What happens when you Fail?

Todd W Franzen

November 30, 2018

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So what happens when you fail?

The emotions that you go through are really broad and can run a huge gamut. From your feeling of disappointment and discontent to anger and frustration. The mindset that you are experiencing at the time of the failure is really a way to either drive you into a direction of self-loathing, or into an Growth Mindset. It’s how you take that information and grow from it. To learn and understand what it was you may have done wrong will help you cope with the failure. This is kind a pretty big topic right now within the self-help genres because it all comes down to mindset.

There are two main mindsets…

that really dictate which way your thinking is going to go. The Growth Mindset, which is how people that are really feeling positive and good and have good self confidence. They are able to take a failure and turn it into a positive experience and learn from it. Then those people with in the growth mindset, are able to take the experience into the next challenge that they face. And then there’s the Fixed Mindset, where self confidence may not be as present or feeling a hundred percent and their ego might be telling them many different things. They could be saying they’re not good enough. At the end of the day, they need to figure out which mindset they’re in or which one they want to be in. Ultimately, these people want to take the failures that we all go through, and turn them into a positive experience. Getting over that hump is really tough to do.

Over time, you will start to create a habit of turning that fixed mindset into a growth mindset. For a goal of mine, I’m really working on making better decisions and understanding the feeling i experience when I do fail, this has helped me feel less angry, frustrated and feelings of discontent that goes along with failure.

Please take your time. Become aware of where you’re at and why you are feeling a certain way. That will ultimately lead into how you’re able to treat the next challenge and what you can learn from it. Take that experience to the next challenge you’re going through.

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Todd W Franzen


I am a two-time Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor with 17 years of documented cancer survivorship experience that spans multiple treatment eras. My journey began in November 2009 with a Stage 4B diagnosis at age 33, and continued through recurrence and treatment in 2019-2021. This rare longitudinal perspective—living through two complete treatment cycles a decade apart—gives me comparative insight into cancer care evolution that no single medical professional can replicate.

MY TREATMENT EXPERIENCE

First Treatment Cycle (2009-2010)
• 12 infusions of ABVD Chemotherapy over 6 months
• 2 infusions of ICE Chemotherapy (4-day infusions)
• 1 infusion of BEAM Chemotherapy
• 1 Autologous Stem-Cell Transplant
• 8 PET Scans
• 6 CT Scans

Second Treatment Cycle (2019-2021)
• 2 infusions of Brentuximab and Bendamustine
(Severe allergic reaction to Brentuximab — hives)
• 25 rounds of Radiation to Mediastinum (46RAD combined)
• 4 infusions of Keytruda Immunotherapy
• 2 infusions of IGEV Chemotherapy (5-day infusions)
• 1 Total Body Radiation (2RAD)
• 1 Sibling Allogeneic Stem-Cell Transplant
• 6 PET Scans
• 6 CT Scans

COMPARATIVE EXPERTISE

Surviving two stem-cell transplants—one autologous, one sibling allogeneic—across different decades of cancer treatment has given me firsthand experience with nearly every major modality in lymphoma care: combination chemotherapy, salvage chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation protocols, and both types of stem-cell transplantation. I've experienced treatment side effects from the "standard" ABVD era through the modern immunotherapy period.

This comparative expertise matters for survivors. Treatment protocols in 2009 looked very different from 2019, and the long-term survivorship implications are still emerging. Doctors treat; survivors live with the aftermath. I've done both—twice.

CREDENTIALS & PROJECTS

• Founder: Strap In For Life 501(c)(3) nonprofit
• Author: Internal Architect: A Cancer Survivor's Memoir
• Licensed Insurance Agent (practical healthcare system navigation)
• 17-year cancer survivor documenting the journey since 2008

WHAT I WRITE ABOUT

Cancer survivorship doesn't end when treatment stops—it's when the real reconstruction begins. My blog covers:
• Practical survivorship (relationships, careers, identity)
• Treatment experience insights (what they don't tell you)
• Long-term effects and secondary health considerations
• Mental health and emotional reconstruction
• Healthcare system navigation

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