CANCER AND ALL THE OTHER SHIT

YOUNG AUCKLAND DESIGNER LAUREN WEPA has turned her experience with cancer into a book that she believes gives people permission to talk frankly about the disease with friends and family who have been diagnosed.

The book is called CANCER AND ALL THE OTHER SHIT, and it’s the result of a project Lauren began at Massey University’s design school, which she calls ‘Fill the Silence’. After being diagnosed with cancer as a student aged 20, she was driven to change how people related to cancer patients, and two-and-a-half years later – and in remission – she has published a book with Wellington publisher Mākaro Press that addresses the issue head on. She says ‘Cancer’s shit, but when your friends don’t know how to talk to you it’s even shittier.’

Her point is that people don’t often know how to talk to friends and family members with cancer, so they avoid it or say the wrong things. Lauren’s book highlights such things as the ‘you’re so brave’ speech, and the ‘I’m so sorry’ apology. The result, she says, is that people who are already isolated physically, become isolated emotionally too – and just when they need the most support. She says her book tries to give people a view on cancer from the perspective of a patient, as well encouraging them to step up and fill the awkward silence that surrounds the illness.  

She likens such a step to filling a balloon with air. ‘All it takes,’ she says, ‘is a breath.’

Lauren believes CANCER AND ALL THE OTHER SHIT is a permission slip from cancer patients to their family and friends to talk about cancer with them – to ask questions, and to get angry at it and joke about it, and generally push cancer out into the open. As Lauren says, ‘We all know cancer’s a bitch so why not bitch about it?’

The bright purple and teal book selling for only $20 in all good bookstores, and online at makaropress.co.nz, is an engaging and provocative read, supported by teen cancer organisation CanTeen. It has already been bought by a number of CanTeen members, four of whom helped launch it in Wellington at Bats Theatre. Health professionals such as oncology nurses have also been buying the book for their younger patients, and 102 people of all ages are receiving copies as their rewards for contributing to a successful PledgeMe campaign that supports the print costs of the book.

Lauren Wepa grew up in Rotorua, but was educated in Auckland and Wellington, and is currently working as a designer in Auckland. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram as @laurenwepa, and Facebook.