to write a musical about my experience getting cancer as a thirty year old and began to write songs as I was going through it. Six months later, my cancer came back, spreading into my lungs. I persevered through another major surgery and months of chemotherapy, and ultimately became cancer-free. Now, with three children and a musical about my experience, I share the lessons I learned from a life-threatening illness through stories and music.
Topics:
- Developing empathy and connection
- Overcoming adversity through optimism and perseverance
- Understanding the patient experience
- Decreasing burnout
- Transforming learning through stories and music and other arts experiences
Having A Ball At Thirty: How I Got Through Cancer by Writing a Musical
As if it were not enough to write a musical about my experience with cancer, I also wrote this book about writing a musical about my experience with cancer. It’s very meta.
“Having A Ball At Thirty” is a behind the scenes look at what I was going through at the time. Each chapter chronicles what led up to the creation of each song in the order that I wrote them. It includes a full color insert with photos from my experience, from original journal entries, and from performances of the musical. It is available for purchase and can be a nice memento for attendees at your event.
Testimonials:
“Tom’s use of his musical is truly wonderful and unique and brings the patient experience to life in a way that is both impactful and unforgettable. I, along with the rest of the audience, was spellbound. People were crying and laughing, sometimes both at once.”
– Pamela Peters, Medscape Education
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“Tom delivered a truly creative learning experience for my students, and enabled them to internalize the patient experience in a way that traditional learning could not.”
– Linelle Blais, Emory University
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“Tom tells a story to be treasured, reliving his journey with humor, kindness and grace. A sure comfort for patients, loved ones, and healthcare providers alike.”
– Dr. Muta Issa, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center
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Audience Feedback:
“This was wonderful. Wow. Powerful presentation. Great speaker/music.”
“The combination of education, storytelling, and music was excellent. Thank you!”
“Inspirational!”
“Favorite session of the conference so far!”
“Excellent! Thank you for bringing this to us!”
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