Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Jon Lester

I was going to hold off running this video until the Red Sox had climbed their way back to .500, but I'm going to just show it now, for the reasons I'll explain below.

It's a brief interview with Jon Lester, Red Sox pitcher and NHL survivor. Lester touches on a couple of NHL-related topics, including how he has now embraced the label of NHL Survivor; when he was finished with chemo, he wanted to be known as Jon Lester the Pitcher, not Jon Lester the cancer survivor. He didn't want cancer to define him, which is understandable, given that he was 22 years old.. I can see how acceoting, and even embracing that label comes with time and distance, and it's nice that he's more willing to talk about his experience now. He also offers some advice for Lymphoma patients (and one would assume, cancer patients of all kinds): keep living your life.

Here's the link for the interview (can't get my "link" button to work, but this should take you there):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xi35ay_mlb-on-fox-lester-loving-life_sport

Lester has a special place in my heart, and not just because he's a Red Sox pitcher. When we told the kids about my diagnosis, I mentioned to Peter that he'd already heard about NHL before, and that it was what Jon Lester had been diagnosed with. At that point, Lester had been treated and was back with the team, having pitched in the World Series just a few months before. When I said that, Peter's whole body relaxed, and I think knowing Lester was OK has helped him cope with all of this.

And today is Peter's birthday, so a little Lester is fitting. Happy birthday Peter. Enjoy yourself. (But not too much.)

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