美国国家公共电台 NPR--'All Wigged Out' is about fighting cancer with humor and humanity

'All Wigged² Out' is about fighting cancer with humor and humanity

Transcript³

When Grammy-Award-winning musician Marcy Marxer learned she had breast cancer, she didn't get sad or mad. She got funny. Marxer, who's one half of the award-winning duo, Cathy and Marcy started posting cartoons, memes and musings on social media as a way updating friends on her cancer treatments. But her work was suddenly finding a wider audience of people dealt a cancer diagnosis⁴, and they were applauding her.

"I was talking about my breasts, which I don't actually do generally in public. It's personal but I find when I talk about my breasts, other people think it's funny," Marxer told Morning Edition host Leila Fadel.

It wasn't long before a network took shape out that social media following. "I got a lot of messages from people talking about their cancer situations. So, I ended up being kind of a chemo coach for a bunch of people and connecting with other people who help patients get through it."

Marxer, and Cathy Fink, her partner in music and in life, decided⁵ to turn the experience into, of all things, a movie musical comedy: All Wigged Out. The narrative⁶ follows Marxer's seven-year journey through cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Positive in a negative way

Marxer remembers the day, in 2015. She was holding a ukulele workshop when her doctor called.

"I'd had a biopsy and my doctor explained that the results were positive. And I said, 'Positive. You mean, positive in a negative way?' Positive should be good. So right away, some things about the whole medical process didn't make much sense to me," Marxer recalls. "They seemed a little backwards⁷ and a little bit funny and a little worth poking⁸ fun at."

Information from unexpected places

Marxer's doctor was a little vague about whether she might lose her hair during chemotherapy. Just in case, Marxer and Fink paid a visit to Amy of Denmark, a wig¹ shop in Wheaton, Md. That's where they learned a few things the doctor didn't tell them.

"When we walked in, this woman, Sandy, said, 'What's your diagnosis? What's your cocktail⁹? Who's your doctor?' This was all stuff she was familiar with, Fink recalls. "Once we gave Sandy all the information, she looked at Marcy, she said, 'When's your first chemo?' Marcy said, 'It was two days ago,' and Sandy just looked up and said, 'Honey, we got to make a plan. You're going to be bald in 10 days.'"

The wig shop experience turns up as a musical number in All Wigged Out. Likewise, "Unsolicited Advice," which recounts all the possibly well-intended — but completely unhelpful — comments that come from friends and others. And there's even an upbeat chemotherapy number, "I Feel A Little Tipsy," about a particular side effect of treatment.

Role Reversal

At its core, All Wigged Out is the portrait of an enviable marriage weathering the most unenviable of times. And now Marxer and Fink find their roles suddenly reversed. Fink got her diagnosis a few months ago: she has breast cancer.

"We are living in a little chapter that we're calling 'The Irony¹⁰ and the Ecstasy,'" Fink told Leila Fadel. I'm working with our team that's promoting All Wigged Out, partially¹¹ from my chemo chair."

Fink says her prognosis is positive — positive, this time, in a good way — and, this time, at least, they're better-trained than they were eight years ago.

About those hard-earned skills, Marxer says, "One thing we know is patients try to live their life to the best of their abilities, and doctors are trying to save your life. And those are two very different things. We do understand that we're walking two lines. One is the process of making sure that Kathy is going to be fine and live a long and happy life. And the other is living our lives while we go through this."

Marxer predicts large doses of humor will be a major part of the treatment protocol¹².

1 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

2 wigged   

adj.戴假发的

参考例句：

• I have wigged him well. 我已给他装好了假发。 来自辞典例句
• He wigged me for being late. 他因我来迟而责骂我。 来自辞典例句

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

9 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

10 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

11 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

12 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。