Stage Two: One Slice Please

After a life‑altering surgery, the author wakes with an urgent need to write — to make sense of the vulnerability, the fear, and the strange clarity that comes from facing your own body changed. What begins as raw, post‑operative scribbles grows into a vivid, unfiltered account of recovery, identity, and purpose. With sharp humor and an alter ego named Frankenbuddy, he learns to recognize himself again, scar and all. Creativity becomes survival: a reframing window, a celebration wall, and handmade milestones transform medical routines into moments of progress. Along the way, the lives of others — including the memorial of Tim Hamby — deepen his resolve to speak openly about cancer, especially for the men who rarely do. The journey expands beyond treatment. His father’s unfinished dreams become a living checklist: a Dalí‑style mustache, a boat, a guitar, travel plans, and a commitment to stop postponing life. Recovery is not a single turning point but a series of fragile steps — driving restrictions, eye exams, rehabilitation — each one reshaping what hope looks like. And beneath the optimism lies a truth many survivors know well: positivity can lift you, but it can also exhaust you. This book is a candid, visual, and deeply human story for patients, caregivers, families, and friends — anyone trying to understand what cancer feels like from the inside out.