How My XBOX 360 Saved My Life

Allyx discusses how her XBOX 360 helped her contend with the aggressively debilitating side effects of cancer treatment. 

When I was 17, at the beginning of my senior year of high school, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; cancer. While one of the more curable forms of cancer, the treatment for Hodgkin’s is very aggressive (a nurse once told me she always felt sorry for the Hodgkin’s patients, because we receive the most amount of chemo in the smallest amount of time) and left me incapacitated, unable to do much besides lie on the couch and watch TV.

And, luckily, play my Xbox 360.

The console soon turned out to be a lifesaver. At a time when I had no control over my life, my 360 allowed me to find satisfaction in one of the few things I could do. I made life or death decisions and saved the galaxy as Commander Shepherd. I helped John Marston find redemption in the wild west. I saved Ferelden from the Blight as a Grey Warden. I restored order to Arkham Asylum as Batman. I did all this while puking my guts out, unable to do things as simple as walk on my own, or decide when I wanted to eat. I was able to save the world while crippled by pain and sickness.

Video games did more than give me something to do; they kept me sane by allowing me to feel achievement. I’m now 19 and have been cancer-free for months. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last two years without my games.

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