Call Me Ms. PacMan

I'm Tina, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, and a 30+ year pediatric cancer survivor who is always looking for ways to help other people. But in that picture above? I'm a sixth grader who was battling cancer in 1982 (as evidenced by my purple sweater, upturned collar, Duran Duran hat and Cabbage Patch doll).

With my faith in God, my family and my incredible medical team at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, I began a long journey to fight a very rare and aggressive "yolk sac carcinoma". First, it was surgery to remove a 10-lb. tumor. Next came a chemo protocol that was chock full of heavy duty drugs rotating every other week, lasting about four years.

I don't remember how it came to me, whether it was a suggestion from a doctor, or from my own love of playing video games, but I remember fixating and visualizing PacMan eating ALL the cancer cells in my body during each and every treatment. I'd look up at the IV drip and imagine millions of PacMans marching into my veins, eating every cancer cell that crossed their path. Every. Single. Treatment. Just like in the video game. Four years later (and many pokes and prods), my PacMans' job was complete and I was considered cancer free.

I have met many people (especially kids) fighting cancer since then, and I've told them about visualizing PacMan. But things reached a different level when a dear adult friend was diagnosed with cancer. He asked for some advice and I said, "Joe, you gotta visualize the chemo..." and he said, "Teen, I know, but I don't know how..." So I told them about the "power of PacMan". The next day I hopped on Amazon and sent him a PacMan plushy as a reminder of what to do before his first chemo. That little plushy became something more. It became a symbol of his healing. It became a staple of his family's prayer circle because it was something tangible his kids could wrap their brains around as Daddy was fighting something so so big.

Literally the next day, I began seeing PacMans in random places, like restaurants.  I logged on to an Etsy page and bought a PacMan embroidery when the light bulb went off. I opened up my Husqvarna Viking embroidery machine and stitched out my first PacMan keychain for Joe, his wife and his kids. Then I made two more for little warriors I had heard of from my gym. Something inside said that sharing the PacMan Power via my little keychains was just what I was "supposed to do". It's not much, but it's a something meaningful to me.

As I've done some online research, I'm THRILLED to see that many others have also come upon this PacMan healing principle, too! There's even a TED Talk about a teenager who created video games FOR teenage cancer patients. How cool is that?! In 1982, we didn't have the technology to do that, but it exists now.  Isn't that something?  All I can say is that PacMan really helped me when I needed him most. I hope it brings a smile, a little hope, a little love and a LOT of healing to anyone who is fighting cancer. In my mind, PacMan DOES eat cancer. And I hope he never stops.