‘What Is a Hassle Anymore?’ Survivor Highlights Cancer’s Platinum Lining

Rob Paulsen, who is the voice behind cartoon characters like Yakko from "Animaniacs” and Pinky from “Pinky and the Brain” got stuck in traffic heading to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). His flight was canceled, causing him to miss his connection and drive to his final destination. But after living through a stage 3 metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the throat diagnosis, the voice actor said that he is frustrated, but not angry – something he brings back to what he calls the “platinum lining” behind his cancer diagnosis.

“I have this experience of cancer by which to compare whatever shows up in my life. And that’s what I mean by my platinum lining,” he said in a vlog that was recorded at LAX.

Transcription

Hey guys, Rob Paulsen here, Hollywood voice guy. You may remember that on my last far too long ago post, apologies CURE® Magazine, I had mentioned that my experience with stage 3 metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the throat – surprise voice guy, throat cancer, why not? – left me with not just a silver lining, but a platinum lining. And today's a perfect example.

I'm at LAX, and it's been a very difficult day, just getting to the airport, traffic, canceled flights, etc, etc. But the platinum lining with respect to my cancer manifests itself in so many wonderful ways. I now have a sort of baseline of what is a problem. Does that make sense to you guys? (I) got stuck in traffic, missed my flight, got here, went to park my car. All the parking lots were full, so I had to park off the airport. (I) finally made it here, got another flight. But I'm going to miss my connection, so I have to drive to my final destination.

But what is a hassle anymore? What is a difficult problem? What I consider to be really a big pain in the a-- is not so much anymore, because I have this experience of cancer by which to compare whatever shows up in my life. And that's what I mean by a platinum lining. I'm a little bit frustrated, but I'm not angry. I'm not short tempered. I think I have a pretty good grasp on what's really important. And I've learned a lot. And I continue to learn every single day that my cancer has given me a pretty good measure, a pretty good metric by which I can decide what is a very difficult thing for me.

So I'd be interested to hear what you guys think. I wonder if you all have similar experiences where you kind of go, “Yeah, it's a problem, but it ain't cancer.” And I find myself doing that a lot. So thank you very much for your patience with my blog posts. I promise I won't take as long between them, which presupposes you missed them. I'm not that arrogant to assume you did. But I hope you enjoy them, and I'd like to hear from you. And how you guys feel about your cancer experiences and whether or not you can kind of find a way to compartmentalize what is really a challenge for you.

In any case, keep smiling. I am, and (I) look forward to talking to you guys again, blog posts or otherwise. Thank you.

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