KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cancer is no laughing matter but that doesn't stop Mark Ludwig from dressing up as a playing card joker.
"It's been a little bit of a bummer. But, anyway, I'm still here," he said while wearing his joker outfit in his dining room.
He doesn't always dress like that.
Mark was diagnosed with cancer last summer and since then has had surgery and chemotherapy. His oncologist at UT Cancer Institute, Dr. James Mosley, inspired him to change his wardrobe.
"He dresses to the nines. I call him the dapper doctor because he is just decked out, the socks, the suit, the shirt, everything is pressed and immaculate," he said.
Mark showed up for an appointment in a white suit with wide lapels. And then he stepped it up.
"The following Monday that's when I started all this. I went in as Luigi and then Sponge Bob the next day for my treatment. And then Wednesday I didn't wear any costumes because I had run out of costumes because these were all left over from Halloween. And one of the people in the waiting room was like, what? No costume? I'm like, ok, game on. So in my six hours of sitting in a chair getting my chemo regiment that day, I went on Amazon and obviously went crazy," he said.
His crazy costumes made chemo a little more bearable.
"I really enjoy the Aquaman except for I couldn't get the mustache to stick until I got home and got on YouTube and realized, hey, you can use liquid latex which I had a whole big bottle of upstairs," he said.
Chemo has stopped, for now.
"I got such great responses from the nurses and people and just putting smiles on people's faces and making them laugh. It's the reason why I did it," he said.
He's not sure what's ahead for his cancer treatment. But he does know where he'll be later this month: the Fan Boy Expo.
"I'm going to go as a Johnny Depp character the Mad Hatter," he said.
The actor, Paul Reubens, will be at the Fan Boy Expo. Mark plans to ask him to sign a shoe from his Pee Wee Herman costume.
Meanwhile, Mark tips his hat to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers at the UT Cancer Institute.
"It really felt like you were loved and cared for."
He shows his love and caring in costume.