Australian Cancer Patient Spreads Laughter With IV Pole Props and Costumes
Tessa Calder dresses up in costumes to match the themes of her pole.
— -- An Australian woman battling cancer is taking her diagnosis in stride by hilariously decorating her medical IV pole as various props, and dressing in silly costumes to match the theme.
"Let’s remember to look for the positives and have a laugh at ourselves, [or] alternatively, have a laugh at me making a fool of myself," Tessa Calder of Sydney, Australia, told ABC News. "If it brings a smile to the face of someone else who’s in hospital, or someone who’s sick, or even someone who’s not sick at all but perhaps battling something else, then, hey, that’s awesome."
Calder, 21, said she was diagnosed in April with metastatic medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
"Part of me was trying to convince myself that the back pain I started experiencing was just because I was getting used to my new bed mattress," Calder said. "The other part was trying to ignore some nagging suspicions.
"I couldn’t help but think of this when it started happening to me, but I was still shocked when I was diagnosed," added Calder, who received her latest round of chemotherapy Wednesday. "It all happened pretty fast after that -- scans, surgery, commencing treatment -- so, mercifully, I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, initially."
In an effort to give herself a fun distraction during treatment, Calder said the patients at her hospital and her father inspired her to get creative with her IV pole, which provides life-saving medicine to her intravenously.
Since then, Calder has transformed her IV pole into many different character props.
"It’s been Pope Francis’ pole, Gandalf’s staff, Harry Potter’s Nimbus 2000, Darth Vader’s lightsaber, mostly using bits of paper and various hats [and] random clothing items that either myself, or my friends have had lying around," she said.
"[It's] also a way to pass the time," said Calder, who expects to have her treatments done by Christmas.
"Time is something that you have in spades when you’re stuck in hospital. I’ve had some really lovely messages from friends and family encouraging me to keep going with it all, which is both surprising and heartening, given that I thought I was only amusing myself."