Chicago artist Krystal DiFronzo was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma - a cancer of the blood - last August. Like all cancer suffers, she had to deal with a lot of worry and heartbreak, but found an unlikely aid in the Nintendo 3DS title Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
DiFronzo has created a series - called Chemo Comics - where she details her experiences with cancer and its treatment. You can view the Animal Crossing one below.
The entire collection of comics will be published as The Good Hodgkins, which DiFronzo intends to release at Chicago Alternative Comics Expo in June.
Thankfully DiFronzo completed her treatment in January. You can follow her Tumblr here.
[source tinycartridge.com]
Comments 31
This brought a tear in my eye.
D:
Her other comics are also touching. :'I
Very nice. I'm really enjoying her work
Awesome
@Dolphin64
What a horribly insensitive and thoughtless comment to make.
I've had chemotherapy and don't consider myself stupid. My cancer is in remission due to the choice I made. To call anyone stupid who has had to undergo such a horrific treatment is ignorant beyond words.
If cherries truly 'cured' cancer then I'm fairly certain it would be common practice by now. I would never recommend anyone decline the treatment recommended to them by their Doctor when it could ultimately end in death. If you ever have the misfortune of knowing someone who has cancer I'd keep your opinions to yourself. I can't repeat what I would have said if someone had come to me extolling the virtues of cherries when I was first diagnosed.
On a lighter note, Metroid Prime Pinball was my game of choice at the time.
@WrongChops Well said.
Glad to hear she got through her treatment. Best of luck to her and her family.
Animal Crossing really is the perfect game. I'm glad to see it helped get someone through a rough patch in their life. We need more stories like this.
I play animal crossing usually in the summer, wish I could put my town in a stasis whenever university starts up again, I have favourites and if I lose them I usually wind up restarting.
@Dolphin64 If the stars align crookedly and you have offspring, tell your kids' science teachers about the powers of cherries, they'll probably point to the classic "grape cure" and other horseshe like "psychic surgery" then laugh in your face and call Child Protective Services.
If cherries were the cure to cancer then they'd cost a lot more, I'll tell you that.
@Dolphin64 I sincerely hope you were just trolling, but alas you said that wasn't a joke. Cherries have their share of antioxidants and nutrients, true, but food therapy cannot replace necessary medical intervention. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Oh my god this is so lovely! I know a few artists, and they all seem to be really good at expressing deep thoughts through art.
@WrongChops .........deluded is putting it lightly
@Dolphin64 Not to be rude, but if you were to provide a source for your cherry flavored claims it would most likely prove itself to be BS.
My mom might be facing a recurrence with her cancer, and I feel it would be stupid to not utilize the medical help provided by well trained doctors. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for the great medical expertise of our health care.
It's true that chemo is a crude way to treat cancer, but - apart from some unexpected miracle through prayer - it seems to be the only viable way to fight this disease at the moment.
I'm so glad that some games have the power to get you through life's struggles. Animal Crossing New Leaf sure helped me out when I was down, I'll tell you that.
Here's one source Google gave me that deals with the cherry claim:
http://www.aicr.org/foods-that-fight-cancer/cherries.html#research
It seems cherries do have benefits against some types of cancer (colorectal is mentioned specifically) but it's a far cry from @Dolphin64 's claim that "There is a chemical in Cherries that basically make Cancer cells commit suicide. Live on a diet that consistently consists of Cherries however long it needs, and you'll start to see the Cancer effects fade away."
Studies show that anthocyanins in cherries "inhibit the growth of cancer cells and stimulate their self-destruction, without affecting healthy cells" and studies on dietary fibers "suggest it reduces cells’ exposure to cancer-causing substances" because "Healthful gut bacteria use dietary fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids that protect colon cells."
But clinical human studies are far from conclusive: "Researchers cannot yet translate the clinical trial findings on perillyl alcohol to how consuming cherries may affect cancer development."
There seem to be beneficial compounds in cherries but it's not clear how well the benefits are utilized just by eating them.
@Dolphin64 Were you honestly trying to be funny?
You go! I also played a lot of DS during my Chemotherapy. It helped so much. I've been cancer free 6 years now and the DS helped me through that.
I'm sensing a ban-hammer soon to be dropped on a certain user who commented on this article...
On topic, this is a lovely story, I'm glad she's okay now!
who said video games cant help people?
@Dolphin64
Yea but her town fruit wasn't cherries, so she had to go chemo.
Though if anyone cares, there is a program called VICE on HBO which just kicked off this season with a new form of cancer treatment, which basically involves infecting the cancer with another disease to kill it. Very interesting stuff. And it is actually being done today. It isn't a treatment, it is basically a cure.
@HADAA Nice Billy Madison reference.
on topic, I have a friend who amassed about 500 hours into Pokemon Platinum during not only his Chemo, but also his time in the hospital after getting hit by a car on the way to school and breaking his leg. He had a rough year back in 2010.
The stress on the mind and body is not something I can comprehend.
@Dolphin64 What is the basis of your assertions? Has there been a study conducted on cancers concerning the effects of natural supplements to a cancer gene like CA125?
That is the kind of dangerous thinking that people like you do without reading the proper materials. If you're going to assert treatment options, become a doctor first. I'm speaking this as a doctor who does research on medicinal plants.
@SupremeAllah Innoculating cancer with specific viruses is the new treatment researchers are currently looking into. If I'm not mistaken, this is currently in their human testing phase with volunteers. Unfortunately because it's in testing phase, we won't be seeing this form of treatment en masse for another half a decade at least. My hope is that it comes out sooner because this would be a big help for many of our patients who can't afford chemo.
I could totally understand, the game is perfect for winding down. =>
Also, these where very touching. Hope all the best for her now!
@Moshugan It's the same as eating your greens. But cancers are very specific in terms of origin, cell type, invasive nature and metastatic potential. Hodgkin's Lymphoma is, according to the cases reported, infectious in origin (30% of Hodgkin's Lymphoma cases have history of Epstein-Barr Viral infections) but most of the time we're still baffled as to what the cause of the disease is but we do know it has a strong genetic predisposition.
The study that I've read on cherries are so far inconclusive but we can't exactly recommend it yet because there's no study developed on actual humans and as we only know, Anthocyanin is more or less a phytochemical with antioxidant properties. Emphasis on antioxidant properties because that is probably why it was researched in the first place and why people concluded it may have use against cancer by targeting oxygen free radicals that make cancer cells thrive.
Animal crossing is just plain wonderful. If there is a game I would describe as therapeutic this would be it.
I had a friend I met online. We both shared different but devastating genetic disorders (Mitochondrial Disease and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and we used to play AC together. It was a super fun distraction. After she died, I couldn't really play anymore and it still feels wrong.
I had a bowel obstruction in January and between horrible ER staff visits and getting sick, I was saving the world in Omega Ruby. There have been studies on the impact of video games on healing and morale. Keep playing!
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