How Halo Helped Me Through Chemotherapy

Ken Berthelette discusses how playing Halo was the only thing that could help distract him from the pains and embarrassments of chemotherapy treatment. 

Last year I was diagnosed with a type of lymphoma. I had surgery on my neck to diagnose me, which left me in mild discomfort and gave me some serious scaring. I went through chemotherapy over the holiday season. My first chemo session was the day after Thanksgiving and my last one was the day before Christmas.

Needless to say I did not have a good time during that season. After chemotherapy, I underwent radiation therapy which was every day for three weeks. During radiation my mouth was irradiated and I had extremely bad mouth sores. The pain just from drinking a simple glass of water or milk was so bad that I did not eat or drink for almost two weeks after radiation stopped. To top off all my ills, I lost all of my hair which made me feel even more defeated.

During this entire ordeal my family asked me what I wanted to help make me feel more comfortable and how to get through this. I told them in very simple terms, video games. My family responded in the best possible way. Once my chemo started I got all of my Christmas gifts early. I received Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 3: ODST. Needless to say I was very occupied during all my trials and tribulations. The video games kept my mind off my cancer and pain as I fought wave after wave of covenant and flood enemies. I made it through my problems with a DMR in one hand and a gravity hammer in the other.

The video games I received gave me an escape hatch from my life. They allowed me to dive deep into another world where the only problem is finding ammunition and a health pack. My worries melted away as I sniped my enemies and made my way around the alien planet. Video games saved my sanity during my cancer and made it possible for me to stay strong and work my way through it.

  1. ojmerritt reblogged this from gamessavedmylife and added:
    do not underestimate the power of Halo.
  2. phaco-handpiece reblogged this from gamessavedmylife
  3. reeegs reblogged this from fuckyeahalo
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  11. fallinwithstyle reblogged this from gamessavedmylife and added:
    specifically but for...this reality. People say videogames are
  12. juliaagamer reblogged this from fuckyeahalo
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  21. coldmrblue reblogged this from fuckyeahalo and added:
    Bravo champ :’) bravo
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  24. hellolaurenzo reblogged this from gamessavedmylife and added:
    omg….this made me get a lil misty
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