Awesome Video on the Importance of Educating Yourself

I want to recommend another great Lymphoma video for you. This one is great because of the star -- me!

WEGO Health asked me to make a video about the importance of doing research and educating yourself -- definitely something that I'm in favor of. The video is being used to introduce a WebMD slide show about a side effect of Hodgkin's Lymphoma treatment. (Yes, it's not the same as Follicular Lymphoma, but that's OK -- as I say in the video, doing research is important no matter what lymphoma subtype you might be living with.)

You might remember that WEGO Health are the folks that sponsor awards for online health advocates, and I was nominated for a couple of them (best blog and best kept secret). Alas, I didn't win, or even make the final five for either category. But that's fine -- it was nice to be nominated, and be listed among all of those great online health advocates. Thanks to those of you who voted for me.

I know some of you voted for me just so you could go to the page and see my picture. Well, here's your chance to hear my voice, too.

If you've been reading the blog for a while, my message in the video will be familiar.

There were 3 things I wanted to make sure I said: 1) There is a lot of information online, and it's important to find good information that is evidence-based, backed up by science; 2) Cancer is an emotional disease as well as a physical one, and doing research can help with that, too; and 3) doing research gives me a feeling of control over things that seem uncontrollable. I'm happy I was able to get all three of those messages in.

And I think I seem waaaaay more serious in this video than I usually am in real life. But that's because I did this in about 30 takes (I went too long, or the dog would make noise, or I'd forget what I was going to say, etc, etc. There are lots of frustrated bad words in the blooper reel). So by the end, I was focusing really really hard on just getting it right. That's not me being serious so much as just really focused.

The video is on the WEGO Health Facebook page. You can watch it even if you don't have Facebook.
The full video is here:
https://www.facebook.com/36556179253/posts/2000787863501222

The short version (just the invitation to click the link to the slide show) is here:
https://www.facebook.com/36556179253/posts/2000790436834298

(For some reason, the shorter version is way more popular. I guess people get sick of listening to me. I'm used to it -- I have three kids.)

It was fun making the video. I might do more of it soon. Thanks, WEGO Health, for the opportunity.