By Man Up to Cancer
5
5555 ratings
The podcast currently has 86 episodes available.
When should you screen for colon cancer?
What are the currently available screening options?
What are the new options on the horizon?
What about the rise of colorectal cancer in young people?
These are the questions I tackle in today's 25-minute episode of the Man Up to Cancer Podcast.
Got questions or comments? I want to hear them!
Cologuard
Fight CRC
Exact Sciences
Guardant Health
Colon Cancer Coalition
Classic SNL ad for Colon Blow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku42Iszh9KM
2023 SNL ad for Cologuard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu12X2cu6Y0
I'm joined on today's show by Joy and Isaac Moel, a mother and son from Iowa City, Iowa (Go Hawkeyes!).
Isaac was just 23 years old in April 2019 when he was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. He was otherwise healthy and had no family history or other red flags.
Just when Isaac was gaining independence as an adult, he was forced into the role of patient, depending on his mother to be his primary caregiver as he faced mutliple surgeries and grueling chemotherapy, radiation, and more.
The shocking diagnosis was a difficult blow for this tightknit family, yet they have fought this disease together with incredible courage, intelligence, grace, and heart.
In this episode, we discuss
My guest today is Ethan Zohn, a former professional soccer player, winner of the world's most famous reality show Survivor, humanitarian, philanthropist, author, inventor, investor, advocate for cannabis and psychedelics, with a special interest in helping cancer patients and survivors.
Ethan is the co-founder of the global non-profit, Grassroot Soccer, which has reached millions of youth in 60+ countries with vital health information and services.
Oh, and he's a two time survivor of CD20 positive Hodgkin’s Lymphoma who has been through the gauntlet of chemo, radiation, two stem cell transplants.
We talk about how at 50 he's now the "old curmudgeon" of the Survivor family tree; his uncanny resemblance as a teenager to Patrick Dempsey's nerdy character, Ronald Miller, from the movie "Can't Buy Me Love"; his insane number of side hustles since grade school; the emotional turmoil of his two bouts with lymphoma; how medical cannabis changed his life for the better; the pressure of going through cancer in the media spotlight; and how he found his authentic voice when he stopped saying what people wanted him to say, and started telling his truth about the cancer experience.
LINKS
EO Care: Medical Cannabis Care Plans for cancer patients, Survivors and caregivers : www.EO.care
Crunch Bowl - Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/6o46Ezf
Survivor Merch : www.EthanZohn.com
Dempsey Center: www.dempseycenter.org
Social Media Channels
X (Twitter): @ethanzohn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethanzohn
Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EthanZohnSurvivor
#KFG has been one of my go-to hashtags during the past six years living with stage IV colon cancer.
But what is it?
On today's throwback episode of the Man Up to Cancer Podcast, we go back to a show from August 2020. It's crazy to think that nearly four years have passed since I recorded this.
In this bonus episode, the meaning of KFG gets revealed. I ramble for 14 minutes about my first surgery, amazing nurse Aaron, and the joys of oxaliplatin chemo. I also send out a message of encouragement to all the cancer patients out there who are in pain, suffering, and basically living minute to minute.
To learn more and get involved in the Man Up to Cancer movement, find us on social and visit us at www.manuptocancer.org. HOWL!!
Today on the Man Up to Cancer Podcast, I'm joined by super advocate DeMetrius Kee from Rancho Cucamonga, California.
When his stepfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, the ripple effect hit the entire family hard, especially 41-year-old DeMetrius.
"It threw us all off. I spent several years in the health and wellness space and had no idea what prostate cancer was. I immediately started researching," he said.
That launched DeMetrius into a newfound passion for cancer advocacy. More than six years later, he has established a thriving career with cancer non-profits. In the cancer world, sometimes having a strong voice — and the willingness to us it — is exactly what is needed. With his self-described "big mouth," DeMetrius is changing the lives of anyone within earshot.
"Knowing what I know now, in regards to early detection, I encourage everyone," he said. "I know it's difficult, but you've gotta talk about it."
Things you will learn about DeMetrius in this episode:
@LLS - Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
@Zero Prostate Cancer
On today's episode, two of Canada's most helpful (and obviously handsome) cancer fighters sit down for a chat with me about friendship.
Jay Abramovitch of South Mountain, Ontario, and Jason Manuge of Kingston, Ontario, were both in their 30s when they were diagnosed with young onset colorectal cancer.
Jason is facing the challenges of cancer that has spread to his bones, while Jay is navigating a couple of new, small tumors that have popped up in his lungs, after a few years of NED - No Evidence of Disease.
To hear these two young guys open the doors of their hearts - and reject bitterness in the face of brutally difficult circumstances - was something I will never forget.
How does a person find comfort and care when he is the one who usually does the comforting?
The Rev. Ian Williams, a pastor at St. Helen Parish in Hebron, Indiana, is my guest today on the Man Up to Cancer Podcast. He has been living with metastatic liver cancer for more than three years.
Father Ian is the leader of the Indiana Chapter of Man Up to Cancer. He is a source of encouragement, care, and inspiration for members of our community.
On today's episode, Ian reflects on faith, nature, and humor and other aspects of his cancer journey. I also put him in the Gauntlet of Random Questions, where he answers questions about animals, time travel, and a certain Olympic sport not generally associated with the Hoosier state.
A solo show with your host Trevor Maxwell
The stress of cancer accumulates, a thick and heavy covering that I can't shake.
It builds with each scan, each blood draw, each surgery.
It builds in the days between.
Nearly six years in the world of never knowing.
For 2,130 days the stress builds and my body and soul labor under the weight of it.
What are my cancer cells doing today? Where are they misbehaving? Where is my immune system keeping them in check? Where might my immune system be overwhelmed? How long can I go managing my cancer as a chronic illness? Will I make it to Elsie's high school graduation? Will I make it to Sage's college graduation? Will I slide through the eye of the needle and reach longterm survival, against all odds of science and every friend that I have lost to this same disease?
The people who have never had cancer in their bodies tell people like me to stop thinking about it. After the scans, the blood draws, the surgeries, they send me out into the sunshine and tell me not to think about it, as if my world looks anything like theirs.
I realized a while ago that I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop those questions from repeating in my head.
So I lean the fuck into it.
I say bring it on, let me ask the question, how long can I do this? So many times that it becomes a mantra, and I tell myself that this would make those cancer muggles insane, and only I'm strong enough to keep asking the question and to turn it into a raging inferno of motivation.
But yeah, the stress doesn't go away. It's rust. You can cover it up, bondo that shit, but you know it's under there, you know the frame is still compromised. And after 2,130 days of stress, this frame is compromised. The scars and adhered tissues and severed muscles and nerves of 10 surgeries.
After 2,130 days of stress, this brain is compromised. There are some moments, beautiful moments in which I'm right here right now, grounded in the present, aware of my living breath and the sensation of my feet on the wood floor, the sensation of the heat from the wood stove.
Other times though, I'm like Billy Pilgrim and I've come unstuck in time.
Sometimes in a dream, sometimes even when I'm awake I find myself back on that first surgical table, staring up into a cluster of the brightest lights I've ever seen, mask over my face and breathing in the sweet anesthetic while surgical techs inspect my IV lines and double count the instruments that will cut me open.
Big breaths Trevor, we're gonna take good care of you. 10-9-8
Other times, I'm back on my most recent surgical table, just a few months ago, The same buzz of activity. Are these the same techs? Are they even real at all? Or is this the 3rd surgery, the 5th, they all swirl and mesh together with an antiseptic smell, muffled voices and the constant beeps of the heart and respiratory monitors, the same voice in my head telling me - you're going to see Sarah, Sage, and Elsie on the other side of this.. This team knows what they're doing.. They do this all the time.. You're not dying today.. My body is strong, my body is strong, my body is strong.
And each time after the blackness I am born again to the waiting world, disoriented, in pain, and with a shock of recognition that I didn't die.
I cannot put the exhaustion of this into words.
But I can tell you about the hospital after my last surgery.
I guess I need to write about that.
When I think about today’s guest, which is often, I think of his thoughtfulness, curiosity, joy, his welcoming nature, his beautiful heart.
Lee Silverstein is joining us from his home in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Lee is a natural helper of people; As a career management professional, he has been a consultant, mentor, and coach helping students, executives, and others land jobs or change careers.
He is a public speaker and Podcaster and I first got to know him by listening to his We Have Cancer Podcast.
He has been living for more than 12 years with stage IV colorectal cancer. To put that in perspective, less than 15 percent of people with his diagnosis live past 5 years.
Lee became part of the Man Up to Cancer community, and our Howling Place FB group, soon after it launched in 2020, and since that time he has become a beloved member. Guys look up to him for his openness, wisdom, and humor.
He recently reached a point where treatment is no longer working, there are no interventions to stop the disease, and he has entered into hospice care.
Today, we are going to talk about Lee’s passions, his family, his transition to hospice and the legacy he will leave for all of us.
Our good buddy Joe Bullock joins the show to look back over the past four years of working together on our mission to help men facing cancer, and the new era of Man Up to Cancer as a non-profit organization. Joe's the Chief Operating Officer in case you haven't heard!
Of course we get off track and talk about #decklife, Peeps, and gingerbread houses.
How sweet it is to bring back the MUTC Podcast for 2024!
The podcast currently has 86 episodes available.