Hi Everyone!

My name is Mike Lang. In May 2008 I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma Stage 3. I had a persistent cough and when I was hiking and skiing I was wheezing. I went to the Dr. thinking that I had asthma and found out that it was actually a softball sized tumor in my chest causing my breathing issues and that I had five other tumors of varying sizes all over my body. The diagnosis was obviously a bit unexpected. So, my wife of 5 months, Bonnie, and I packed everything up and moved from Washington state into my parents basement in Calgary and I started treatments.

About three months into my treatments was a real low point for me. I was very depressed and all I could think about was when this crappy time in my life would be over. It got to the point where one day I just laid down on my face in the basement and cried out to God in complete anguish and anger asking all the cliche questions like why me? why now? I don’t deserve this? and as I was laying there I all of a sudden realized that this cancer thing was a big deal.

Just like leaving home and traveling the world and going to university had shaped me, this cancer journey was shaping me. I realized that this time is not just a big interruption in my life but a real experience that is affecting my world view and fundamentally changing how I think. I was trying to deal with cancer by just sitting in the basement with my eyes closed, waiting for it to be over so I could get on with my life.

I believe that God helped me realized that I need to engage with this cancer thing, learn from it and positively impact other lives through it. So here I am just over a year later with a mullet to raise awareness about the Shave for the Brave. (Last year at this time I had no hair at all… so believe it or not the mullet is an improvement!) I am helping to raise money for Young Adult Cancer Canada, an organization that has made a very big impact on my cancer journey by connecting me with young adult survivors all over Canada.

I have learned that Isolation is Devastation, and I will do my best to help young adult survivors across Canada connect with each other and help each other heal. Thanks for checking out the site… and make sure you come to the Shave for the Brave in South Centre Mall at 11 am on March 6th!!

Sincerely,

Mike Lang

ps Make sure to check out the “Wrong Way to Hope” page as well. It is a freakin cool documentary that I am helping to produce that will premier on March 19th here in Calgary!