Cancer changes everything, but it also has a way of revealing life’s most important truths. In this heartfelt episode of the Cancer and Comedy podcast, Dr. Brad Miller sits down with Tim Sohn—two-time bestselling author and the host and creator of the Showing Up: Perspectives on Cancer podcast. Tim opens up about his 18-year journey with chronic myeloid leukemia, a diagnosis that initially brought shock and fear but ultimately inspired a mission of connection, healing, and hope.

Tim shares how he found strength in storytelling—first by hearing others’ experiences and then by sharing his own. He discusses how creating a live stream show and publishing books featuring cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers brought people together from all over the world to find comfort and community. Through humor, emotional support (like his trusty rubber chicken), and a red bucket hat with a goat symbolizing “Get Out And Thrive,” Tim brings light to even the darkest moments.

He also reflects on the emotional weight of losing friends in the cancer community, the importance of self-care, and the lessons he’s learned about asking for help and living life intentionally. For Tim, showing up consistently—whether through weekly live streams, in-person events, or his nonprofit—has been the key to creating a safe space for others to sharetheir stories and find hope.

Tim’s message is clear: community and connection are powerful tools for healing. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that reminds us to live fully, love deeply, and always show up for one another.

Website: https://cancerandcomedy.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfP2JvmMDeBzbj3mziVGJUw

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1eWJCkSrGcmh2QX4flQiWW

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbradleymiller/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertbradleymiller/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cancerandcomedy

Tim Sohn Links:

Website: https://perspectivesoncancer.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsohn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timothyjsohn/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tim-Sohn/author/B0BW9TGC7Z/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@perspectivesoncancer

When it comes to coping with a cancer diagnosis, how important is it to just show up?

It is vitally important.

That's why you got to listen to today's episode of Cancer and Comedy because our inspiring conversation is with Tim Song, who is a two time best selling author of Perspectives on Cancer and the show Showing Up Perspectives on Cancer.

This is episode number 71 and we talk about Tim's personal journey with chronic myeloid leukemia, which he was diagnosed with 18 years ago, and about how he has navigated through that, through physical battles, emotional upheavals and all kinds of things.

And now he has the show where he listens carefully to people's stories and he wanted to create a safe place for others affected by cancer to share those stories and offer hope and build community.

We're going to talk all about that today here on Cancer and Comedy.

I know it's been important to me.

In my case, I was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago, prostate cancer.

In order for me to deal with it, I had to laugh to keep from crying.

And so I combined my 43 years of ministry experience along with my doctoral degree in transformational theology and also a love of comedy and laughter to create the Cancer and Comedy podcast.

We're here to you to help you to cope with cancer with hope and humor.

Today's special guest, Tim Son.

Let's get started.

Cancer got you down.

Pretty grim, huh?

How about a show that turns the grim into a grin?

Way to go.

You made it here to the Cancer and Comedy Podcast, the show to lift you up with hope and humor that heals.

Hey there, lifter uppers.

I'm Deb Krier, the co host of Cancer and Comedy where our mission is to heal cancer impacted people through hope and humor, something we like to call turning the grim into a grin.

Well, today on Cancer and Comedy, we're going to talk with the absolutely wonderful Tim sun from the live show Showing up perspectives on Cancer.

Now here's the host of comedy and cancer, Dr.

Brad Miller.

Hey, hey.

Thank you, Deb.

Always a pleasure, privilege to be with and to you.

Brighten up my day.

I hope that what we do here together brightens up your day and that we are able to provide a little bit of smiles to the lives of people.

We'd like to talk about the cancer comedy podcast being a place where people can turn the grim of cancer or something bad happening to them that kind of wants to eat them alive into the grin of a fulfilled, happy life.

No matter what your perspective is in that.

And so in as Much as that's the case, we're really looking to develop a community of people here at Cancer and comedy who are helping one another to face cancer, other bad things in life, and to cope with hope.

We hope that people get connected to our cancer comedy community by going to cancer comedy.com follow.

Hey, Deb, I got a little bit.

Of a cold today, so I got a couple of bad nose jokes.

How about that?

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Well, you know, my wife says don't kiss me with a runny nose because I might think it's funny, but it's not.

Cute.

One more.

Why can't you're a nose be 12 inches?

I don't know.

Because then it would be a foot.

Cute.

Cute.

I love it.

I love it.

Well, you know, we all love your jokes and of course we're gonna have another one after our conversation.

But then we get serious and we have the very important faith it or break it segment.

Well, as we mentioned, we would love for you to be a part of our cancer and comedy community where together we crush cancer with a message of how to cope with hope and humor.

Please follow cancer and comedy @cancer and comedy.com follow.

Well, today, Deb, I was able.

Our conversation today is about a interview that I was able to have with a guy named Tim sand on his about his journey.

He is a survivor, survivor of leukemia and he's been actually, he's continues to deal with and battle leukemia for many years, about 18 years, something like that.

He's been dealing with a form of leukemia and he has a live show which streams on YouTube, LinkedIn, a couple other places called.

It's called Showing up perspectives on cancer.

And Tim really is an engaging fellow.

I've been able to be on his show and I know some of the other people have been on his show and he really is engaging fellow with a big wide smile and a real open heart.

And he loves to provide a safe place for people to share about their cancer journey and to offer a kind of a collaborative sense of community where people can share that story in a safe way and to then get some healing and have some changes take place.

It wasn't, wasn't always that way for him.

He spent about 15 years not talking about it.

Then he decided that I've got to get out there.

Let's talk about in our lives about having what your.

Your reaction was to Tim's story, particularly about providing a safe place for people to tell their story.

Yeah, you know, it, it was a lovely interview and Tim really is absolutely Delightful.

And what I really appreciated was he talked about, as you said, the fact that he is now sharing his story.

And, you know, he did not look sick.

People did not know he was sick.

He said he didn't even really feel sick, aside from the fact that he had to take medicine.

And.

But then when he decided to reach out, and I think this is what we find because we, we don't always want to tell people what's going on.

You know, we want to, we don't want to whine, we don't want to pester, we don't want to bother, you know, we don't want to make other people feel bad.

And so we don't talk about it.

But he decided that he needed to share and what he got from it was so much love and support.

And I think to me that was one of the things that really resonates is we let people in.

It's incredible, you know, and, and, and we might want to hide, we might want to, you know, pull the covers up over our heads and, and, you know, not share our story with the world.

But people really do want to support those of us.

And then of course, what we do is we in turn support them.

Yeah.

And Tim has decided to do this by, by doing something that is a bit risky.

And you and I have delved in this a little bit and that is going live.

He has a live show on YouTube, LinkedIn, other places, every Wednesday night, 8 o'cl time.

And he just provides a place for significant amount of time for people to tell their stories and to be supportive by the community that chimes in on, on the, on the chats of these platforms.

And I just think that serves as a place for people to learn to engage with one another.

And I know he's had some people on his show who had never really told their story in a public way before.

So let's talk for a second about the importance for some of us to go public.

Tim went many years without going public.

For you, you've gone public with your website and so on.

What is the importance of going public with our story and engagement with other people?

You know, I think one of the things is that for someone who is on the same journey, you know, or even something else, you know, some other illness, I think it shows them that they're not alone and as you said with Tim, gives people the opportunity to share their stories.

And of course we do that too.

And people really do discover they're not alone.

And so it is very much a way to build the Community, you know, we all wish we weren't, right?

You know, can we say, hey, no, I don't want to be there, but we are.

And so, you know, being able to learn from each other and get that support.

And of course, one of the things that Tim firmly believes in is something that we both believe in too is have fun.

And you know, I think that is a big part of this is what is that journey like and how can we help others?

And I, you know, I don't know about you, but the love and support that I get allows me to continue, you know, and, and with the journey because, you know, it's just incredible the support that I get from others.

Yeah.

One of the things that's led to for Tim, and I think it's something you and I have had touched on a few times is it's led him from kind of the private, the private journey to the public storytelling to being public advocacy, to be an advocate for very.

He started a nonprofit organization so on to raise money and awareness for cancer screening and awareness of things of this, of this, this nature.

And I think that's an important thing that kind of the, the escalation of this.

But I also think it has to do with just getting connected on some silly and fun ways.

You know, found out Tim and I both have emotional support, rubber chickens on our desk.

And we had some fun, we had some fun with that.

And so I think we had a great conversation with Tim and anything else you want to share kind of about this conversation before we jump into it here?

You know, I think it's one of those that we all have discovered when something like this happens to us, we have to live every day.

Awesome.

Well, his name is Tim Sond and his show is called Showing up Perspectives on Cancer.

Let's get into our conversation with Tim Sohn right now.

Hello gang, good people.

Dr.

Brad Miller here on the cancer and comedy podcast where we always look to offer a bit of healing for cancer impacted people through hope and humor.

We love to talk to people who bring a smile and little brightness into the world, especially when there is some challenges like cancer.

And one of those people is Tin Song.

He is from the Perspectives Cancer.

He is a two time best selling author of Perspectives on cancer book series which lets cancer patients, survivors and supporters know they're not alone.

He's also the creator of the global weekly livestream show Showing Up Perspectives on Cancer.

Tim, welcome to our.

Welcome to Cancer and comedy.

Is it today my friend?

Thank you so much for having me, Brad.

And I thought I'd bring a little comedy with me.

I have my emotional support rubber chicken with me here, so there you go.

Hey.

Hey, my friend.

Look, I'm right there.

Is that the same one?

Yeah.

Yes.

It says right on it.

The emotional support chicken as the same.

The same one.

Look at that.

Yeah.

How about.

Well, we are squeezing them there for our audio audience there, but we have a couple of rubber chickens.

And I keep that.

And just.

Isn't that funny how you got there.

Your desk.

And I have at least one other guy I talked to recently.

A.

And the person in the therapeutic humor community with the same coincidence.

We both had the therapeutic chicken on our desk here.

How about that?

Yeah.

You.

You are my people.

And.

And this rubber chicken was actually given to me by two people.

Rachel Druckenmiller and Zach Demopolis.

I don't know if you know Zach through podcasts.

I do know Zach.

Yes.

Yeah.

And my cancer numbers had went up a few months ago, and one day I got home and there were like, four boxes on my step, and I thought, who's.

Who's sending me this stuff?

And one of the things that they sent me was an emotional support chicken, which I truly appreciate.

Well, that is awesome.

Well, you are a guy who I've got to know.

I was privileged to be on your show here a while back and got to know you through PodFest and some other online ways, LinkedIn and so on.

But you're a guy, Tim, I know, who always has a big smile on his face.

And also, among you, besides rubber chicken, you always have a red hat with a goat on it.

And so let me just ask you a couple of questions about those two things.

First, before we get into a little.

Little deeper stuff here, what is something that recently has put a smile on your face?

What has made you happy here recently?

Oh, that's a great question.

Well, being here makes me happy.

Always sharing my story in conversation with other awesome people makes me happy.

And the goat situation.

There's kind of an acronym with the goat thing when it comes to showing up perspectives on cancer.

Okay.

We go with get out and thrive.

All right, so that is, there's kind of a story behind the goat, but there's a little tease into the goat situation.

Well, maybe we can unpack it as we go along.

So let's just kind of get into this.

Your story.

We.

What we are all about here.

Cancer comedies.

People have had some adversity or whether it be cancer or something else, and have found some way in their story to navigate that.

So let's hear a little bit about your story.

How you.

How you, a few years ago, 10, 15 years ago, had some news that kind of rocked your world.

And let's take it from.

From there.

Yeah.

So 18 years and one month ago, I was in my 20s, I was living in New Jersey, and I had some purple bruises on my leg, and they weren't going away.

They look kind of different.

I was like, better have that checked out.

So I went to my primary care physician, they did some blood work, and they called me not too long after and said, you need to go to the hospital.

Like, go.

Like now.

Just get off the phone and go.

So I went to a hospital about two hours away from where I lived at the time, and I was in the hospital for only four days.

And that time, they diagnosed me with chronic myeloid leukemia, which is a chronic blood cancer.

And, you know, it's funny, I never thought I would get cancer, but so many people in my extended family have cancer or have had cancer or passive cancer, but I never.

I never consciously thought like, that I could actually get cancer, you know.

So what was that?

Look, just to kind of walk us through the.

You said that other people had had cancer in your family, but what was your emotional roller coaster or whatever you went through at that time for yourself or anybody to you and your family or life?

What was that like for you right at that moment?

Yeah, so.

So first it was shock, like cancer.

Leukemia.

What is leukemia?

The only thing I knew about leukemia at the time was that somebody from when I was in elementary school, another student had died of leukemia.

That's really the only thing I've ever heard of it in my life.

So I was just kind of in shock at first and then kind of went into the mode like, okay, now what do we do?

They had a clinical trial option, but nobody else had taken it at that point.

So we nixed that one and we switched to.

I ended up using a different treatment that wasn't out too long, but it was having good success.

There were good anecdotes about it, so.

But definitely the emotional component of chronic myeloid leukemia, at least in my journey, has been a lot more challenging than the physical one.

Well, so you had the physical challenge.

It kind of rocked your world.

It sounds like not your back in your heels.

And the emotional challenge was there.

And so was there anyone else in your life at this time, parents or anybody else involved with your life who would.

Who came to be supportive of you during those early stages of your cancer journey?

Yeah, for sure.

Both my mom and my dad and also my sister Eileen, they were both or all of them were very supportive.

They all came to the hospital.

My mom had worked in public.

She was a public health nurse her whole life, so her entire career.

So that was helpful.

And she had also worked at the hospital previously that I was at, so she knew some doctors, and that was all helpful as well.

So having family members, but also family members with a health background was definitely helpful when we had to make some decisions.

Yeah.

So it sounds like some of these decisions may have led you to some kind of emotional low points.

Is that a fair thing to say?

That some of these.

This journey had its places when you found yourself in the ditch a little bit.

So that may be hard to do, but take us there a little bit because I think sometimes we have to go to those, get in, you know, we find out how we dealt in the ditch, so to speak, before we can get out and thrive otherwise.

So take us there for a minute.

Yeah, yeah.

So kind of my journey has been that I had some amount of leukemia in my body for 15 years, and then unexpectedly, it went away for a year and a half, which was exciting, but I wasn't really sure what to do with that.

And then it came back after a year and a half in a small amount, and then a more amount, and then now a lesser amount.

So it's kind of like, how do you stay in the present moment so you're not thinking too far ahead.

Right.

Like, I know something that I've learned in my journey is like to live life to the fullest because you never know when you're not gonna be here anymore.

So.

So that's been really something life changing for me because especially like in the first 15 years, I, like, I took a pill every day.

I felt pretty much fine.

Like I was living life like, you know, like nobody would ever know I had cancer.

I would barely know I had cancer, except I took a pill every day, you know.

But then after my cancer went away and then came back, and it's like this roller coaster at that point, I was like, I need to be more intentional in how I live my life.

And a part of this, living your life every day was getting a little more involved with sharing your story with other people.

If I'm understanding you correctly, Tim, you went really a pretty.

If you were diagnosed 18 years ago, and to my awareness, you've been kind of active in social media and other ways, last maybe six, seven years, something like that.

So was this recurrence of the Leukemia, at least its impact a part of your decision, at least in some part, to put yourself out there a little bit more.

Take me through that process a little bit.

Yeah.

So I had seen a video that Steve Sullivan, he passed away within the last two years, but he was a 35 plus year acute myeloid leukemia survivor and he had put a video on LinkedIn on National Cancer Survivor Day and just sharing his story and was really inspired by it and, and a few other things that happened.

I was invited on a show called Podcast, not Podcast with host and my friend Jenny Gold.

And I had told her about my story.

But those first 15 years, not many people knew that I had cancer except, you know, family members, maybe a few really close friends, but mostly nobody.

But I thought, you know, I don't usually think the universe is telling me something.

I'm not usually that kind of person.

But I thought maybe the universe is telling me something.

Maybe it's time to share my story.

And so I did.

So it sounds like telling stories, both hearing the story from the gentleman you heard on online, hearing his story, and then telling your story, at least kind of breaking the ice, so to speak with Jenny Gold's podcast led you to see the value of storytelling in terms of a healing process for yourself.

And do you think you've been able to connect with others through storytelling and that's been a helpful part of your journey?

Storytelling?

Yeah.

I have found that storytelling has been the most incredible way to connect with other people by sharing my cancer story.

But before I started sharing my cancer story on LinkedIn, I started sharing my struggle with chronic migraines, which I used to get a lot worse.

And when I received the love and support and care messages, comments from people, I was like, wow.

And other people were saying, I get chronic migraines also.

And just kind of sharing our stories connected us in a way that we wouldn't have connected if we didn't share that part of our lives.

Yeah.

And since then, you've really leaned in into at least two modalities that I'm aware of to share your story and help others share their story.

And that is through LinkedIn and then also through live streaming.

So take us through that a little bit and how that eventually led you to write a book here about all this.

But tell it.

Why did you choose live streaming and LinkedIn to kind of lean into that to tell your story.

So I had previously hosted a live stream show for five years called the Tim and Jim show, which was a show about growing small businesses.

We had guests on everything from finance to fitness to marketing to really anything small business related.

So I had this background of live streaming, both hosting and producing, and I knew the impact that it could have in terms of that real time interaction with people.

And that's what I love about doing a show around cancer, is that people can show up live and they can ask questions of the guests and they can provide comments that we could show on the screen that are supporting the guests and each other.

And so when I thought about starting a show, I had originally started the show with a friend of mine named Kara Olker.

And her perspective on cancer was her mom had died of brain cancer seven years previously.

And I didn't know if the show would work out, if there would be an audience for it, But I thought Jenny provided me a safe space to share my story.

What if we provide safe spaces for other people to share their cancer stories, whether it's patients, survivors, or supporters?

Because I feel passionately that all the perspectives matter.

We can all learn from each other, relate in certain ways to each other's stories, and.

And even have some fun too along the way.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, I know that is part of what you.

You do is to have a lot of fun and.

But part of this fun is the telling and the sharing of these stories.

So tell me about a story of these people who've shared on your live stream that really kind of moved your impact.

You maybe poignantly or maybe even in a delighted way, or tell me a story about somebody you've talked to that's been.

Been a part of your.

Part of your show.

That's a really hard question because there's been so many shows and I'm sure you can understand that.

Yeah, I would say.

Did you meet Rebecca Johnson at PodFest, Brad?

I think I did, yes.

Yeah.

So Rebecca had cancer, a rare cancer of the eye.

And we met her at PodFest, not this PodFast, but the one before.

And unfortunately, Rebecca has since passed away.

But she had such a big smile, she had such a good mindset, and I miss seeing her this year.

And also Lee Silverstein, who is a colon cancer survivor, he had come to Podfest for some time.

Not this one, like I said, but the previous one.

And he was also on the show.

And you know, I think one thing that's probably not talked about enough when it comes to cancer is grief.

And maybe comedy comes into this also.

But, you know, when you do a show around cancer, something I never thought about was that some of my guests will pass away.

Yeah.

Like, it's based on the number of guests you have on a show.

Like, on a show, some of those people are going to die.

And that is not something I thought about.

Right.

You know, and that's something that I've struggled with a lot the last year because, you know, like, on the show, the show is really to provide hope for people, but the reality is that not everybody is going to survive cancer.

Hey, my friend, I just wanted to share with you that here on Cancer on Comedy, we have a special gift for you that's going to help you if you're impacted by cancer in your life and you want to do something about it.

It's our free course.

We call it the HHH or Triple H course, which stands for Healing through Hope and Humor.

It helps you to develop your cancer coping credo.

A statement that's going to help you get through that.

That it's a free course, just takes you.

It's a five short sessions.

It's all audio.

You can get that free course@cancerandcomedy.com free.

Well, and the.

Ultimately, we.

None of us survive this life ever, you know, and so that's where other perspectives come into play.

And we've already mentioned one of them I think is important, which is to live life to the fullest to the end.

Yeah, whatever that means.

That could be being, you know, I could be hit by a bus tomorrow or live to be 100 with the cancer situation I deal with.

And you've lived 18 years, and there was a time and place when, you know, that would have been, you know, really unlikely with your type of cancer that you had.

And so live your life to the fullest is one aspect of it.

And of course, there's.

For those folks who are spiritual people, believers, there's the aspect of new life and eternal life as well, and that are there as well.

And then.

But there's also this bond of relationship and living on.

And one of the ways people live on is through the recorded messages, including sharing their story through live streaming and podcasting and things like that.

So let's lean into that just for a second here.

You said you got into live streaming because you had a little.

A little experience with it in the business sector and so on, but you see it as a medium of choice.

You're a medium that is a kind of a powerful medium, meaning for people to be able to tell their story and for their story to make an impact on others who need to hear it.

Those who are out there who need to hear a message of hope, maybe they're in a bad situation with leukemia or something else.

Tell me about that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So live streaming, I really feel, is so impactful because of that live element.

And people can also watch the show later on on the replay and comment then, and guests can respond later, or people in the community, or family, as I like to call it.

So I really feel like live streaming provides, like, that family feeling that I want to have on our show.

A safe space, a place where people can gather, where people can support each other, uplift each other, and people can do that in the comments.

And then people also oftentimes connect later through LinkedIn or whatever platform.

They become friends, they collaborate.

And that's been really the most beautiful thing to see around the show, is how it's connecting people together from literally all around the world.

Yeah.

One of the things I love, I loved about being on your show and as I've watched other episodes of your show and got to know you personally, is you have this phrase that you use that I love, and it's two words, Showing up.

And tell me about the importance of showing up.

If, as far as I know, you are pretty darn consistent of doing your show every Wednesday night.

And then.

But tell me what the significance of that phrase, showing up.

Where does that come from?

And what's the power of that phrase, show showing up.

So showing up is.

I mean, originally we were brainstorming a name for the show, and the name of the show became showing Up.

Colon Perspectives on Cancer.

The importance of showing up is just.

Not even.

Just.

I don't want to diminish what showing up is.

Showing up is, you know, people especially, like, in the live streaming world, you know, there's oftentimes people that start a show, you know, maybe they do two or three shows, and then they.

And then they, you know, dissipate, disappear, whatever, because they're busy, whatever.

But by showing up consistently and providing that safe space where people can gather and share their stories, you know, people look for it.

You know, sometimes if I don't do a show one week because I'm not feeling well or whatever it is, somebody will message me and they'll be like, hey, no show tonight.

And I'll be like, sorry, I'm, you know, I'm not feeling well, whatever it is.

And.

And I did take a month off in December because it was just getting to Be a lot, you know, a weekly show.

And then also you were talking a little bit about the books.

I've done two Perspectives on Cancer books and one Perspectives on Invisible Illness book.

And I also host an annual in person event.

Right.

So it's a lot, it's a lot of cancer, you know, but like, I love, I love what I do.

I love it, I love it.

But I think, you know, something that's important to reflect on is the importance of taking a break sometimes.

You know, giving yourself some self care because, you know, whether you have cancer or not, I think that's important because if you just keep going and going and going and going, you're.

You're gonna burn out.

And I was at that place in December.

I was just, I was just not in a good place.

And also with people passing away this past year, you know, I was feeling kind of depressed about that.

So I was just like, got to take a break.

Going to take about a month off.

I'll come back in January and keep showing up consistently.

Again, take a break sometimes.

I think you make some very good points there, Tim.

The showing up part is people have some expectations that you can develop expectations for you to be there, and yet there can be codependent type relationships.

Other things develop if you allow them to, if you got to set boundaries on your own own, in your own life.

And yet the showing up.

Showing up part means that you are care and you're compassionate and it's a safe place.

And people come to know that and they want to be a part of that.

And I think, you know, I'm a believer in kind of seasons, you kind of go hard for a while, you kind of go hard for a while, then you take a break, you know, but they try to frame, try to frame it in such a way that, you know, you take a season of working hard and.

But make people, help people to know that, okay, I'm taking a break here, but we're coming back.

X amount of time.

I've not always been good at this, mind you, but that's kind of the way I did it when I was a pastor.

You know, always go hard leading up to Easter, for instance.

For instance, you know, as a pastor, get ready for Easter season and then take a bit, you know, a spring break or spring break after that for a few, couple weeks, that, that, that type of thing.

I love that thing about the.

How that.

Because I believe the showing up part, Tim, does something else that I think you have created in a very genuine and real way.

And that's creating community where people really care about you because they know that you care about them.

And there are people who look forward then to being with you on your Wednesday night show at other times.

So tell me about the importance of sense, of fostering a sense of community, especially among people who have had something devastating happen to them like a cancer diagnosis.

And what part does that play in healing for people?

Yeah, I think community is so important when it comes to a cancer journey.

No matter your connection to cancer, because.

Because you need people that nobody's going to completely understand your story, but everybody who has had cancer or will have cancer will hear the words you have cancer or something.

So.

Or you have leukemia, you know, and so to be able to connect with other humans that can understand even part of your story.

I know oftentimes I and other people who have been on the show, especially who have cancers that are invisible, feel misunderstood because people can see their cancer.

And maybe you're going through something, maybe you don't want to announce it to the world, but you kind of wish that they knew what was going on and maybe it would influence how they had a conversation with you or something like that.

But I think that the community aspect, that's my favorite part of the show.

It's the people, you know, after shows, oftentimes I'll send a few people a direct message.

I'll say, hey, thanks so much for coming to the.

The show.

You start to recognize some names and such from your.

Yeah.

Community.

Who are showing up on your.

On your live stream, that type of thing.

And that seems.

It seemed like this sense of community.

And you correct me if I'm wrong here, but it's also led you to want to tell the story even a little deeper by putting together some books in some ways, or compilation of these stories that have helped to put the word out there.

Tell me about how the books came about and what was the impact of doing.

Of doing those.

Yeah, thanks for asking about the books.

A friend of mine, Veronica Jeans, had written several books about Shopify.

She's an expert on e commerce.

And she was telling me about the book she was doing and she was saying, you know, people say you can't make money on books, but I'm making money doing books.

It wasn't a ton of money, but she was making money doing books.

And that's not why I did this for showing up.

Although the most recent book, Perspectives on Invisible Illnesses, all the proceeds from that book are going to Showing Up Perspectives on Cancer, which is now a 501 nonprofit organization.

Awesome.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you.

And so the idea behind the books was just another avenue for people to have a safe space to share their stories.

Similar to the livestream show, except these are compilation books, collaborative books.

I invite people of all the different perspectives as well to share their stories in these books.

Books.

And it's cool to see the impact the books have on people that read the books, but also what the books do is bring people together.

Oftentimes the authors in these books don't know each other or some of them don't know each other, so they'll connect and whatever results from that as well.

So really similar to the livestream show in terms of the collaborative nature, the community aspect just through a book, but.

It also puts it just another medium of books.

You know, it can be on the bookshelf at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon and so on.

And people can.

And there are certain people who are readers who are going to connect up.

That's it.

In that way.

And.

And all that led you, and you mentioned it here already.

Something I did want to touch on is you created a nonprofit out of this, and I know a little bit about creating and dealing with nonprofits.

What led you to do that and what's the mission and purpose of your nonprofit?

And I don't know, I had this mental block in my head to doing it.

I don't know if it's because I'm somebody who.

I like things done a certain way.

And when you have a nonprofit, you have other people involved.

But at the same time I needed help because doing all of these things, things takes a lot of work, you know, and up to recently I've been doing most of it.

So really the.

The idea behind the nonprofit is we're going to continue doing the same things and I'm sure additional things as well to provide safe spaces for patients, survivors and supporters to share their stories and connect as well as find resources for healing, hope and resilience.

But one thing I'd like to do as well is by sharing people's stories, I want to be able to provide financial resources for some of the people in our community as they're going through their cancer journeys with the Perspectives on Invisible Illnesses book.

All the proceeds for that are going towards the nonprofit.

We've done a few other things for fundraising so far, but all very story based, just like it's been all along.

I had talked to somebody else who has a cancer nonprofit.

When I was thinking about doing this, and he said, before I started crew, before I started my nonprofit, I was a no profit.

And then it became a nonprofit.

And I was like, this sounds very familiar.

I know the feeling.

I know the feeling.

So it sounds like you've at least it's been worthwhile.

It sounds like to, you know, even from a financial standpoint, you're at least making some contribution to the nonprofit, is my understanding.

And so that's.

That's a good thing.

So.

And we'll put links to all that in our show notes here@cancer comedy.com of course, so people could be aware about that.

And tell me a story, Tim, about how what you're doing has encouraged someone who was discouraged.

A story that you've heard about.

So this was probably about two years ago, and somebody had sent me a message on LinkedIn and said, I found out today that I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, which is the exact cancer that I have.

She said, I'm feeling overwhelmed.

So I messaged her back and I said, do you want to get on a call?

We could talk?

And she was like, sure, that would be really great.

So we got on a call, and she expressed again that she had just found out she was feeling overwhelmed and would I share my story with her?

And I said, sure.

And I started it out with, I think at this point, it was 17 years.

I said, 17 years ago, when I was in my 20s, I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.

And she said, 17 years ago?

And I said, yeah, 17 years ago.

And then I told her the rest of the story, and she said, I feel so much better now because you shared your story and you're still here.

You're, like, right here.

Right?

And I think oftentimes when people have cancer for a long time, you feel like, does your story matter?

Right.

But if you're here for 18 years or 10 years, whatever the amount is, that gives people hope just by the fact that you're still here.

And if you share your story, you're giving people hope.

And so that is the most memorable conversation that I have had over the last few years, because she had the same kind of cancer for me.

She reached out to me on LinkedIn.

She was early in the journey, and she was encouraged by the fact that day.

Oh, that very day.

Oh, my goodness.

She had just found out that day that she was.

She was still in the shop doc phase of things.

So.

Yeah.

Well, that's.

That's awesome.

So that.

To Me, those are the types of stories that make it worth it to me when I hear about those type of stories about something.

Now I had one some small part in may have been encouraging to someone or like we like to say here, trying to take it the grandma and turn it into a grand.

At least the grand meaning having something worthwhile and something to look forward to and to learn something myself.

So I'm interested in Tim and what you've learned in the along the way here.

What does been encouraging to you or what are lessons that you've learned along your journey here, Especially as you've put yourself out there, you know, really put yourself out there a lot to be kind of a face, as it were, of.

Of perspectives on cancer.

What do you.

What have you learned?

I've learned that it's important to take care of myself or for you to take care of yourself.

Because if you don't take care of yourself and you are showing up for other people, it's going to be really hard to keep showing up for other people.

So I would say the first thing is take care of yourself, whatever that looks like for me.

I like going for walks in nature which doesn't work out very well when it's like negative three degrees in Pennsylvania.

Right?

Yeah.

So I go walking in a store instead.

I get some exercise in a warmer environment in Art Walker or whatever.

Huh.

Walmart or Lowe's.

They have a pretty good track around the outside Lowe's pretty situation.

Yeah.

So if you want to go walking in the winter, shout out to Lowe's.

There you go.

The not yet sponsor of the show.

Well, hey, there you go.

That's something else.

But.

Well, you've touched on something I'd like to swing around with you here for before we conclude our conversation.

You mentioned how they, you know, you were to take care of yourself, but there's also the caregivers who are impacted and you've.

That's kind of the silent people impacted by cancer.

What do you got to say about those folks?

What advice would you give to caregivers who support folks like you and me who've deal with cancer?

How do they can.

How can they show up to be helpful?

So I think communication is really important when it comes to caregivers and patients because oftentimes either one of you are going through a lot, Right?

Caregivers are doing a lot of the work.

Patients are hopefully healing, they're getting chemo, they're getting radiation, whatever they're doing.

But they're both going through a lot at the same time or maybe different times as well.

So I think it's important for both people to give each other grace and also to try to communicate as best as you can with each other in terms of, like, what you do need or what you don't want.

You know, one thing that I've learned in my cancer journey before the last few years, before I started sharing my story, I did not ask for what I needed and wanted.

I was a very go with the flow kind of guy.

Yes.

No problem.

Sure.

But after sharing my story and hearing the stories of others, I have learned.

Oh.

And with the help of therapy, I have learned.

A therapist.

I have learned to ask for what I need and why, want, and do I always get my way?

No, but is it important to advocate for yourself?

Right.

A part of caring for others is caring for self.

So that's.

That's awesome.

Yeah, for sure.

So good.

Well, I got it.

We got it.

We got to come back around to this, my friend.

You know, for my audio audience and.

But I just want to share that Tim is a guy with a big smile on his face, but he always is known for wearing a red bucket hat with a white goat on it.

And we touched on it at the beginning of our conversation.

But you got to unpack the story of the white goat, red hat.

That thing here, my friend.

Sure.

So.

So the deal with the goat is.

Well, first of all, it's an acronym.

It stands for get out and thrive.

But I'm showing this on the screen right now.

This is a screaming goat.

Yeah.

Oh, I can barely hear it.

Yeah, there we go.

Yeah.

And this goat.

That's better.

This goat I found when I was in Princeton, New Jersey, a few years ago visiting my friend Brian Shulman, who was at podfest.

Okay.

And.

And I found this goat in Barnes and Noble, and I didn't know what to expect from the goat.

There was a box that said it screams on it.

And I like silly things.

I like.

I like to laugh.

I like to giggle.

So I bought it.

It was like seven bucks.

And so every.

So.

So I.

You'll often see me bring the goat onto shows or if I know somebody's going through a rough time or just meet a new friend or something.

Sometimes I'll send them a screaming goat in the mail or you fiat.

So.

So, yeah, it's just.

It's a representation of joy, of happiness, of being silly.

Well, because along.

That.

That's an encouraging word.

But what word of.

You know, just sound like you've given some words of encouragement Here to our listeners, people going through some difficult, difficult times.

We've touched on kind of the grief being the other side of the joy of care, of compassion and, and all that.

It's all kind of inner.

They're all, all integrated to one another.

But we cannot be in denial of what is happening to us.

And I just want to say I appreciate you at so many levels.

You offer so much to people.

I've seen that happen, seen it happen to me and others.

And that's an awesome thing to say.

And you're kind of a legend in a way in the pipeline of people who are kind of working in this area of therapeutic humor and that type of thing.

So that's good to know.

But Levin, just tell us what's next for you, my friend.

What's next for you and for your live stream and your books, everything you're about and how.

And I know there's somebody out there who may just need what you're offering.

How can they get connected to what you're all about?

Yeah.

Thank you.

They could go to perspectivesoncancer.com and kind of what's next is the continued evolution of the nonprofit organization.

And if I could get enough people to share their stories, my goal is to have, have children and like youth.

Children and teenagers share their cancer stories in a book compilation book might look a little bit different.

The stories might be a little bit shorter, might have a different vibe.

But I've, over the last few months, I've come into contact with a few different youths who have wanted to share their stories in different ways.

So it's important to be able to share their.

Absolutely love that.

I just know that that's there's certain things that happen with children and youth that just not only warm your heart, break your heart, but they make your heart soar.

And I love that.

So that that's a good thing.

Well, you do that for us, my friend.

You've been a delight to our cancer and comedy audience because we're all about helping bring a bit of a grin to people who have had some grimness in their life.

And you offer a word of encouragement.

I thank you for that is and I just invite you to check out.

We'll put links to everything he's all about at our show Notes of Cancer and Comedy dot com.

But you can go to him at Perspectives on cancer dot com his name is Tim Sohn and he's been our guest today on the Cancer in comedy podcast.

Thank you, Tim.

Well, please tell me that you have another one of your bad jokes of the day.

So a man rides up to the Mexico US border on his bicycle carrying two large bags on his shoulders.

And the American border guard says, hey, what's in the bags?

Sand, the main answers.

I'll bet.

The guard sneers.

Let me see.

She takes the bags, empties in and finds, yep, just sand.

Unconvinced, he has the sand analyzed and finds it contains just sand.

Nothing but sand.

The man with the bicycle gathers up the sand, puts it in his bags and crosses the border weakly.

Later, same thing happens.

What's in the bag?

The border guard demands.

Sand, the man replies.

The guard still didn't believe him, so he does another analysis.

Sure enough, the bag contains nothing but sand.

The man with the bicycle repacks his bags and rides across the border.

This weekly routine continues for about a year.

Then it stops and a few months later, the border guard walks into a local cafe and spots the sandman having lunch.

He goes up the man and says, hey, I know you were smuggling something.

The curiosity is just killing me.

Please tell me, what was it?

A man takes a sip of coffee, smiles at the border garden, says, bicycles, lifter uppers.

It is now time for us to be serious and turn to Dr.

Brad's face it or Break segment in our.

Faith it or break it moment.

Let's talk about the importance of showing up our guest today.

Tim Son was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia 18 years ago.

And in spite of the shock and confusion, there is a.

There is this emotion that comes into play which he faced a daunting challenge that was before him as a long path.

And he discovered something along that path that for a long time he did not share it with others, but he found out the importance of sharing his story and listening to other stories to find strength in community.

And that's where we want to come here today in this lesson here today, the importance of sharing your story in community.

So that's a powerful truth about faith journey.

Really.

In Galatians 6:2, it says, Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

For 15 years, Tim kept his diagnosis mostly to himself, himself, only sharing with close family members.

Then something changed and Tim began to share his story publicly, inspired by others who shared their story as well.

And this act of vulnerability and openness created a ripple effect which led to deep connections with other people and even to eventually his live stream show which we talked about here today where others could share their cancer stories.

That helps one thing, helps another.

And so it is by sharing experiences and leaning on each other we find strength and encouragement.

And so I just appreciate Tim's life and his platform that he's provided for.

Help people to have a safe place to show up and to find hope amidst their battles and a community that lifts one another up.

I love this about Tim and I love it that it just really shows a love for one another.

Great teachings here.

That's our faith it or break it moments.

Well lifter Uppers this brings us to the close of this episode of the Cancer and Comedy podcast with Dr.

Brad Miller.

Cancer and Comedy is all about telling uplifting stories of people like you who are kicking cancer's butt with healing through hope and humor.

Did you know that you can join those of us who are turning the grim into a grin by telling us your story?

Just go to cancerincomedy.com well, that's it for now.

Please join us next time on Cancer and Comedy.

And if you like what you hear, please pass this podcast on to someone in your life who needs to turn their grim into a grin.

For Dr.

Brad Miller, I'm Deb Krear reminding you that a cheerful heart is good medicine.

Hey, thanks for joining us on the Cancer and Comedy podcast with Dr.

Brad Miller.

Make sure you visit our website cancerandcomedy.com where you can follow the show and get our newsletter.

Like what you hear?

Then tell a friend about Cancer and Comedy, the show that lifts your spirits with hope and humor that heals.

Until next time, keep turning the grim into a good grid.