0:00:02.022,0:00:05.315
This back here was my brain cancer.

0:00:07.125,0:00:08.845
Isn't it nice?

0:00:08.869,0:00:11.312
(Laughter)

0:00:11.336,0:00:13.798
The key phrase is "was,"

0:00:13.822,0:00:15.457
phew.

0:00:15.481,0:00:20.523
(Applause)

0:00:20.547,0:00:24.715
Having brain cancer was really,[br]as you can imagine,

0:00:24.739,0:00:26.591
shocking news for me.

0:00:26.615,0:00:28.984
I knew nothing about cancer.

0:00:30.059,0:00:33.870
In Western cultures, when you have cancer,

0:00:33.894,0:00:36.102
it's as if you disappear in a way.

0:00:36.509,0:00:43.123
Your life as a complex human being[br]is replaced by medical data:

0:00:43.147,0:00:49.234
Your images, your exams, your lab values,

0:00:49.258,0:00:50.933
a list of medicines.

0:00:51.740,0:00:53.734
And everyone changes as well.

0:00:54.439,0:00:56.795
You suddenly become a disease on legs.

0:00:57.384,0:01:01.488
Doctors start speaking a language[br]which you don't understand.

0:01:01.983,0:01:07.313
They start pointing their fingers

0:01:07.337,0:01:11.484
at your body and your images.

0:01:12.187,0:01:15.210
People start changing as well

0:01:15.234,0:01:19.076
because they start dealing[br]with the disease,

0:01:19.100,0:01:21.435
instead of with the human being.

0:01:21.459,0:01:23.620
They say, "What did the doctor say?"

0:01:23.644,0:01:26.048
before even saying, "Hello."

0:01:27.976,0:01:29.899
And in the meanwhile,

0:01:29.923,0:01:35.089
you're left with questions[br]to which nobody gives an answer.

0:01:35.113,0:01:37.864
These are the "Can I?" questions:

0:01:37.888,0:01:39.883
Can I work while I have cancer?

0:01:40.507,0:01:45.054
Can I study? Can I make love?[br]Can I be creative?

0:01:45.864,0:01:49.318
And you wonder, "What have I done[br]to deserve this?"

0:01:49.342,0:01:53.476
You wonder, "Can I change something[br]about my lifestyle?"

0:01:53.500,0:01:56.174
You wonder, "Can I do something?

0:01:56.198,0:01:58.293
Are there any other options?"

0:02:00.333,0:02:05.964
And, obviously, doctors are[br]the good guys in all these scenarios,

0:02:05.988,0:02:11.910
because they are very professional[br]and dedicated to curing you.

0:02:11.934,0:02:17.168
But they also are very used[br]to having to deal with patients,

0:02:17.192,0:02:24.124
so I'd say that they sometimes[br]lose the idea that this is torture for you

0:02:24.148,0:02:29.079
and that you become,[br]literally, a patient --

0:02:29.103,0:02:31.514
"patient" means "the one who waits."

0:02:31.538,0:02:32.931
(Laughter)

0:02:32.955,0:02:37.144
Things are changing, but classically,

0:02:37.168,0:02:42.817
they tend to not engage you in any way[br]to learn about your condition,

0:02:42.841,0:02:46.964
to get your friends and family engaged,

0:02:46.988,0:02:50.728
or showing you ways[br]in which you can change your lifestyle

0:02:50.752,0:02:53.142
to minimize the risks[br]of what you're going through.

0:02:54.083,0:02:57.947
But instead, you're forced there to wait

0:02:57.971,0:03:02.992
in the hands of a series[br]of very professional strangers.

0:03:04.815,0:03:06.890
While I was in the hospital,

0:03:06.914,0:03:10.332
I asked for a printed-out[br]picture of my cancer

0:03:10.356,0:03:12.415
and I spoke with it.

0:03:13.120,0:03:15.318
It was really hard to obtain,

0:03:15.342,0:03:20.270
because it's not common practice[br]to ask for a picture of your own cancer.

0:03:20.294,0:03:22.059
I talked to it and I said,

0:03:22.083,0:03:26.611
"Okay, cancer,[br]you're not all there is to me.

0:03:26.635,0:03:28.623
There's more to me.

0:03:28.647,0:03:35.062
A cure, whichever it is, will have[br]to deal with the whole of me."

0:03:35.086,0:03:41.000
And so, the next day, I left the hospital[br]against medical advice.

0:03:41.024,0:03:45.592
I was determined to change[br]my relationship with the cancer

0:03:45.616,0:03:48.460
and I was determined[br]to learn more about my cancer

0:03:48.484,0:03:52.053
before doing anything[br]as drastic as a surgery.

0:03:54.037,0:04:00.927
I'm an artist, I use several forms[br]of open-source technologies

0:04:00.951,0:04:03.470
and open information in my practice.

0:04:03.494,0:04:09.581
So my best bet was to get it all[br]out there, get the information out there,

0:04:09.605,0:04:15.192
and use it so that it could be[br]accessed by anyone.

0:04:16.269,0:04:20.222
So I created a website,[br]which is called La Cura,

0:04:20.246,0:04:23.374
on which I put my medical data, online.

0:04:23.398,0:04:25.271
I actually had to hack it

0:04:25.295,0:04:29.451
and that's a thing which we[br]can talk about in another speech.

0:04:29.475,0:04:30.798
(Laughter)

0:04:30.822,0:04:33.379
I chose this word, La Cura --

0:04:33.403,0:04:35.738
La Cura in Italian means "the cure" --

0:04:35.762,0:04:38.490
because in many different cultures,

0:04:38.514,0:04:42.621
the word "cure" can mean[br]many different things.

0:04:43.066,0:04:44.725
In our Western cultures,

0:04:44.749,0:04:49.218
it means eradicating[br]or reversing a disease,

0:04:49.242,0:04:50.746
but in different cultures,

0:04:50.770,0:04:54.326
for example, a culture from Asia,

0:04:54.350,0:04:58.462
from the Mediterranean,[br]from Latin countries, from Africa,

0:04:58.486,0:05:00.209
it can mean many more things.

0:05:00.628,0:05:05.991
Of course, I was interested[br]in the opinions of doctors

0:05:06.015,0:05:08.240
and healthcare providers,

0:05:08.264,0:05:14.235
but I was also interested in[br]the cure of the artist, of the poet,

0:05:14.259,0:05:16.412
of the designer,

0:05:16.436,0:05:20.356
of, who knows, the musicians.

0:05:20.889,0:05:23.765
I was interested in the social cure,

0:05:23.789,0:05:26.463
I was interested in[br]the psychological cure,

0:05:26.487,0:05:28.977
I was interested in the spiritual cure,

0:05:29.001,0:05:32.035
I was interested in the emotional cure,

0:05:32.059,0:05:34.857
I was interested in any form of cure.

0:05:36.920,0:05:40.592
And, it worked.

0:05:40.616,0:05:43.945
The La Cura website went viral.

0:05:43.969,0:05:48.670
I received lots of media attention[br]from Italy and from abroad

0:05:48.694,0:05:54.416
and I quickly received[br]more than 500,000 contacts --

0:05:54.440,0:05:56.354
emails, social networking --

0:05:56.378,0:05:59.549
most of them were a suggestion[br]on how to cure my cancer,

0:05:59.573,0:06:02.980
but more of them were about[br]how to cure myself

0:06:03.004,0:06:05.319
as a full individual.

0:06:06.283,0:06:10.341
For example, many thousands of videos,

0:06:10.365,0:06:14.295
images, pictures, art performances

0:06:14.319,0:06:16.008
were produced for La Cura.

0:06:16.756,0:06:20.030
For example, here we see[br]Francesca Fini in her performance.

0:06:21.141,0:06:25.498
Or, as artist Patrick Lichty has done:

0:06:25.522,0:06:30.076
He produced a 3D sculpture of my tumor

0:06:30.100,0:06:32.797
and put it on sale on Thingiverse.

0:06:32.821,0:06:35.020
Now you can have my cancer, too!

0:06:35.044,0:06:37.557
(Laughter)

0:06:37.581,0:06:40.974
Which is a nice thing,[br]if you think about it,

0:06:40.998,0:06:42.782
we can share our cancer.

0:06:44.234,0:06:46.609
And this was going on --

0:06:46.633,0:06:49.994
scientists, the traditional[br]medicine experts,

0:06:50.018,0:06:51.681
several researchers, doctors --

0:06:51.705,0:06:54.377
all connected with me to give advice.

0:06:54.401,0:06:56.296
With all this information and support,

0:06:56.320,0:07:01.985
I was able to form a team[br]of several neurosurgeons,

0:07:02.009,0:07:04.971
traditional doctors,

0:07:04.995,0:07:11.120
oncologists, and several[br]hundred volunteers

0:07:11.144,0:07:14.349
with whom I was able to discuss

0:07:14.373,0:07:19.772
the information I was receiving,[br]which is very important.

0:07:19.796,0:07:26.141
And together, we were able to form[br]a strategy for my own cure

0:07:26.165,0:07:29.792
in many languages,[br]according to many cultures.

0:07:29.816,0:07:32.981
And the current strategy[br]spans the whole world

0:07:33.005,0:07:35.603
and thousands of years of human history,

0:07:35.627,0:07:37.686
which is quite remarkable for me.

0:07:37.710,0:07:39.370
[Surgery]

0:07:39.394,0:07:44.323
The follow-up MRIs showed, luckily,[br]little to no growth of the cancer.

0:07:45.005,0:07:48.402
So I was able to take my time and choose.

0:07:48.426,0:07:52.067
I chose the doctor I wanted to work with,

0:07:52.091,0:07:54.465
I chose the hospital I wanted to stay in,

0:07:54.489,0:07:58.476
and in the meanwhile, I was supported[br]by thousands of people,

0:07:58.500,0:08:01.727
none of whom felt pity for me.

0:08:01.751,0:08:07.405
Everyone felt like they could[br]take an active role

0:08:07.429,0:08:09.241
in helping me to get well,

0:08:09.265,0:08:12.630
and this was the most important[br]part of La Cura.

0:08:14.081,0:08:15.283
What are the outcomes?

0:08:16.122,0:08:18.455
I'm fine, as you can see, pretty fine.

0:08:18.479,0:08:23.771
(Applause)

0:08:23.795,0:08:26.203
I had excellent news

0:08:26.227,0:08:27.833
after the surgery --

0:08:27.857,0:08:33.352
I have -- I had a very low-grade glioma,

0:08:33.376,0:08:37.798
which is a "good" kind of cancer[br]which doesn't grow a lot.

0:08:37.822,0:08:41.275
I have completely changed[br]my life and my lifestyle.

0:08:42.250,0:08:47.375
Everything I did was thoughtfully[br]designed to get me engaged.

0:08:48.055,0:08:52.171
Up until the very last few[br]minutes of the surgery,

0:08:52.195,0:08:54.162
which was very intense,

0:08:54.186,0:08:58.107
a matrix of electrodes[br]was implanted in my brain

0:08:58.131,0:08:59.997
from this side,

0:09:00.021,0:09:05.254
to be able to build a functional map[br]of what the brain controls.

0:09:05.278,0:09:08.952
And right before the operation,

0:09:08.976,0:09:15.753
we were able to discuss[br]the functional map of my brain

0:09:15.777,0:09:20.660
with the doctor, to understand[br]which risks I was running into

0:09:20.684,0:09:24.288
and if there were any I wanted to avoid.

0:09:24.312,0:09:26.428
Obviously, there were.

0:09:26.452,0:09:27.505
[Open]

0:09:27.529,0:09:32.956
And this openness was really[br]the fundamental part of La Cura.

0:09:32.980,0:09:37.775
Thousands of people shared[br]their stories, their experiences.

0:09:37.799,0:09:42.403
Doctors got to talk with people[br]they don't usually consult

0:09:42.427,0:09:47.346
when they think about cancer.

0:09:47.370,0:09:52.019
I'm a self-founding,[br]continuous state of translation

0:09:52.043,0:09:54.339
among many different languages,

0:09:54.363,0:09:58.236
in which science meets emotion

0:09:58.260,0:10:02.897
and conventional research[br]meets traditional research.

0:10:02.921,0:10:04.239
[Society]

0:10:04.263,0:10:09.610
The most important thing of La Cura

0:10:09.635,0:10:16.635
was to feel like a part[br]of a really engaged and connected society

0:10:16.660,0:10:22.780
whose wellness really depends[br]on the wellness of all of its components.

0:10:24.253,0:10:28.853
This global performance[br]is my open-source cure for cancer.

0:10:29.873,0:10:31.655
And from what I feel,

0:10:31.679,0:10:34.055
it's a cure for me, but for us all.

0:10:34.079,0:10:35.232
Thank you.

0:10:35.256,0:10:37.931
(Applause).