Speaker 1: It's ato six at fifty five KRCD Talk station. Hope
Speaker 1: everyone's having a happy Friday, please to Welcome to the
Speaker 1: fifty five KRC Morning Show. Bill Potts. His background motivational speaker,
Speaker 1: business leader, community builder. He's held executive roles at Ironman
Speaker 1: Group and Clearwater Marine Aquarium, co founder and managing director
Speaker 1: of marketing agency Remedy three sixty five lecturer at Tulane University.
Speaker 1: In addition to being an Ironman triathlete, he is also
Speaker 1: a five time cancer survivor and author of the book
Speaker 1: We're talking about today, Up for the Fight. How you
Speaker 1: to advocate for yourself as you battle cancer from a
Speaker 1: five time survivor. Bill Potts, Welcome to the fifty five
Speaker 1: KRC Morning Show. It's a real pleasure to have you
Speaker 1: on this morning.
Speaker 2: Oh Brian, it's a pleasure to be on your show.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: And according to my producer, you and I have something
Speaker 1: in common and that's lymphoma.
Speaker 2: Yeah we do, we do. Yeah, mine, I had stage
Speaker 2: three lymphalma in two thousand and eight and then came
Speaker 2: back in twenty fourteen, twenty nineteen, and twenty and twenty.
Speaker 2: So we do have that in common and by the way,
Speaker 2: congrats on your success with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I just recently had a CT scan, actually
Speaker 1: two back to back. There were several months apart. My
Speaker 1: lymph nodes did start growing back. I had retuction treatment
Speaker 1: and I was able to keep it at bay for
Speaker 1: about three three and a half years. But the scan
Speaker 1: revealed that the nodes were growing a little bit. But
Speaker 1: I've been given the option of just sort of taking
Speaker 1: a weight and see approach, and that's currently where I am.
Speaker 1: So I engaged in some dietary changes. I removed all
Speaker 1: the sugar from my diet. I've reduced a lot of
Speaker 1: the carbs for my diet, lost some weight, So I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that's going to keep it at bay, but
Speaker 1: I know there's a correlation between sugar and cancer. Whether
Speaker 1: it's lymphoma related, don't know, but I was willing to
Speaker 1: try that out and I feel a lot healthier for it.
Speaker 1: So next scan taking place in June, and I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that we don't see any more growth. But I know
Speaker 1: there's treatment options out there for me. And you've obviously
Speaker 1: been through that which particular respective you said stage three.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had stage three non Hodgkin's lymphoma, So that's yeah.
Speaker 2: I went through retuction as well, and there was recently
Speaker 2: as four years ago, I went through a more harsh
Speaker 2: treatment of chemotherapy treatment. So yeah, it's it's been interesting.
Speaker 2: My wife jokes that it took me getting cancer five
Speaker 2: times before I finally cleaned up my diet, but that
Speaker 2: that does make a difference. So I am very very
Speaker 2: strict on you know, fruits and vegetables. I limit dairy,
Speaker 2: red meat, alcohols limited, and so I lean into as
Speaker 2: healthy a diet as I can, like you do. And
Speaker 2: also I lean into exercise because for me, I'm trying
Speaker 2: always to be ready for when it comes back and
Speaker 2: also do everything I can to lengthen the amount of
Speaker 2: time before that happens.
Speaker 1: Well, you got to be physically fit to do compete
Speaker 1: in Iron Man.
Speaker 2: Come on, Bill, Yeah, that's true. That was trying to
Speaker 2: prove to my three kids that no matter what happens
Speaker 2: to you in life, if you get focused and put
Speaker 2: your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. And so yeah,
Speaker 2: I taught them that lesson. Well, and a couple of
Speaker 2: my kids followed in my footsteps on the triathlon stuff,
Speaker 2: which is pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Well, what motivated you to be so open and share
Speaker 1: your cancer journey with and of course write the book.
Speaker 1: Up for the fight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't my idea. I actually was going through
Speaker 2: a chemo er B treatment in September of twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: and before that treatment, I'd had surgery to remove a
Speaker 2: tumor below my right hip, and when I woke up
Speaker 2: from the surgery, Brian, I had an emotional breakdown and
Speaker 2: told the nurse that I was done. I wasn't up
Speaker 2: for the fight anymore, that I knew what was coming,
Speaker 2: and I'd had a great life and a great career
Speaker 2: and a great family, and I was throwing in the towel.
Speaker 2: So she called in the pastor at Mayo and we
Speaker 2: came and talked about it for a while, about an
Speaker 2: hour and a half, and she said, hey, Bill, let's
Speaker 2: reconnect with the reasons why you should fight. And I
Speaker 2: did fight for my family, fight for my friends, fight
Speaker 2: for my meeting, for work, and also to fight to
Speaker 2: make God proud. So I'd reset my mindset and was
Speaker 2: really up for the fight. At the end of this conversation, Brian,
Speaker 2: she leans into me and goes nos and noses says,
Speaker 2: I got one more thing for you, Bill, like what
Speaker 2: she goes. I want you to turn your pain into
Speaker 2: purpose and write a book to help others. So I
Speaker 2: thought about it for a few seconds and said yes,
Speaker 2: reached out to a publisher who the CEO called and said,
Speaker 2: do we want to do this book? I'm like, why
Speaker 2: she goes. I lost one of my best friends to
Speaker 2: breast cancer recently, and this is the book I wish
Speaker 2: somebody had written for her. So we want to write
Speaker 2: a book like What to Expect when You're Expecting, but
Speaker 2: for cancer patients, with some stuff thrown in for the
Speaker 2: friends and family of cancer patients as well, because it
Speaker 2: will be meaningful and it will change lives and hopefully
Speaker 2: save some lives. And so I wrote it while I
Speaker 2: was going through treatment and was really thankful to get
Speaker 2: that done and get it out.
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned the loss of hope and thrown in
Speaker 1: the towel. How does one you know after you get
Speaker 1: a cancer diagnosis? And of course some cancers are far
Speaker 1: more aggressive than others. Some are caught far later after metastasization,
Speaker 1: you know, stage four cancers and things like that, and
Speaker 1: people only learn late in the process that they have
Speaker 1: this progressive disease. Obviously there's going to be a problem
Speaker 1: finding some hope amid all that gloom and doom? How
Speaker 1: does one advocate for oneself? And and you know I've
Speaker 1: always turned I have great family support. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: I married out. I can't kicked my coverage with marriage,
Speaker 1: and I get inspiration from my wife and for my
Speaker 1: family and for my mom, and I try not to
Speaker 1: even think about it. I just ignore it like it's
Speaker 1: no big deal. It's like just part of my life.
Speaker 1: But see, I've got I'm surrounded, and I also have
Speaker 1: good doctors. So what does one do to advocate for
Speaker 1: themselves amid all this?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's by the way, I ticked my
Speaker 2: coverage too with my wife, and I've got the same
Speaker 2: family support. You know. For me, it's about treating it.
Speaker 2: Advocating for myself is that I have to own my
Speaker 2: own journey, meaning I have to be involved and my
Speaker 2: family has to be involved in all these decisions from
Speaker 2: where to go, to getting second opinions, to doing things
Speaker 2: like you're doing, managing your diet and exercise all those things.
Speaker 2: So the way I deal with it is I deal
Speaker 2: with it a little bit like it's my job. So
Speaker 2: it's my job when I'm going through it to get better. Now,
Speaker 2: my job is to prevent it from coming back and
Speaker 2: make sure I'm in good shape when it comes back.
Speaker 2: And so a lot of folks look at the healthcare
Speaker 2: journey as the doctors own it, and it's really not
Speaker 2: the case. It's you own it. It's your life, and
Speaker 2: so you have to be really involved in all those
Speaker 2: decisions and understand what's happening and surround yourself with the
Speaker 2: right team of doctors and the support that you need,
Speaker 2: and then it's your journey, not somebody else's.
Speaker 1: Well, how about practical stuff that folks can take to
Speaker 1: make their treatment days more comfortable. Now, Fortunately, as you
Speaker 1: probably know, retuction doesn't really come with a whole lot
Speaker 1: of side effects, unlike chemotherapy, which has some profoundly negative
Speaker 1: side effects. So along the lines is something more aggressive
Speaker 1: in terms of treatment and more profound in terms of
Speaker 1: side effects, chemo therapy. What what can folks do to
Speaker 1: make that make it more comfortable or less painful in
Speaker 1: their life?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think first of all, you've got the emotional
Speaker 2: and mental piece, which, as you know, even walking into
Speaker 2: a retucentreatment, the emotional side of it. Oh and so,
Speaker 2: and I actually actually had an antaplexics reaction to to
Speaker 2: retucent time. So that, yeah, you know how scary that is.
Speaker 2: You talking about waking up at what's going on? Until
Speaker 2: that happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they had to slow the drip down. They're trying
Speaker 1: to get me in and out a little bit faster,
Speaker 1: so they up the drip level. And man, I am
Speaker 1: telling you that is the weirdest and almost awful sensation ever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. Yeah, it's pretty tough. So the way
Speaker 2: it works for me is, yeah, a couple of days
Speaker 2: before treatment, I'm kind of a mess and I don't
Speaker 2: talk to anybody and just people just leave me along.
Speaker 2: But when I get outside the doors of the cancer center,
Speaker 2: my mind switches and now it's my job to get
Speaker 2: this done. This is one step and healing. I also
Speaker 2: always make sure I have somebody with me. I also,
Speaker 2: as you know, it gets cold in there, make sure
Speaker 2: I get a sweatshirt, ski cap, baseball cap, got some
Speaker 2: water to drink. I don't The first time I went in, Brian,
Speaker 2: I was so ignorant. I took my laptop. I was
Speaker 2: planning to work, and so now I know if I'm
Speaker 2: going in there, just plan to relax the best I
Speaker 2: can and get through it, and I count up to
Speaker 2: the halfway point. I went through generally, I'm somewhere around
Speaker 2: twelve to fourteen treatments. I'll count up and then when
Speaker 2: I get to the halfway point, I start counting down
Speaker 2: and that helps me from mental side, you know how
Speaker 2: much progress that I'm making.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's an interesting way of looking at it. And
Speaker 1: there are a lot of support organizations out there. Think
Speaker 1: of the I feel so so terribly for someone who's
Speaker 1: dealing with this problem. This is cancer diagnosis and being
Speaker 1: alone in the world in that regard. I'm blessed to
Speaker 1: have a family in support, you know, in my own home,
Speaker 1: to help me deal with the problems associated with cancer,
Speaker 1: mental and otherwise. But there are some great support groups
Speaker 1: out there that can help out and have resources for
Speaker 1: you and to interact with folks who are also struggling
Speaker 1: like you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been remarkable for me. I leaned into the
Speaker 2: Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I guide people to whatever cancer it is.
Speaker 2: There's a national cancer nonprofit in the US that can
Speaker 2: provide you support. I leaned into some Facebook groups for support.
Speaker 2: I recommend professional therapy if you can get it. Somebody
Speaker 2: listen to you. You do want to lean on your
Speaker 2: family and friends, but you also need to lean on
Speaker 2: outside support because there are things that you can share
Speaker 2: with them that you might not feel comfortable with sharing
Speaker 2: with your family. And you also, as you did too, Brian,
Speaker 2: you've got to keep an eye on the family and
Speaker 2: make sure that they okay. So part of my job
Speaker 2: and my wife's job was to keep an eye on
Speaker 2: the three kids and to make sure that they were
Speaker 2: handling it well and to make sure they had the
Speaker 2: support and resources they need to go through it too,
Speaker 2: because the family goes through it and the friends go
Speaker 2: through it, not just the patient.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a certain degree of that. I can understand that.
Speaker 1: And well, to the family and others that are struggling
Speaker 1: with a loved one's cancer diagnosis, how do they help
Speaker 1: and support that love them with, maybe how without overwhelming them?
Speaker 1: I mean some people are like, oh my god, they
Speaker 1: funnel over people and like, oh my god, anything I
Speaker 1: can do for you, And sometimes that can be a
Speaker 1: little bit troubling for the person who's dealing with the
Speaker 1: cancer diagnosis.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's true. Sometimes your friends disappear. Sometimes they
Speaker 2: lean in a little bit too much, and so there's
Speaker 2: really a few things. Is number one, be present when
Speaker 2: you're with them. Number two is ask them if there's
Speaker 2: anything you can do for them, But not only that,
Speaker 2: maybe suggest something that you can do for them and
Speaker 2: see what they say. I don't know how you were
Speaker 2: with people coming over to visit and food and things
Speaker 2: like that, but that wasn't really working well for me.
Speaker 2: I don't My sense of taste was kind of a mess,
Speaker 2: and my sense of smell was kind of a mess,
Speaker 2: and so you food tasted differently. And the best thing
Speaker 2: that my friends have done for me, I'm sure for
Speaker 2: you is to say, hey, can I come see you?
Speaker 2: And then just sit there and talk about anything but
Speaker 2: the cancer. Let's talk about Let's talk about basketball or
Speaker 2: football or baseball, some of my passions. Let's talk about
Speaker 2: your family. Let's talk about my family. But let's give
Speaker 2: me a break from all the cancer talk, because I
Speaker 2: get that enough.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And everybody's curious because they love you. They just
Speaker 1: want to know if everything's okay. And I get to
Speaker 1: ask that question from time to time, and I don't
Speaker 1: mind hearing the question to me. That's just a sign
Speaker 1: of love, concern, and support, and that's what you expect
Speaker 1: from friends. But I guess my symptoms and my treatments
Speaker 1: weren't ever as bad as yours in terms of my
Speaker 1: body's reaction to it. And I just really don't even
Speaker 1: talk about it. Like I said, Bill, It's just part
Speaker 1: of my life and I just accept it for what
Speaker 1: it is. It's the hand that the cards that God
Speaker 1: dealt me, and I'm happy to play with them. So
Speaker 1: that's where I sort of get my optimism. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of out of my hands. I just go
Speaker 1: with the treatments and just enjoy and embrace the support
Speaker 1: that's provided. And of course get a copy of the
Speaker 1: book Up for the Fight, How to Advocate for Yourself
Speaker 1: as you Battle Cancer. From a five time survivor, Bill,
Speaker 1: I can't thank you enough for writing the book for
Speaker 1: all of us out here who needs some resources and
Speaker 1: guidance to help. And you obviously have been down this
Speaker 1: road as a five time cancer survivor. That's truly amazing, Bill,
Speaker 1: and congratulations on that. And I wish you all the
Speaker 1: health and the best in the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, back at you. And this book has changed
Speaker 2: my life in so many profound ways because now I
Speaker 2: hear from cancer patients all the time, and I'm able
Speaker 2: to mentor them and coach them to their journey. So
Speaker 2: I've accidentally become an expert in a lot of other
Speaker 2: different types of cancer than the ones I've had. So
Speaker 2: if you need it, if you have anybody that needs
Speaker 2: some coaching or whatever, Brian, just reach out.
Speaker 1: Just reach out.
Speaker 2: Bill.
Speaker 1: It's been a pleasure and congratulations. Obviously a very well
Speaker 1: rated book on Amazon. You're almost at a full five
Speaker 1: stars across the board and some really positive reviews from
Speaker 1: folks in the medical profession. So well done, and thanks
Speaker 1: for your time this morning. Bill, It's been a real
Speaker 1: pleasure having you on the program.