[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: My name is Nancy Farrow, also known as Mama Lu, and I'm the founder of Epic Experience.
Epic Experience mission is to empower adult cancer survivors and thrivers to live beyond cancer.
I hope that as you listen to campfires of hope, you living beyond cancer, you find hope, healing and empowerment. Through stories and education, we aim to guide those impacted by cancer and more importantly, offer love and support to anyone out there who needs it.
This is beyond cancer.
[00:01:11] Speaker C: Hello, everyone. This is Gail, AKA Sunshine. Today we have Mark Hanson joining us around the campfire. Mike. Mark, it is so good to have you with us. Thank you for joining us.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Great to be here, Gail. Definitely. My camp name is Ugaruk.
[00:01:27] Speaker C: Please repeat that. Ugaroo.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Ugarook. I spelled it at camp and I learned today that I actually spelled it wrong, but it was U G, U R, U K. And it's okay.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: Well, then I have to start with this. What does that mean?
[00:01:42] Speaker A: It's the Inuit word for bearded seal. I spent about a year and a half up in Nome, Alaska back in the late 90s at this radio station and one of the staff members took to calling me that. And, and when we were on the way up to camp discussing what our nicknames were going to be for camp and for me, that was the nickname that won out.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Perfect. That is great. And those of you, I am actually looking at Mark right now, he does have a beard. I'm not going to say you look like a seal, but you do have a beard.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: All right, so tell us a little bit more about yourself. We've learned that already. But where are you from?
What kind of work are you in? Anything else you want to share with us?
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm a. A native Northwesterner. I live in Seattle currently and, and grew up in lumber towns out on the Pacific coast, but moved here out of college.
My background historically and career is I spent about 20 years in the PR marketing industry, 15 of those in an agency, and then about five years freelance up until roughly the time that I was diagnosed. And I still dabble in it here and there.
Now I drive school bus. So that's, you know, that's exciting.
Well, it can be, yeah. But it was certainly not a career development, any sort of development that I would have anticipated. But that's a job, right?
[00:03:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Now, do you have another fun fact besides the fact that you are a bearded seal?
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Well, it is also gnome related. I, when I was up there, I took part in the polar bear plunge in the Bear.
[00:03:33] Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: But, you know, typically that's a New Year's Day activity that people do, but on New Year's Day, the Bering Sea is frozen over, and so they wait until March or April, and then they'll have a big bonfire on the beach, and you go. And. I mean, I was. I was in and out in, like, 15 seconds.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I can't even imagine. Yeah, I'm sorry. Waiting till March does not mean it's balmy. I have a feeling.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: No, it was not. So that's my fun fact.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: All right, well, you've already brought up diagnosis, obviously, and how life changed. So tell us a little bit more about your story. When were you diagnosed? What kind of cancer treatment, surgery, all of that kind of stuff.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So it was the springtime of 2020. Obviously, everyone was hunkered down.
My wife and I had just signed up for some additional term life insurance, and the nurse came out to, you know, take blood and urine samples and send them off. Yeah. And just. And I figured it was just a formality. Right. I was, like, 52 years old, felt really healthy. And then I got a rejection letter a couple weeks later. I'm like, what's the deal?
And, you know, I. I understood hardly a word of it, but it was something about carcinogenic levels of something, and I'm like, whoa.
[00:04:58] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: So I contacted a hematologist at my local clinic. That led to talking to someone at Seattle Cancer Care alliance, also known as Fred Hutch.
And initially. So this is like May, early June. Ish.
Initially, they thought I had smoldering myeloma, which is a precancerous form of multiple myeloma.
And. And at the time, they were actually had started doing some clinical trials of smoldering myeloma. Usually they would just like, you know, the person is not showing any symptoms of multiple myeloma. So we're just going to let them go on their happy way, and then if symptoms start showing themselves, then we'll treat them. Well, they were starting to think, well, maybe if we start treating these people as if they had multiple myeloma, like giving them the same chemo regimen, maybe in lower doses, then we can either cure them or kick the can further down the road.
So my wife and I were.
Were looking through that. And at the time, you know, at the time, I. I kind of compare it to.
You're on the. In line for Space Mountain, the ride at Disneyland, and Disney does this really great job of, you know, kind of keeping the. You know, there's this certain tension that's kind of in the, in the air. And so there's, there's that we're like, this is really interesting. Well, at least I don't have cancer.
So anyway, so we were doing some tests and fast forward to November. I think November 12th was the last test I had to take to determine that I was. Whether I was. Would qualify for the clinical trial or not. And it was a PET scan. And it was, appropriately enough, it was the next day, Friday the 13th, that I got a phone call from my oncologist. And he said, we found a lesion, a bone lesion on your left, left pelvis.
And just like that, it moved my wife and I from the back of that line on Space Mountain. To know the precipice of that first hill when you're like looking down into an inky black void, you're like, yeah, what kind of ride is this going to be? So that was kind of.
Yeah. So that was fall of 2020.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: And so I started chemo in January the following year, five months of chemo and.
And then I had a bone marrow transplant in July of that year. So we, we have three kids, my wife and I, and so we shuttled them off to, you know, friends, family for five weeks so we could move into housing up at Fred Hutch.
They're in Seattle proper. And so we would be just minutes away in case there was a complication.
[00:08:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: And. Yeah, so.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: And how old are your kids? Or how old were they at the time?
[00:08:17] Speaker A: At the time? Gosh, now you're gonna make me do some math.
Let's see, that was. I think our now 18 year old would have been about 15, 16, I think.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: And we have a 14 year old, so she was like 10 or 11. And then our 12 year old was 9ish. So. Yeah.
[00:08:38] Speaker C: So what was the mental and emotional impact not only for you, but for your kids? I mean, that's, it's. I think it's one thing to be diagnosed with cancer. That's shocking enough now for five weeks, they're not even with you. They're not even. I mean, that must have been tough.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I feel like, you know, maybe I'm in denial to a certain point. I. I feel like God really protected our family during that time. I, I grew up in a Christian household, and when I got the diagnosis originally, I was like, oh, crap.
[00:09:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: You know, like I'm a freelance writer at this point.
[00:09:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: I just wrapped up a contract for one of the tech firms here. But you Know what, what kind of, you know, what's this going to be like?
And, and I, when I look back on that time, I mean, I think it was amazing that we did as well as we did and I think we did fairly well.
But you know, I. So My daughter, my 18 year old, she's been applying for scholarships and read some of her essays and she talks a little bit about that time and you know, she wants to go into nursing. I don't know to what degree my experience really impacted her, but yeah, I'm sure it made an indelible expression, an impression of some sort on my kids and you know, we tried to stay contact, call them every night, but you know, they, they were having a good time staying with their friends some, but towards the end.
Yeah, until they were ready to come home.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: But yeah, it was. And I think through that, for me personally, I think my faith is stronger because of it.
It's more real to me. But that doesn't mean that, that there weren't some, some speed bumps along the way and for sure.
So my kids definitely had questions, but I, I think the fact that they saw mom and dad were doing okay probably helped immensely. If we had been, you know, like freaking out, hair on fire or crashing out is, is my kids like to use the term nowadays, then, then things might have been a little, a little bit different. Yeah, but so, yeah, so that was, that was 20, 20, 2021.
And then.
Yeah, but, but of course my journey wasn't over at that point and I.
[00:11:24] Speaker C: Was going to say, yeah, so once it was over, what happened next? So you, you did your five weeks.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: I did my, I did my five weeks of recuperating. At one point they thought that I had a blood, you know, infection because I was spiking a fever. So they put me in the hospital for four or five days. That was like towards the tail end of that five weeks. And you know, and it was, it was beautiful weather outside.
You know, it's funny because during that time after your transplant, I mean, your energy level is just in the tank.
[00:12:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: And so I had like what I would call the chemo gate. You know, people just kind of looking almost like a zombie, just kind of dragging and I, I had a, I was in a pretty foul mood at times with my wife. You know, she was wanting me to eat all these healthy meals and you know, I'm a burger and fries kind of guy, you know, but yeah, so then, so I had a blood infection or what they thought was a blood infection. So they Put me in the hospital.
And here it was just beautiful weather. I had a view of Lake Washington out my hot, my hospital room window. And here I am stuck in the hospital.
Now the saving grace was I could order anything from the hospital menu.
[00:12:49] Speaker C: The first thing, that was where the hamburger and fries came in.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. It's kind of ironic here I'm a cancer patient. I've just been checked into the hospital and like, yeah, sure, what are what you want, but, but no. So that was like three or four days.
[00:13:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: And that, that's kind of where I, I turned the corner. My energy levels started, you know, spiking back up and I think they actually let me go home a week early. So that was, that was a real blessing.
So then, you know, three, three months later, something like that, they, they put me on low dose chemo to kind of help the, the, the bone marrow transplant. The, the goal was to, to drive the protein levels down so low that I think it's called minimal residual disease, something like that, where they, if they take your blood or take a, a stem cell biopsy, they're not going to be able to detect any of that protein. But they, and they didn't quite make that. It was close.
So they put me on low dose chemo. I was on that for three years and I actually just.
They did a new type of blood test back I think in October, November, because the bone marrow biopsy just wasn't, it wasn't giving them a conclusive answer and I achieved mrd. So I am now off of chemo, which is wonderful. Yeah, yeah. So that's awesome.
[00:14:20] Speaker C: So that, but that's recent. That's within the last couple months.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: It sounds like a couple of months.
[00:14:27] Speaker D: I hope you enjoy this episode of our Campfires of Hope podcast. Here at Epic Experience, we make it our goal to serve the cancer community through our collective programs such as this podcast, our week long adventure camps, regional programs across the country, and Thrive VR, a custom virtual reality experience benefiting patients in cancer centers. If you would like to be a part of our community of supporters, please go to epicexperience.org and click donate.
Thank you for listening to campfires of stories of cancer with gratitude Wingman, also known as Colin Farrow, executive director of Epic Experience. Epic Experience is a registered 501c3 organization.
[00:15:12] Speaker C: You've been in survivorship mode for I don't know how long you would consider it, but I'm guessing you, you, you weren't out of the clear, right? It's not like Life went back to normal.
So what was life during that time where you were kind of out of the woods but still not.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah, so I was, for that first year, I was, you know, applying for work. I was on disability, which was very helpful indeed.
And, but so I was applying for jobs, not, not really getting any sort of, making any sort of traction going back to some of the placement firms that, you know, I'd, I'd done work for, like when I'd been on contract, wasn't really nothing was happening on that front.
About a year went by, close to a year and a half. I think it was like Christmas of 23. And my wife said, she's like, you know what? I think you're depressed.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: I'm like, what made her say that? Like, what were the, the things she saw in you that caused her to come to that conclusion?
[00:16:31] Speaker A: Maybe just the way I was, you know, my manner of, yeah. Talking and, you know, I'm home most of the time and my, my wife was, she's a stay at home mom.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: So she sees me a lot.
[00:16:47] Speaker C: Yeah. Yep.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: And so, yeah, so I, I think, you know, the combination of that and just, just my manner speaking, my lack of energy. Yeah, she's like, yeah, I, I think you need to tell your oncologist about that. And that, that led to some, you know, working with a social worker that led me to, to meeting with some people who were, or at least one person who was, he facilitated a support group for people in my situation, you know, maybe who were trying to get back into work, back into the, the workforce. Uh, and I, I guess that opened my eyes to. Yeah, this guy in particular, I kind of explained what I was feeling like, like I was damaged goods.
And he said, what? Yeah, what, that's a thing. What, what your experience is like cancer survivorship.
And, and, and so I attended one of, one of the support group meetings and a guy there, I, I, he put it rather brutally. He said, my body tried to kill me.
Huh.
[00:18:13] Speaker C: That's one way of looking at it.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Yeah, that's one way of looking at it. I'm like, yeah, I kind of see his point in this. And, and most of the other people in that group were like, still in the thick of it. Yeah, we're still going through treatment and having a rough go of it.
Me, I felt like physically I had really, gosh, I was very, I was, I was thankful to God, I was thankful to my wife and was thankful to God that, you know, I had a nerve that, you know, they, they went to that Level of detail with this stupid term life screening test. Really, my oncologist was like, they don't normally go into that level of those things. And that my wife, for being just an incredible caregiver. Yeah. And. And the doctors and nurses. I mean, I felt so well taken care of through the entire process that it had kind of made that first year kind of a breeze. I'd just go in and do what they tell me to do. And so then it's when you're free to go, and it's like, wait a minute.
You're back. Back to real life. And so, yeah, I'm like.
It's just. It was. It was. It was hard. So, yeah, I was. I felt depressed. Depressed. And so, yeah, so my wife has been. She's really active on Facebook with some of the different groups for. For cancer survivors.
And so that's where she found out about Epic Experience.
[00:19:52] Speaker C: That was my next question. So it was during this time that she found out about it. What was your initial reaction? Like, this is something I'd like to do. This is not for me. What was your first thought?
[00:20:04] Speaker A: I was like, colorado, the outdoors, like, sign me up. I mean, yeah, I was. I was all over it. I didn't have to hesitate for a second that this was something that I would. I would be interested in doing. I. And I certainly had questions because I'm like, okay, what are we. What are a bunch of cancer survivors gonna do for a week? I mean, are we all gonna sit around in a circle and sing Kumbaya and, you know, get in touch with our feelings or what?
[00:20:39] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:20:39] Speaker A: You know, maybe that's. I think that's perhaps the quintessential response of. Of most guys when they think of a cancer survivor support group is something along those lines. But the fact that there was, like, this, you know, the outdoors element staying at this dude ranch and then in the mountains, like, yeah, I've got to check that out.
So.
So. Yeah, so.
[00:21:05] Speaker C: And so you went. When did you actually go?
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Well, so I was supposed to go in February of last year, but there was a scheduling conflict.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: Oh.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: And so the folks at Epic Experience were very gracious and. And saying, hey, you've already been approved, so we're just going to bump you to the list for this coming summer. So I went this last summer. It was just a fabulous time. I can't. Yeah, heavenly, for sure.
[00:21:34] Speaker C: So what. So did you have expectations going into it?
Let me pause that. I'll ask that first. Did you have anything that you were hoping to get out of it on the front side of it, I guess.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: For one, maybe a better understanding of the mental stuff that I was dealing with.
[00:21:58] Speaker C: Mm.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Maybe a way to put that behind me.
[00:22:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: And. And honestly, I mean, some of the mental stuff had to do with my cancer and some of the stuff, I think also had to do with the fact that I'd been applying for jobs. I had, I was in my 50s, applying for work and not hearing back. So some of it's just ageism, or call it what you want, and not feeling like I'd been a contributing member to society.
[00:22:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: So you've kind of been put on the shelf. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You know, we'll let you know. We'll. We'll give you a call.
[00:22:35] Speaker C: Right?
[00:22:37] Speaker A: Yeah, but, yeah, but there's certainly the whole cancer thing that is always kind of the. In the back of your mind. You're, you're, you're always a patient on some level.
[00:22:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: You've got something going on and not that. So that's kind of. That can be haunting, I guess. Haunting might be a little dramatic, but.
[00:22:57] Speaker C: It'S hanging over your head for sure, combined with all of the other things. So then you go to camp, you have your week there.
What did, what have you taken back from your week and incorporated into your life now?
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Well, so I would say, number one, and some of the people on, I hung with on a day to day basis, cancer is just a subplot.
It doesn't encapsulate your whole life. Okay. And yeah, I think that was the big thing. Also. Your share. Your story, your story has, has power.
So. And it's a bit ironic, you know, I'm a, I'm a storyteller for a living essentially.
And you know, the fact that it would be that that might be news to me is like, oh, yeah, I should probably share that with others, so be more intentional about that.
So, so, yeah, and so, so since then, and, And I guess a third thing would just be the fact that, yeah, we all, we, we are always patients on some level, but we're also survivors.
And for me personally, I think somehow God wants me, wants to use that, that I can use that to bring hope to other people who are going through similar challenges, similar circumstances.
So on that front, I was given the opportunity to share my story with a room of probably 100, 200 people from our church back in October. And, and what was really cool is as afterwards, this guy, you know, he's probably in his 60s or 70s, he came up to me and he said, yeah, I Went, I. I'm a cancer survivor. She's. He said. And I never, I've never been able to talk about it with my wife.
But after hearing you talk tonight, I think that Oats opened the door for my wife and I to talk about kind of what my experience has been, you know, after getting my treatment.
[00:25:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: So that was really. That was really powerful.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. How meaningful. I mean, I am sure you touch the lives of more than just that one man, but you made a difference in his life. Absolutely.
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And I. And I talked to a few other people in the room who had been cancer patients, were cancer survivors, or their family members were going through it, and, you know, whose kids were. You know, when I was diagnosed, I felt like I'm only 52, you know, right. I'm too young to have cancer. But that's. Sadly, that's not the case. But.
Yeah. So my hope is, my understanding from talking to other people at campus, it's pretty typical for men. For whatever reason, we are so averse to sharing our journey and getting together to talk about it. So we prefer to, I guess, suffer in silence and, and that's sad. So my hope is that this will eventually lead to an opportunity to maybe, you know, form a group where, you know, where guys can support each other and really help each other through this. This journey.
[00:26:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: Because it's never over. You know that.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: No, it's not. And you've been there. So, you know, obviously we don't know exactly what someone else is going through, but I don't know. I found it camp. The similarities are pretty striking. No matter what kind of cancer you've had, no matter where you are in your journey, there are definite similarities that we share, which is what forms the basis for that really strong and lasting community, which is really cool.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: Definitely.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: Is there anything else that you would share with someone listening that I haven't asked you about?
[00:27:18] Speaker A: That's a great question.
Listen to your doctors.
They are on your side. And, you know, take advantage of every opportunity you can too. I mean, I learned so much more about my health through this whole experience.
And, and, and, and, and listen to your wife or significant other. I mean, there was a time I actually. So I came back from camp and thought I was fine. And then my wife went with me to my. An oncology appointment like a week later. I thought I was fine emotionally.
[00:28:03] Speaker C: Right.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Mentally. And she raised a couple of questions and that just about, like, possible brain issues, kidney issues came up mainly, and that led to a whole raft of other tests after which I learned, you know, you're Mark, you're healthy. But. But, you know, it sent me for a loop, though.
[00:28:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: And. And I realized I'm not as emotionally and mentally stable as I think. Just the slightest thing can throw you off to. So seek out help when you need it. Don't be in denial.
[00:28:40] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. Thank you. That is well said and much needed for all of us to hear. Right.
Well, the last question I ask is the most important. Marshmallows over a campfire. Slow and steady or flame and crispy?
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Well, definitely slow and steady. And I have a great story about that one. Several years ago, all right, we were camping with my in laws. My. My mother in law brought a bag of those Texas size marshmallows.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: I mean, they're like, I don't think. Are they huge? No, I haven't seen them.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: They're like probably three or four times the size.
[00:29:16] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: Of your normal marshmallow. And so I'm doing the whole slow and steady routine on the campfire. And I mean, I did a masterful job on that marshmallow.
[00:29:26] Speaker C: If you do say you sell yourself. I love it.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, it was nice and golden brown.
[00:29:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: And I take it off the stick and bite into it and the center of it had turned just to liquid. It was going everywhere, you know, had it all over my. My beard and. Oh, gosh, it was. So fortunately they got some pictures and video of that, so.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, definitely. Definitely slow and steady.
[00:29:54] Speaker C: I love it. Well, Mark, thank you so much for being vulnerable. Thank you for sharing your story and how you learned that it's okay to be vulnerable and to share those things. And I like what you said too, that it's only part of your story. Right. It's a subplot to speak in story terms. So I really appreciate you being with us and sharing your whole experience.
[00:30:19] Speaker A: Thank you, Gail. Thanks for the opportunity.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: Until the next time we gather around the campfire, keep living Beyond Cancer Foreign.
[00:30:32] Speaker E: Thank you for listening to this episode of Campfires of Hope, Living Beyond Cancer. For more information about Epic Experience and our programs or to donate, please visit our
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