An inspirational needlepoint for those with cancer

A wonderful thing, made by Heather Beschizza (web, Twitter, happens to be married to this guy). I've been keeping this on my desk for some time, but wanted to share it with the rest of the world, too.

• [Rob Beschizza]

  The pattern is in a book called “subversive cross-stitch” and may be found in all good bookstores!

• [Steve White]

  Perfect.

• [Penny Ward]

  A kit of the design can also be ordered from the creator’s website, http://www.subversivecrossstitch.com/.

• [Karen M]

  If you don’t need the kit, I think Julie also has the pattern in a .pdf for sale separately. 

  I’ve made 3 myself for various people.  One died last year, one is very ill and one has been in remission for a couple of years now.

• [MandoZink]

  Such a proper sentiment. I feel the same way about the narcs who visited me recently. My cancer revealed how damned well THC works for chemo nausea abatement. I continued to produce my medicine and even gave it away to a terminally ill young man. Next month I start a 180 day prison term because the narcs lied repeatedly about an illegal search.

  • [nem0fazer]

    do you mind if I ask – what’s the best way to take it? My wife starts chemo in a week or so, then there’ll be a mastectomy but our first concern is getting through the next 24 weeks. We live in Vancouver, BC so getting it won’t be a problem but do you have any tips for when and how to take it?

    I’m sorry to hear about your prison term. I remain baffled why such a mild drug is treated in such inappropriate way.

    • [MandoZink]

      It works best if inhaled. This means either smoking it, or using some kind of vaporizer. I know nothing of vaporizers, but I know they were being developed as an alternative to smoking. The cannabinoids get into your system immediately if you inhale, but if you eat it in some form (brownies, cookies etc), it takes longer to onset and the feeling is different. It is also less effective, but some people may like that method. One advantage to inhaling is you can abate the nausea as soon as it occurs.

      I really don’t know much about what other people have experienced, but I am sure their methods and opinions on such would be interesting. For myself, I happened to have some extremely good plants at the time, and since I could, I smoked pure resin powder from the buds. The nausea, which was really awful, would diminish to nothing in one minute. Two tokes and it would disappear, but I was pretty stoned then, which is definitely preferable to being sick. I could eat, I stayed healthy and I gained 3 pounds over the course of my chemo.

      Is it legal in Vancouver? If so, you may have better sources of information there. I only know what I did and it made all the difference (along with a good medical insurance plan).

• [That_Anonymous_Coward]

  NEEDS MOAR UNICORNS!
  *Hugs Xeni*

• [mobobo]

  excellent sentiment, what a wonderful word “Fuck” is, I particularly like the (softer and more acceptable?) Irish version ( research = watching Father Ted) Feck…

  are those Rabbits at the top?

  • [J Jackson]

     Yes, bunnies!

• [sarah shevett]

  FYI that’s not needlepoint, it’s cross stitch embroidery…

• [Clifton]

  I love it.

  nemofazer: If your wife can’t (or doesn’t want to) smoke it, one good way is to boil the crumbled or ground up stuff in a small saucepan for a while with a small amount of water and a stick of butter.  Nearly all of the fat-soluble THC will end up dissolving in the butter.  Put it in the fridge so the butter separates from the water and congeals, dump the water, use the butter in anything you want – candy, cookies, brownies, or just spread on toast.  Be cautious – it will have whatever level of potency the original pot did, so a little bit goes a long way.  That helped me stick it out through my radiation therapy 15  years back.  Hang in there.

• [haineux]

  1) Vaporizer. Note: the Silver Surfer Vaporizer is awesome, worth all the moneys. Note also that it works so well that you might not notice the medicine you inhale. “Is this thing working? Wait, oh, wow.”

  2) Many fine edibles are available at dispensaries.

  3) Shout out to the FJLs at regretsy.com, which is full of people who make whimsicle[sic] cross stitch fuckery.

  4) This recipe, a friend who has had her esophagus replaced assures me, is “weight gain in a  bowl,” and very palatable to people who can’t seem to work up an appetite: http://www.food.com/recipe/paneras-cream-cheese-potato-soup-150863

• [haineux]

  ps. Xeni: Thanks for writing about this. It’s helping lots of people, and I’m praying it will change the minds of a couple of “war on drugs” people.

• [HeatherB]

   Those are rabbits at the top.

  So glad you like it Xeni. **big hugs**

  • [That_Anonymous_Coward]

    Very nicely done Heather, but still needs MOAR UNICORNS!

    Obligatory Video Snippet…
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4241643416757126734

• [vrplumber]

  If you are going to fuck cancer, wear a condom.

• [J Jackson]

  Thanks, commenters, for filling in the blanks!

  Yes, it’s cross stitch and available on my site, Subversive Cross Stitch here: http://subversive.myshopify.com/collections/all-kits/products/fuck-cancer and also as a PDF here: http://subversive.myshopify.com/products/pdf-fuck-cancer

  I’ve been following your story closely, Xeni, so I’m glad to see this message made it to you. Stitching this sentiment seems to help a lot of people process their emotions…I hope seeing it helps you.

• [Sarah Brumfield]

  A friend passed one along to me after I had a cancer scare, and when my dad’s brain tumor came back. Again. He passed away in November, and I still have it hanging on my wall.

• [Rosin Ffield]

  :):):)
  <3<3<3Xeni<3<3<3

• [Holly Morgan]

  How ’bout the proper credit to the designer on this post? It’s only fair to Subversive Cross Stitch. 

  • [That_Anonymous_Coward]

     Like replies 1, 3, 4 did?
    Or maybe when Julie came and commented about it and thanked them for filling in those blanks 2 comments above yours?

• [Neuron]

  When you say “fuck cancer” I know you got a D in biology.

  • [GTMoogle]

    Understanding something doesn’t mean you have to be happy with it.