Unbreakable Spirit: Host of YouTube's 2BeYourOwnHero, Mark Kagayama's Story of Hope, Healing, and Quiet Determination in the Face of Stage IV Cancer

In episode 31 of Everything Cancer, we sit down with the gracious and perseverant Mark Kagayama, inspiring host of the YouTube channel 2BYourOwnHero. 

Mark shares his incredible journey from being a health-conscious vegan to facing a life-altering diagnosis of stage IV cancer. 

He takes us on his odyssey with him, with his genuine and unique style of insight, that makes his experience incredibly relatable. Mark's grace and good humor shine through, even in the telling of his darkest days.

Despite the grim prognosis from his oncologist, Mark refused to accept defeat and embarked on a mission to find his own path to healing.

Through relentless research, networking with cancer survivors worldwide, and embracing a new diet, Mark discovered the power of integrative care and the importance of living with purpose. 

His story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community. 

Tune in to hear how Mark created purpose to face each day in his darkest of times, molding a platform to inspire and support others facing similar battles. Learn why he believes there's always hope as long as you keep living and fighting.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking inspiration, practical advice, and a reminder that no matter the odds, there is always a way forward.

2BYourOwnHero YouTube Channel 

Marks' email: oilsallwell@gmail.com

Mark's Caring Bridge Blog

Transcript

Everything Cancer (00:02.336)
Hello everybody and welcome to the Everything Cancer podcast. We have a dynamic guest here for you, Mr. Mark Kagayama, who hosts his own YouTube channel, To Be Your Own Hero. And he's been doing this, I believe for about two years. Is that correct, Mark?

Mark (00:24.283)
No, actually I started in early 2021, so it's gone. Yeah, it's been it's been a while.

Everything Cancer (00:28.12)
wow.

It's been a while and he's featured some amazing guests on To Be Your Own Hero and he has a really incredible story to share with us about his own journey and I'd really like him to go ahead and start sharing that with us. So Mark, the floor is yours.

Mark (00:52.091)
Thank you so much Jill, I appreciate you having me on your podcast and it's an honor. Back in late 2020, one day out of the blue, I could not get out of bed. I was up until that point in time, I had been a vegan for 10 years, thought I had the greatest diet in the world.

I worked out four to five times a week. I thought I was, I actually was in really good shape. Getting better now. But, so I thought I was, you know, bulletproof pretty much. And one day out of the blue, I just could not get out of bed. And it scared me. You know, when

when you think you're healthy and then all of sudden something like that happens where you can't even move and do something as simple as that. That's how it all started. so my wife got me out of bed and got me over to the doctor and went to the doctor. it was actually a chiropractor and naturopath. And he kind of patched me up.

That's when I knew I had to do a deep dive into what was really going on. And so I got with an oncologist and we started doing a lot of in -depth deep testing and I got tested for months. It was several months and I knew something was wrong because you don't do the things that I did unless something is seriously wrong.

And so it was just one. mean, I was just going all around the whole body, one organ to the next. And, you know, and it was not a lot of fun. It was very invasive. And the thought that kept going through my head was how in the world did a human being figure out how to do this to another human being? And I thought, my goodness, that is crazy.

Mark (03:13.995)
And so that's how it all started.

Everything Cancer (03:18.163)
And what did you find

Mark (03:20.891)
Well, my oncologist called me into her office in, oof, I don't remember exactly when it was, but it was around the beginning of March or so. And she called me into her office, had my wife come with me, and she said, you have stage four prostate bone and lung cancer, and your cancer is so bad that I cannot cure you.

And at that point I was actually relieved to at least know what I was dealing with because up until then everything was a mystery and everything was just, you know, I felt like a blind man walking in a glass house, not knowing which way to turn or which way to go. And so that aspect of it was a big relief to finally, after all those weeks and weeks and weeks

I mean, all those just unbelievable tests, it finally came to a head. So that was very relieving to me at that point.

Everything Cancer (04:34.708)
Wow. So what was your path forward like after

Mark (04:40.835)
Well, I knew that when your oncologist tells you she cannot cure you, I was okay with that because I knew that somehow some way I was just, I just got in my mind that somehow some way I was going to find a way to cure myself. You know, she was, you know, I knew she was going to do something,

She basically told me that she was going to make my remaining days as comfortable as possible and you know, get my affairs in order, which my wife was freaking out and so she rushed us to get all the paperwork done with trusts and all that kind of stuff, which I was fine with. We had to do it anyway. But I knew...

Everything Cancer (05:26.026)
Yeah.

Mark (05:40.985)
that the screen that we're looking at right now, I knew the answers were out there. I just had to find a way to find them. And so that's, that was what I was doing. And so that began my journey. I was searching and I started off, I used, actually used LinkedIn to get in touch with,

cancer patients and cancer survivors all over the world. And what an incredible resource that has been. And I still use it all the time. And I still learn things, you know, literally every day because, know, everybody does their cancer journey in different way and everybody has a different type of cancer. Everybody is in a different place physically. Everything is different.

Everything Cancer (06:28.938)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (06:39.195)
It was important for me to figure out what was going to work for me and what was the best path for me moving forward. so that's what I started doing was just reaching out every day, reaching out to I set a goal was to reach out to at least one new person every single day to learn something about, you know, what I was going to do. And that's that was my plan moving

Everything Cancer (07:09.406)
I'm sure there are a lot of days that was a really tough goal to reach.

Mark (07:13.851)
Yes, and not for the reasons that you would think, because what started happening was I was getting inundated by friends and family who wanted to know how I was doing. And I was really touched by the fact that people cared so much, but at the same time, it was just getting to be overwhelming.

because I tend to talk a little bit. I'd be on the phone with each person for at least a half an hour and sometimes an hour. And that was just not sustainable. And so I developed my plan as I went along. And what we came up with to resolve that issue was I create

And it was my sister and my daughter's suggestion was to create a Caring Bridge site and it's free. And so that way I could post all the information that I got in one place and people could go to it and, you know, find out what was going on rather than me having to repeat it, you know, 10, 11, 12 times a day. That was so much better. And it was just so such a relief. And what

discovered since then, there's an app now called MyTearCrew. And I interviewed the woman and her name is Paula Seifarin. And she created this app and it's an interactive app to help patients of any kind deal with, you know, friends and family. And so that is a really, really great app.

Again, it's mycarecrew .com and this way a patient could put in into the app exactly what they need. know, for instance, I need if somebody can make me a meal, somebody can mow my lawn, somebody can clean my house and friends and family could respond to it and you control who receives this information. So that's a great alternative.

Mark (09:40.921)
That's that's fairly new. But the caring bridge, I still update it every week, but it's kind of. There's just a better, better opportunity for cancer patients and and health patients to deal with things.

Everything Cancer (10:02.484)
Mm -hmm.

I'm gonna have to raid your YouTube channel for people to have on the podcast.

Mark (10:11.547)
Be my guest, a lot of people do.

Everything Cancer (10:16.444)
I bet you've had a lot of great guests. Actually, there's a lot of really good podcasts out there that, and I hope people are doing the same for me too, because there's just so many great people that have been here as well. Okay, so what brought you to LinkedIn as opposed to say Facebook or something like

Mark (10:39.493)
That's a great question. I think I used LinkedIn because I already had a number of followers on LinkedIn. And, you know, I started noticing, you know, people posting about cancer and their cancer journeys and things like that. And I just never, this is a personal choice. I just never cared for Facebook, even though they have a very large cancer following.

never really cared for Instagram and the people that I've met on LinkedIn tend to be professionals and more serious and you know but that's again that's a personal choice a personal preference of mine but that that's a great question so I already had I don't know a few thousand followers or something already so I figured you know I'll use that and explore more and it's turned out to

a great choice for me, but that doesn't mean the next person, you know, doesn't use Facebook or doesn't use Instagram or, or, you know, any of the number of other platforms.

Everything Cancer (11:41.684)
Mm -hmm.

Everything Cancer (11:52.234)
would imagine for anybody that's listening that the information and this is not to diss anybody who uses Facebook because I know a lot of people do use Facebook, but I would imagine because of the professional nature of LinkedIn that first of all, like you said, the people that are on LinkedIn are more serious. They're there typically for a professional reason. They realize that their current employer or potential employers can see their comments.

or their postings, but also their responses are going to typically be evidence -based or they're going to be typically, I just think that you probably have a lot less noise in your responses and a lot more really solid information in your responses. So I'm sure that was helpful too. You had less to filter through.

Mark (12:49.851)
You know, I never really used social media extensively until I started using LinkedIn and and you know, I've been blessed with Quite a few followers now. I have in fact probably with the next day or two I'll hit 25 ,000 followers so it's it's it's been really Really really awesome for me

whatever a person feels comfortable with or what they're used to using or whatever, I always stress to everybody. A cancer journey is a personal journey. Make it your own because your journey is not going to be the same as mine or the next person. It's going to be different because all the factors are different and we're all different people.

Everything Cancer (13:34.048)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Mark (13:50.285)
You have to do what you feel comfortable with. And fortunately for me, LinkedIn has turned out to be the answer.

Everything Cancer (14:00.874)
Well, that's a good reminder for me and thank you. And also, the last thing you need to do when you're newly diagnosed is to try and learn something new. Because you're having all kinds of new information thrown at you. So anyway, what did you do? So where are you now in your cancer journey and how did you get

Mark (14:16.715)
Right.

Mark (14:30.075)
That's a very loaded question.

Everything Cancer (14:32.414)
Yeah, it is. And I happen to know it is. But I think it's of great value to the people here that are listening.

Mark (14:41.117)
I

Mark (14:44.603)
It's been, it's been a long, very, very long journey, with a lot of things involved, particularly at the beginning, back start, I was diagnosed in, as I had mentioned earlier in 2021, in the spring. And, what happened was I changed my diet completely. I,

quit being a vegan and I added, there's so many different facets to this that I can only touch on because of time, but I changed my diet completely and I've been fortunate to know a couple of great nutritionists who've helped me, who've worked on, in fact, one of the nutritionists is a good friend of mine. And what he told me really resonated with

because he said, you have to get rid of your vegan diet. And I said, yeah, but I've been a vegan for 10 years. And he said, well, if you stick with it, you're going to probably die a vegan. And he said, I'm going to give you a diet. And if you follow it, I believe that you'll be around in a year. But if you don't follow it, I don't know what's going to happen to you.

And so that really resonated with me because he had worked with a lot of cancer patients and he had a company that he dealt with cancer patients and one of his feature products was reishi mushroom. And so he stressed that that was a real big product that I should start using. And so I changed my diet, I followed his diet.

You know, we added organic beef, grass -fed beef, organic turkey, organic chicken, as well as wild salmon, and then a lot of fruits, a lot of vegetables, nuts, and everything that I eat is organic. And so I totally changed my diet and it's turned out, I'm still here, it's turned out to be the right thing for me.

Everything Cancer (17:10.496)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (17:16.227)
And I tell everybody that, I don't say this is something that you have to do. I tell them this worked for me. If you want to take a look at it, I'm happy to send it to you. And, you know, you make your own choice. don't, I don't force anything that I've done on anybody. I just say, you know, this has worked for me because I'm not a doctor and I'm not going to say

Everything Cancer (17:42.058)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (17:45.529)
you know, that I am an expert or anything like that. I'm just saying I've, I've used this and it's, you know, gotten me to where I

Everything Cancer (17:55.168)
That must've been really, I don't want to say difficult because you were faced with a difficult choice, but after being a vegan for 10 years, that must've been hard to go to eating meat. Yeah.

Mark (18:08.211)
very, but it was very hard at first, but then I started eating it and I was like, man, this is so delicious. And so it was, that thought didn't last for very long.

Everything Cancer (18:18.784)
Ha ha

Everything Cancer (18:25.02)
Okay. My sister was vegan for a while and then she went back to eating meat based on a book she had read and she actually started feeling much better and she only eats organic. But she said the same thing. She said it was hard at first and then she was she said this was really good. You look great.

Mark (18:44.699)
Let me add one thing. My daughter came from New York and stayed with me for about three months and she was cooking for me.

I was eating so because I was when I was really really weak and I was down to 123 pounds and she was Making me I was and this is the truth She was making me five to six full meals a day and I would eat it within minutes I'm she said I've never seen anything like that because as soon as I'd put a plate down it was

you would just demolish it and that went on like all day long because my body was so starved for protein and I believe that if I hadn't changed my diet at that time that I wouldn't have been able to reverse it because I have so thin and I look back on my old YouTube videos, my first ones and it's frightening.

Everything Cancer (19:58.386)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Well, I'm really glad to be sitting here talking with you. So that's I and the other thing I'm so glad you referred me to. And again, I'm not saying everybody has to read this and I'll go into I'll go into a little bit further of a segue, but I read Radical Remission and by

Mark (19:58.418)
I was a skeleton.

Mark (20:05.52)
Me too!

Mark (20:26.619)
Kelly Turner.

Everything Cancer (20:27.38)
Thank you, Dr. Kelly Turner. And the NCI, National Cancer Institute, has published articles on their recognizing value in the mind -body connection and also in eating organic foods and foods that are clean, not processed foods. And so they recommend eating foods that are minimally processed.

And so I think there's a lot of value in doing something similar to what you did. Obviously you went further, you met with a nutritionist and so on. But I believe that based on the articles I'm reading and how I feel after I practice mindfulness and how much clearer my mind is and how much there is based in symptom management and

clearer thinking, which a lot of this is about is being able to make better decisions, clearer thinking, having better conversations. I think there is a lot to that.

Mark (21:34.971)
You bring up a great point. Okay.

Mark (21:42.235)
One of the things, what was fascinating, absolutely fascinating to me was I was so sick that I couldn't leave my room for three months. And I, you know, I could, I could barely walk. I, took me, you know, 10 minutes to walk across a small room. It was bad. It was bad. It took me a half an hour to take a shower.

Everything Cancer (22:04.947)
my gosh.

Mark (22:10.299)
But I forced myself to do it every single day because I knew that was the only way that I was going to get better. But what was fascinating to me was

Mark (22:25.413)
You know how they say that when you lose a sense, other senses are enhanced.

And I thought, huh, my whole body is in bad shape. But what was really incredible to me was that my mind just got really, really sharp. It was my mind that got enhanced as opposed to another sense. And that was fascinating to me because my mind was just so hungry for knowledge to learn about

you know, different things related to cancer, meet cancer patients. And so I couldn't wait to wake up in the morning because that's what I started to do. First thing in the morning was, you know, get on LinkedIn and meet somebody, somebody else or continue a conversation. But I just found that to be one of the most fascinating things on my journey.

Everything Cancer (23:34.204)
You did something really valuable there, Mark. You gave yourself a purpose. And that is really valuable when you're going through a dark time to have a purpose is huge. And if even if that's a hobby or books that you enjoy reading or a game that you're playing with someone when you're going through a tough, tough time, having a purpose and intent, you just said, I look forward to looking up in the morning so that I could go on to LinkedIn.

and find out more information, talk to somebody else.

Mark (24:08.787)
I was every day. couldn't I couldn't wait to wake up. In fact, I had a caregiver after my daughter left and she said to me, she said, I've never seen anybody deal with with anything like you did. In fact, she said, I complained to you more than you complained to me. In fact, she stopped and she said, actually, you didn't complain at

And so that was, you know, a huge compliment because every day, the first thing I would say to myself is, you know, this is going to be a great day. It's going to be

Everything Cancer (24:52.756)
What a way to, no matter what you were going through, what a way to start your day, really. And you practiced gratitude.

Mark (24:56.877)
Mm -hmm. Absolutely.

Mark (25:03.063)
And so there was always, there was always hope for me because I was just like, you know, I was like Pac -Man, you know, one of my old favorite games was Ms. Pac -Man and you know how those things used to chew up, you know, those various fruits and all that kind of stuff. I was a Pac -Man who

Everything Cancer (25:09.301)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (25:30.829)
who was doing that with knowledge. was eating knowledge and hungry for knowledge. And so I was always doing that. it's just it was. You're right, it gave me a purpose and it was I enjoyed it. I really enjoy meeting new people, hearing stories, and that's why I just. Just love my YouTube channel to be your own hero.

to meet and hear. In fact, I interviewed you twice to meet and hear, because everybody has an incredible story. these are the stories that are the real heroes and not just the ones you see that play fake ones on TV. These are actual real life heroes.

Everything Cancer (26:05.382)
Hahaha!

Everything Cancer (26:29.524)
So they are, and I love your YouTube channel. With Pac -Man, when you get the ghost, is that when you get a plate of protein?

Mark (26:39.227)
No, I didn't even reach the coast to eat the plate of protein. Ask my daughter. Yeah. And these weren't, you know, just like small plates. These were big plates filled to, you know, overflowing. And I would literally eat the whole thing in 10 to 15 minutes because I was so hungry.

Everything Cancer (26:41.739)
No.

Everything Cancer (26:48.488)
and you light up.

Everything Cancer (26:55.04)
Yeah!

Mark (27:08.343)
and it was so good and she's a great cook. So it worked out really well.

Everything Cancer (27:14.816)
So what compelled you to start to be your own hero? mean, what that, cause that had to be a heavy lift with everything you were going

Mark (27:25.679)
No, it actually, actually wasn't because I wanted to chronicle my journey on video because I, I felt like not a lot of stage four cancer patients would be willing to do that. And I've had a background where I've done a lot of public speaking at an early age. And so that was no big deal. was different using zoom.

and using a different platform like that, because I still love to get in front of a live audience. There's nothing that beats that. But I really enjoy using Zoom and using the platform. I don't know how many videos I have now, but it's, I don't know, it's hundreds. I don't even know how many now. I'd have to go.

back and take a look, it's just been really, my goal when I started was I just wanted to help one person. But the thing that I came to find real early on was the one person that I was helping the most was actually me.

Everything Cancer (28:49.598)
I'm not surprised, but I bet you've helped a lot of other people too. That gave you purpose as

Mark (28:55.695)
Yes, yes it did. It did. I was always so busy that I never had a chance to, you know, a lot of people say, you know, it's like, it's so bad and it's so awful and believe me, cancer is not fun. And there's a lot of bad to it. But I always ask the question.

You know, so many people ask the question, why me? But the question that I asked myself was, why not me? You know, am I supposed to be doing something to help people because of the situation? And I kept getting the resounding answer was yes. And so I said, okay, that's what I'm going to do.

And it's turned out to be I've posted a new video once a week, every week without fail since early 2021.

Everything Cancer (30:09.6)
That's impressive. I know that that's impressive with me doing the podcast and I'm only 30 episodes in. So I know that's a lot of work. What consistent message or primarily consistent message from your guests have you found most inspiring?

Mark (30:35.643)
I think what really resonates with me is, know, when people get cancer, and I see so, I mean, I see so much cancer out there. you know, being, you know, with what we do, you just, you see a lot.

Mark (31:02.743)
I, you know, when I first got cancer, I thought, man, how could you have anything worth than stage four in three different places?

And I come to find out through my YouTube channel and meeting all the people with cancer and patients and survivors

I mean, what I have is nothing compared to some of these people. Some of these people are just go through unbelievable things. it's absolutely blows my mind what people have overcome in their lives. you know, I feel it's an honor, absolute honor for me to talk to them.

Everything Cancer (31:45.46)
Yes.

Mark (31:54.711)
And that's the way I feel because it's just kind of like, for me, it's kind of like treasure hunting. When I go on LinkedIn and, you know, working the social media thing and all that, and to find a new person, you know, and they pop up literally every day now. I I get messages, hey, you I heard you talk to somebody else that I know.

And there's a lot of referrals and I have people sending me guests and things like that. I mean, the stories out there are just absolutely mind blowing. Really are. mean, I have, you know, I'll cite a couple of examples. have, we run a group on Monday nights called Cancer Conquering Community.

Everything Cancer (32:35.604)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (32:51.699)
And all of my moderators, we're all cancer patients or survivors, and a couple of them in particular, they've been dealing with cancer since, one of them's been dealing with cancer since birth, and the other one has been dealing with cancer since they were three years old. And the one that's been dealing with cancer since he was three years old, he's in his 30s now, and he

Couple of weeks ago, he got diagnosed legally with blindness. And so, I mean, he's been through, I think he said 11 brain surgeries and just unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable things. And then I look at my situation, it wasn't that bad compared to what they've been through. So yeah, I

There's always somebody out there with the situation worse.

Everything Cancer (33:54.004)
Wow. And like you said, every everybody's journey is personal. It's very personal. So it could be a stage one breast cancer to a woman who has also been through a lot of other trauma in their life. And it's like it's maybe the straw that's breaking the camel's back for them. So I think we have to look at the whole person too.

and look at everything they've been through or the body image changes they're going through that, which may be internal or external. Cancer changes every person that goes through it. And it's their, as you were saying, their individual journey. And I think it's really easy to compare ourselves. I think you're doing it in a positive way in terms

If there is somebody, I thought I had it bad, there's somebody worse off than me. But I look at the community that you have, that is in your group, they're there to support each other and the shared experience. And I'm glad that anybody that's listening tonight is here or listening at any given time because they're also here because of the shared experience. And I hope that they reach out to a community.

It's the people that don't do that, that I

Everything Cancer (35:30.56)
probably are in a darker place because they're suffering alone. They're experiencing this alone. They're not getting that support mark. And I hope they find a way to reach out because I think it's invaluable.

Mark (35:46.383)
You brought up a great point because about six years ago, my sister, she got cancer really, really bad. she would not, she became essentially a recluse, a hermit. And she didn't want to see, she didn't want to see her family, friends, nobody. She just shut herself off from everything.

And I mean, her cancer was really, really bad. I mean, it was literally throughout her whole body. And we had to fight to see her before she passed. my mom's she would only see my mom and my sister. And there there there's six siblings, five siblings outside of

So we all kept saying, hey, we've got to see her. Otherwise, she's going to pass and we wouldn't have chance to say anything. So about five days before she passed, she finally agreed to let us see her. And I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life because it

Frightening I mean absolutely to your core frightening because you know you know somebody all your life and I mean she Laid there. She was under hospice care at the very end She must have weighed no more than 70 pounds, and she was just bones with loose skin on her and I mean she

could barely talk, but we talked.

Mark (37:47.327)
And I walked away that day saying to myself, if I ever got cancer, that I'm going to do it a totally different way. she gave me the blueprint of what not to do. And so I basically took everything that she did and I did the opposite thing. You know, she was very private and wouldn't, you

didn't want to see people, I wanted to see everybody. so, you know, but again, it's, cancer's a very, any health journey is a very personal thing. And so that's, so I'm thankful to her that she gave me the blueprint for what I've done.

Everything Cancer (38:37.108)
And I'm sure a lot of other people, she impacted you and she impacted you in a very positive way. And you in turn have impacted many, I know you have many, many other people, Mark. I mean, look at the number of followers you have because of the impact you have and look at the followers you have on your YouTube channel. You, you have impacted, you've impacted me. You and I had that conversation the other night about

Mark (38:41.797)
Yes.

Everything Cancer (39:08.092)
you've impacted the way I look at things now. You make a difference in many, probably in ways you don't even realize about how people look at things.

Mark (39:19.749)
Thank you, Jill. That's, it's an honor, absolute honor.

Everything Cancer (39:24.82)
Well, it's been my honor to have met you and to have had a chance to have these conversations with you. And I hope we have many more whether or not they're on a camera. Yeah, it's been a lot on camera, but you know, and I hope we get to meet someday too. Is there, it would be awesome. Is there anything you would like to add to our conversation that you haven't had a chance to talk about

Mark (39:34.203)
It's been a lot on camera.

Mark (39:44.867)
Absolutely, that would be awesome.

Mark (39:57.219)
Anybody going through cancer, and we've talked about this before, if you're breathing and you're semi upright or upright, you have an opportunity and you have an opportunity to live. And until you're six feet under, then there is always hope, no matter what.

And that's the thing that drives me the most crazy is people who believe everything that their doctor tells them. If I believe my doctor saying that, you know, I would be gone in, in, in a short while, I wouldn't be here. And so that's why I was so determined because I, I still have so much more to do. and I've been so

wonderfully blessed with a great family and friends and we have our just incredibly wonderful bundle of joy, our nine month old granddaughter. And she just brings us just joy that we've never experienced before as grandparents. So there's so much in life if you look

you know, how great it is. I I want to just share a quick story and this, this will kind of sum it up. So I was, I was in my room for three months

Everything Cancer (41:28.842)
Sure.

Mark (41:39.109)
you know, when you're in one place for that long, gets kind of stale. But I always made it a point every single day to try to best myself from the day before. So if I walked across a room once, you know, then I try to walk and progress was very slow, very, very, very slow. In fact, that's what I would say to

people with cancer is if you're making any kind of progress, that's a great thing. You know, because you're not going to see progress in leaps and bounds. I mean, it'll be slow, but as long as you're making progress, that's what's important. So when I finally had the opportunity to leave my room and go downstairs, we were living in, we had a two story house when we were in California and I walked out my front door for the first time

months. That was for me a life changing experience. And you say, wow, what's so great about walking outside your front door? For me, everything was different. You know, I took, you know, and I talk about this on my YouTube channel. I talk about sleepwalking through life and just going through the motions on a daily basis. And

That was me. And, you know, I'd walk out the front door every day, go in my car and do what I needed to do. You know, go to work or whatever. And I wouldn't stop and really take things in. And so after three months of being in my room to finally open that door, every single step was just for me, it was just incredible, absolutely incredible.

because I've looked at things that I'd walked by thousands of times, literally thousands, and not taking notice to it. And I thought, boy, you've been really blind for a long time. And just, I walked outside and I'd look at the sky and I thought, wow, that's, I mean, it's like really.

Mark (44:06.285)
really, really blue. That was on a clear day, of course, in California. you know, I look at the trees and I see the leaves and then I hear the birds and I look at the mountains and all these things that I'd walked by so many times and just took it for granted. I stopped and I realized, wow, this is really what's important. The things

we take for granted tend to be the most important things that we have. And so that's what I would like to share with people is if you're going through something, don't forget to live because living is, know, that's why we're on this earth is to live and not just take things for granted.

Everything Cancer (45:00.904)
I love that, don't forget to live. That's great.

Everything Cancer (45:07.738)
I would like to say that I believe you're a wonderful example of why looking into integrative care in addition to working with your oncologist can really make a difference for you. You did both. That's what integrative means. You integrate it into your oncology care because your oncologist is there to take care of the oncology aspect, the integrative aspects such as your nutritionist.

is there to make sure they're not going to do anything that's going to interfere with your treatment, but instead take care of the whole you, which is what they did. And you didn't forget to live.

Everything Cancer (45:53.854)
Mark, thank you so much for your time here and your amazing insight. And I would love to have you back sometime.

Mark (46:01.441)
Absolutely, Jill, anytime. We tend to meet that way,

Everything Cancer (46:03.592)
and I'll have a go ahead.

Everything Cancer (46:09.224)
Yeah, we do. We do. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. And thank you everybody for joining us for this episode of Everything Cancer.

Mark (46:14.212)
thank you. Thank you, Jill.