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| (Hanging out on the set of "Hail, Caesar!" at the Hollywood Palladium) |
Nearly a year ago I began having blood in my urine. Many doctor and ER trips later I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I've had one surgery and soon will have another surgery and then be cancer free. That's how we cancer patients role. During all this time I've continued to submit for acting roles, auditioning and working. But, it hasn't been easy.
This business is all about the future. Can you show up for an audition on that date? Can you work three days during that week? You have to know your schedule to fill your schedule. I found it difficult at first to submit for an audition or a job because of this or that doctor appointments. Sometimes I would throw caution to the wind, as they say, and submit or audition and hope the dates were not going to conflict.
During this time I was basically fighting infections and/or having bloody urine on nearly every job I worked, and I worked quite a lot during certain months. Surprisingly, as I look back, I missed only two auditions and had to back out of only one job. That was due to visits to the ER. All the casting directors and assistant directors were as understanding as could be. So, it is possible to take of yourself and continue to work. In fact, the day I had my first surgery I had a message from an assistant director offering me a job in two days! I had worked with the director before and he liked what I did enough to remember me and offer a job. Of course, I had to respectfully decline and they were very nice and wished me well. Nice to be wanted.
Then came the news that I had to have another operation. Turns out that not only is my cancer rare, it is also resistant to chemo or radiation treatments. Therefore, an operation that will remove the bladder entirely (among other things) and I will not be able to audition or work for two months. That's almost forever in the acting biz, but that's the way it is. In some respects, this won't prevent me from continuing to submit for projects, as I have a firm date when I can audition and accept work again. I hope you can tell by now, the way to get through something like this is to stay as positive as you can. So, you can't work for a couple months as you are healing? Stay positive.
I plan on doing a lot of writing.
NOTE:
For those reader who are interested, here is a link to an article about my medical experiences thus far.
