“If someone had told me ten years ago that a weekly art therapy workshop would one day be the highlight of my week, I would have said, "That’s impossible!"”

But that also means that I never would have thought I could be diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 34. I guess that if that can happen, then anything’s possible...

• Developing strong and lasting friendships in the worst period of my life. Check.
• Joining in a gang throwing paint at the walls to express our inner rage. Check.
• Making jokes about chemo or about having one less testicle. Check.
• Opening a crazy Instagram account to talk about cancer using our kind of language. Check.
• Baptizing ourselves "La bande cancéreuse" who say fuck you! to cancer. Check.
• Opening our hearts to each other, even crying together, hugging each other tight and rubbing each other’s backs as we let it all out. Check.
• Hearing my girlfriend tell me she’s looking forward to my Wednesday workshop because she knows it makes me feel good. Check.

All these possibilities are the fruit of a fabulous initiative developed by the Quebec Cancer Foundation: an art therapy workshop for young adults with cancer.
 
In the gang, I met people who make me feel good and who understand me completely. I found a sense of belonging and a valuable space where I can really be myself without the fear of saying things that people aren’t ready to hear.
 
But unfortunately I’ve found that there are too many like us who are unaware of this resource or are scared to give it a try. They have no idea how much good it can do. It’s obvious to me that art therapy can help enormously!
 
That’s why today, I’m inviting other young adults affected by cancer to go to the Quebec Cancer Foundation for support they won’t find anywhere else.
 
I promise you it will change your life every bit as much cancer has changed it.
 
I’ll leave you with a message from "La bande cancéreuse", I’m talking to you as their spokesman today:

"Believe us when we tell you how we feel, in our bodies and in our heads. Cancer remains with you for a long time, and a long time after too. You’ve got to accept that life is going to be different. When you accept that, it helps us to accept that."