Surviving chemotherapy and going to work seem to be enough of a challenge.
But for Chad McComsey of Lampeter, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in July, starting a T-shirt design business was both therapeutic and practical.
It helped the graphic designer focus on something positive, and he needed the extra income to afford the copayments and deductibles for his treatment.
“Honestly, it helps keep me going,” said McComsey, 26. “It’s a project I’ve always wanted to work on. Yeah, I feel like crap at least three or four days out of a two-week span ... but to have something like this that I love to do and have passion for; it kind of takes the edge off, if you will.”
Last spring, McComsey was awakened by pain in his shoulder that didn’t go away for several days. He thought he might have pulled a muscle playing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Since he was in good physical condition, he was surprised when the pain radiated to his chest and legs, starting a three-month medical search to figure out why he had the pain and a low red blood cell count.
It was during a diagnostic test that involved a lot of waiting between procedures, that McComsey found the “endure” theme he decided to use on his signature series of T-shirts. He was reading a story about Ernest Hemingway, whose mantra was “Above all, endure.”
The notes at the end of the story crystallized the idea for him.
“Knowing what we know now, we can be like Hemingway and accomplish what he couldn’t accomplish. Above all we can endure,” McComsey summarized the notes. “That’s basically where I got the idea from.”
Meanwhile, his need for some extra money was becoming obvious, even though he has insurance through the local advertising firm where he works.
“For a while before I was diagnosed, it was just $300-$400 (in expenses) coming in every day. My mom took a couple. I took a couple,” McComsey said.
But when doctors confirmed a 4-inch cancerous tumor in McComsey’s chest on July 7, he knew the financial need would multiply. He knew copayments for six months of chemotherapy that costs $5,000 per session and the regular booster shots of white cells for $3,000 would be more than he could handle, he said.
Thinking like a businessman, McComsey decided it was time to invest in the T-shirt design business he had often dreamed of starting.
“I’m paying all this money for medical bills,” McComsey reasoned. “Why don’t I at least give it a shot, put my money toward something I really want to put my money toward ... and try to get something off the ground.”
McComsey’s best friend since sixth grade, Adam Schneider, who lives in Oregon, wasn’t surprised at all when McComsey decided to start a business while he had cancer.
“He’s always been super motivated,” said Schneider, who took art classes at Lampeter-Strasburg High School with his friend.
A graphic arts major, Schneider owns three of McComsey’s shirts, which he describes as “very simple, but bold and graphic at the same time.”
McComsey’s first T-shirt featured a drawing of The Iron Pillar of Delhi, India, on the front of the shirt beside the word “Endure.” Entwined in the design of the pillar is a bull, McComsey’s personal logo and Capoeira nickname, Touro.
The back of the shirt reads: “The Iron Pillar of Delhi, India stands 7 1/4 m high and is 40 cm in diameter. Made from a solid shaft of iron, it has been exposed to the elements with minimal corrosion. Dating back to around 400 A.D., it still stands.”
The shirt, which McComsey decided to make as a limited edition to reward people who bought into his business from the beginning, is now sold out. However, he rolled over the money he invested in the first shirt into his next design — Flight — which is his most popular shirt.
A black shirt, Flight features red wings spread across the front with a bull’s face in the center. On the back is “Endure .06,” with miniature storks flying nearby.
“The Flight shirt doesn’t scream the same way the (other) signature series (shirts) do, but it does have a deeper meaning,” McComsey said. The storks are synonymous with new life.
His third signature design is based on the Great Mamamuszi Oak of Bialowieza Primaeval Forest in Belarus. The oak is the thickest found in the forest at 690 cm around, and towers over 34 meters.
McComsey sells the shirts through his MySpace site,
www.myspace.com/endureonline and on his Web site,
www.endureonline.com.
Helping him succeed are a group of people he calls his street team. Including Schneider and his girlfriend, Maria Gonzalez, McComsey’s street team members wear his T-shirts, tell people about his Web site and hand out flyers.
“A lot of people on the West Coast are very interested,” said Schneider, “especially when they find out it’s for a good cause.”
One of McComsey’s friends is planning a benefit concert in February — celebrating the end of his chemo, his birthday and the official opening of his clothing line.
“It’s the motivation from my friends and my family that have really gotten behind me with it,” said McComsey.
His mother, Jamie McComsey, has been a staunch supporter, going with him to every chemotherapy appointment and holding him when the pain, tiredness and stress become too great.
“Making T-shirts keeps his mind off a lot of stuff,” said his mother. “When he gets better, he’s going to try to give back to other people.”
McComsey said he’s made a little money so far that he used toward paying his bills, but he hopes his T-shirt business will eventually become so successful that he will be able to sponsor other organizations and people who fight cancer.
He still has to finish three more rounds of chemotherapy and a month of radiation, but is very optimistic and recently learned the treatment he’s had so far has taken the tumor away.
“I kind of looked at it like the cancer never really had a chance,” McComsey said. “We found it in time. It wasn’t severe. I can take high-dose chemo.
“So I kind of had this ‘I’m better than you’ attitude about it towards the cancer. I’m like, ‘You know, you picked a bad time. I’m still gonna beat you.’ ”
Linda Espenshade’s e-mail address is lespenshade@lnpnews.com. 
