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We Have Cancer With Lee Silverstein
Episode 2717th May 2023 • Shining Brightly • Howard Brown
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Episode Summary – When a person hears about a cancer diagnosis, it affects them, theirs families and friends thus the title coined by Lee’s wife, Linda Silverstein 

– “WE HAVE CANCER”. As fighting cancer IS and MUST BE a TEAMSPORT! In Episode 27 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show, my good friend and fellow stage IV colon cancer patient, survivor and advocate Lee Silverstein joins me to discuss cancer his 12-year cancer journey, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and life. We mixed in a little hockey banter and discussed his “WEhave Cancer” podcast of over 200+ episodes and robust cancer resources now available for patients, caregivers and families.

Mentioned Resources

https://wehavecancershow.com https://www.manuptocancer.com/

https://colontown.org/

https://coloncancercoalition.org/

https://www.ccalliance.org/ https://imermanangels.org/

About the guest – Lee Silverstein - his story has two parts; one as a Career Management professional and the other as a person who has been living with stage 4 cancer for over 12 years.  As a Career Management professional, I serve as a career coach and mentor to those in career transition. I have the privilege of working with many talented and successful individuals, providing placement services to individual contributors, managers and senior executives. In my role as a Career Management Consultant, it is my responsibility to guide & inspire candidates; teaching them the most up-to-date job search strategies while instilling in them the confidence to leverage these skills to land in their next career. As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, published LinkedIn author and experienced trainer and public speaker, I facilitate career workshops, career webinars and executive career coaching. The other part of my story is that of someone who has been living with stage 4 cancer for over 12 years. As such, I've learned to appreciate even the smallest gifts that life gives us every day.  I've also learned that I'm not a statistic and that living with this dreadful disease for so many years has afforded me the privilege, and responsibility, to inspire, inform and advocate for the millions of people living with, or caring for someone, with cancer. In my podcast, WE Have Cancer - https://wehavecancershow.com - I've interviewed hundreds of patients, caregivers and medical professionals as a way to provide information, inspiration and hope to those touched by cancer.

About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

Website

Http://www.shiningbrightly.com

Social Media

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36

LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown

Instagram - @howard.brown.36

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#cancer #coloncancer #colorectalcancer #diagnosis

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Transcripts

Howard Brown:

Hello, it's Howard Brown and welcome to the Shining

Howard Brown:

Brightly show your Maestro with the mic. Oh, it's Hockey night.

Howard Brown:

It's Hockey night tonight and my guest is Lee Silverstein.

Howard Brown:

Welcome Lee from the beautiful state of Florida. In Tampa.

Howard Brown:

What's going on?

Lee Silverstein:

Thanks, Howard. Excited to be here and get to

Lee Silverstein:

talk to you after having you on my we have cancer podcast a

Lee Silverstein:

couple of times. And I'm really excited to be here and yes, it

Lee Silverstein:

is Hockey night. And I'm going to have to catch up here on on

Lee Silverstein:

game five once we get off. And you know, my day my ever loving

Lee Silverstein:

Tampa Bay Lightning have dug themselves a little bit of a and

Lee Silverstein:

hopefully we'll pull it out tonight but it's

Howard Brown:

That's alright to come back kids they will see a

Howard Brown:

better position with my Boston Bruins you know up three to two

Howard Brown:

but you got to take care of business, you know. So if you

Howard Brown:

step up on the camera a little bit, I want to see the wardrobe

Howard Brown:

that we're wearing here. Oh, we got the HP strong going on the

Howard Brown:

drive back.

Lee Silverstein:

This is in my workout shirt rotation. The

Lee Silverstein:

folks at Planet Fitness know it well.

Howard Brown:

Yes, guy as well. So I love it. Well, thanks for

Howard Brown:

the walking billboard. We appreciate it very much.

Lee Silverstein:

Absolutely.

Howard Brown:

Tell my audience a little bit about you give me

Howard Brown:

your bio, your background and share with us.

Lee Silverstein:

Sure, so you know, we're I am 12 years a

Lee Silverstein:

little over 12 years into a stage four colon cancer

Lee Silverstein:

situation, I try to avoid that battle language and fight and

Lee Silverstein:

all that. Not a fan of that. So we'll call it a 12 year cancer,

Lee Silverstein:

colon cancer journey. And I was diagnosed and you know, you and

Lee Silverstein:

I have heard this story dozens of times, Howard, turn 50. And I

Lee Silverstein:

tell people, you know, my primary care physician was very

Lee Silverstein:

kind. And at 50 years old, he gave me a birthday present. He

Lee Silverstein:

didn't take the time to wrap it, he didn't put a bow on it. But

Lee Silverstein:

it was a gift to go get a colonoscopy. And you know, I'm a

Lee Silverstein:

good patient, I'm a I'm a patient, you know, I'm complying

Lee Silverstein:

patient with my doctor recommended something, I go do

Lee Silverstein:

it. And a lot was going on in my life that time. So I did

Lee Silverstein:

postpone it for a little bit. And I didn't have any symptoms,

Lee Silverstein:

and woke up to find out that I had stage two colon cancer. So

Lee Silverstein:

you know, we did the surgery, took out part of the colon and

Lee Silverstein:

talk to the oncologist. And he goes, Yeah, you know, stage two,

Lee Silverstein:

I almost feel like chemotherapy would do more harm than good at

Lee Silverstein:

this point. We'll just keep an eye on you. And they did a CT

Lee Silverstein:

scan just to kind of have a baseline. And I'll never forget

Lee Silverstein:

I had taken my girlfriend now wife at the time, Linda, on her

Lee Silverstein:

first visit to New York City. And we're walking through Macy's

Lee Silverstein:

Herald Square. And you know, the old line if the nurse calls.

Lee Silverstein:

It's good news. If the doctor calls. Well, you know, so I'm

Lee Silverstein:

standing in the middle of Herald Square, and the phone rings. And

Lee Silverstein:

I hear Lee it's Dr. Strausberg. And I'm like, Oh crap. And he

Lee Silverstein:

goes, Yeah, that CT showed a spot on your liver. When you get

Lee Silverstein:

back from vacation. We'd like to do a PET scan.

Howard Brown:

But enjoy the rest of your vacation. It's like

Howard Brown:

yeah, easy for you to say. Right.

Lee Silverstein:

So we do the get back to the PET scan and

Lee Silverstein:

nothing lights up. So he said, Well, you know, it must be. And

Lee Silverstein:

he described it with some word that had at least 12 letters in

Lee Silverstein:

it. I don't recall what it was, but said it was benign, likely

Lee Silverstein:

benign, so we kept an eye on it. Fast forward about a year and a

Lee Silverstein:

half. Linda became my wife. We went off on our honeymoon came

Lee Silverstein:

back and I looked at my phone and they're on my to do list is

Lee Silverstein:

six month checkup at the Moffitt Cancer Centre in Tampa, Florida.

Lee Silverstein:

I was like, Oh yeah, I gotta go do that. It was like, it was so

Lee Silverstein:

far in the back of my mind. Because, you know, we'd move

Lee Silverstein:

quick. We'd done you know, every six months, you didn't even

Lee Silverstein:

think about it. Right? So I go do the scan and the scan. He

Lee Silverstein:

says you know that spot on your liver? I'm like, Yeah, from over

Lee Silverstein:

a year ago because yeah, it's gotten a little bigger. Just to

Lee Silverstein:

be on the safe side. I'd like to do a biopsy. It's like, all

Lee Silverstein:

right. New Year's Eve. We had just bought our bottle of

Lee Silverstein:

champagne to celebrate our first New Year's Eve as a husband and

Lee Silverstein:

wife. We were two and a half, three hours from a nice dinner.

Lee Silverstein:

Very nice. Steak house, and four o'clock the phone rings. And it

Lee Silverstein:

wasn't the nurse. And I'll never forget Howard the exact words

Lee Silverstein:

that I heard on the phone, he said, Lee, it's Dr. Strausberg.

Lee Silverstein:

I hate calling you on New Year's Eve with this news. But your

Lee Silverstein:

biopsy came back positive for metastasis for colorectal

Lee Silverstein:

cancer. And I need you in my office on January 2. And that

Lee Silverstein:

started propelled us on the, you know, metastatic colon cancer

Lee Silverstein:

experience that I've been on since my initial diagnosis in

Lee Silverstein:

March 2011. With, you know, progression, stability,

Lee Silverstein:

progression, stability, never achieved any D, no evidence of

Lee Silverstein:

disease, but we'd go six months, nine months and things would be

Lee Silverstein:

stable. And then something new would prop up, as we commonly

Lee Silverstein:

refer to in the colon cancer community is we're playing whack

Lee Silverstein:

a mole, and currently back in chemotherapy for more

Lee Silverstein:

progression. And that's where I sit right now.

Howard Brown:

Well, I want you to repeat something that when we

Howard Brown:

met, okay, and I have to tell you, our stories are eerily

Howard Brown:

similar except that I was stage three out of colonoscopy at 50.

Howard Brown:

And again, we'll take a quick timeout. It's now 45. To go get

Howard Brown:

screened, okay. You listen, if you're 45, Go, Go call your

Howard Brown:

doctor, go get an appointment. If you do a colour guard or fit

Howard Brown:

test at home and it's positive, you're gonna have to go get a

Howard Brown:

colonoscopy anyways, it's good sleep, I gotta have my next

Howard Brown:

week. I have them every other year now. But go get screened.

Howard Brown:

Because unless you have family history or any type of symptoms,

Howard Brown:

and we know younger people are gonna get screened and save

Howard Brown:

yourself the pain that mainly go through with surgeries and side

Howard Brown:

effects and chemo and clinical trials and all the all the BS,

Howard Brown:

it's hard. I mean, we want to save you from that.

Lee Silverstein:

All those things are a whole lot worse,

Lee Silverstein:

worse than a colonoscopy.

Howard Brown:

absolutely

Lee Silverstein:

If youre nervous about a colonoscopy. Oh,

Lee Silverstein:

I heard this. I heard that. Whatever you heard, none of it

Lee Silverstein:

is as bad as going through what Howard and I have experienced.

Lee Silverstein:

And we when we put our families through and our caregivers, your

Lee Silverstein:

wife, Linda, my wife, Lisa, so I want you to tell me so because

Lee Silverstein:

you thought you know, you're retired now you did so many

Lee Silverstein:

podcasts for seven years over 200. And whatever, someone and I

Lee Silverstein:

got lucky, I don't know how many people got to be on twice. But

Lee Silverstein:

maybe because I had two cancers that are lymphoma, my hand

Lee Silverstein:

calling.

Howard Brown:

But but so so the doctor calls you and says you

Howard Brown:

have cancer. Tell the story about what Linda said to you.

Howard Brown:

And this is really endearing and how you got the name for your

Howard Brown:

website and your show.

Lee Silverstein:

Yeah, so thank you for bringing that up. You

Lee Silverstein:

know, I was lamenting, you know, the news and you know, on more

Lee Silverstein:

than one occasion and saying, you know, God, I can't believe I

Lee Silverstein:

have cancer. And she would stop me and she said, Sweetheart, we

Lee Silverstein:

have cancer. This doesn't just affect you. Right? It affects

Lee Silverstein:

all of us. And the long story of that was the podcast that I've

Lee Silverstein:

put on hiatus will say that I won't say I've shut it down.

Lee Silverstein:

It's still available out there. But the podcast originally was

Lee Silverstein:

the colon cancer podcast. And I was sitting in talking with some

Lee Silverstein:

friends and dear dear friend of mine said, Well, he's like you

Lee Silverstein:

do all these interviews is that all you talk about his colon

Lee Silverstein:

cancer. And I call it one of those lightning bolt moments

Lee Silverstein:

where you go, Whoa, I didn't even think you know, kind of hit

Lee Silverstein:

you. Right? And I was like, yes. So um, but we talk about being

Lee Silverstein:

caregivers and we talk about, you know, just life with cancer,

Lee Silverstein:

you know, maybe 15 20% of what I talk about with people, is colon

Lee Silverstein:

cancer specific. And he goes, Well, don't you worry that

Lee Silverstein:

someone who doesn't have colon cancer might benefit from

Lee Silverstein:

hearing your show, but they see quote, unquote, the colon cancer

Lee Silverstein:

podcast and they scroll past it. Like you're absolutely right. So

Lee Silverstein:

I work with a friend who's a marketing and branding

Lee Silverstein:

professional, and, you know, trying to rebrand this thing.

Lee Silverstein:

And I said, it came to me and said, it's exactly what Linda

Lee Silverstein:

said, it's we have cancer, right? And it's we not just us

Lee Silverstein:

in our caregivers, it's us in our families. It's us and our

Lee Silverstein:

community who doesn't know somebody that's been touched by

Lee Silverstein:

cancer, right? So you can make a case even though, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

hopefully you don't have it and you don't have any loved ones

Lee Silverstein:

who've had it. But I promise you, you know, somebody who's

Lee Silverstein:

been touched by it, so we're all touched by we all can say we

Lee Silverstein:

have cancer That's a part of our life.

Howard Brown:

100%. And listen, and I even sum it up even in a

Howard Brown:

nice tight bow is that fighting cancer, like living your life is

Howard Brown:

a team sport. And if it isn't a team sport, it needs to become a

Howard Brown:

team sport. Because we don't talk all about cancer, we just

Howard Brown:

spent the last half hour talking about hockey and catching up and

Howard Brown:

our kids and your grandkids and real life and real stuff that

Howard Brown:

matters. So yeah, cancer is 20% of it. But if we just want one

Howard Brown:

more second, one more day, to another week with our families,

Howard Brown:

and, you know, we'd prefer to move on and not have to deal

Howard Brown:

with this. But we do. And we these are the deck of cards that

Howard Brown:

we were dealt, we got to play out our hand. And that's

Howard Brown:

important. So when we say hashtag, go get screened,

Howard Brown:

hashtag go get screened. And again, I also expand that too,

Howard Brown:

because Mamography, prostate, your cardio, your nutrition,

Howard Brown:

your dentist, I don't really care, go, go, go keep up with

Howard Brown:

your health and keep up with your checkups. Because if you

Howard Brown:

can't lift yourself up, things can get dark. And that's where

Howard Brown:

shining brightly comes in. Because if you can lift yourself

Howard Brown:

up and shine your light to someone just like this might

Howard Brown:

affect someone listening to this podcast, you know, might go get

Howard Brown:

screened, might save them a whole lot of hell, you know

Howard Brown:

what, then you can lift up others. And that's what it's all

Howard Brown:

about in building that community. So I want to change

Howard Brown:

subjects for a second and talk about you know, you and I are

Howard Brown:

two guys with cancer and there was like no support out there

Howard Brown:

for us listen, hole in town and blue hope nation and fight CRC

Howard Brown:

and Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Poland cup. There's there's

Howard Brown:

resources out there, like nothing just for men, like the

Howard Brown:

like the pink and the breast cancer folks have had. And I

Howard Brown:

want to talk to you about a group Man Up To Cancer that

Howard Brown:

we're in. And we don't talk a lot of science there. But But

Howard Brown:

boy, do we talk a lot of support this man cave, this is howling

Howard Brown:

of the wolves that our good friend, Trevor Maxwell and Joe

Howard Brown:

Pollack and team have put together I have to tell you that

Howard Brown:

this, this idea has sparked a movement. You know, I just I

Howard Brown:

love I love it when you know, someone's in there and saying

Howard Brown:

I'm having problems talking to my kids and five guys jump in

Howard Brown:

there and support the hell out of somebody. And then they fight

Howard Brown:

over pineapple and pizza because you got to be stupid. But, but

Howard Brown:

tell me this because I really think that as men, we're not

Howard Brown:

that smart sometimes. But a really smart thing for any type

Howard Brown:

of cancer is to come on and join man up that cancer and be there

Howard Brown:

for the brotherhood and things like that. Talk to me your

Howard Brown:

thoughts

Lee Silverstein:

without a doubt. And you know, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

it dawned on me really early on, and I've been involved in all

Lee Silverstein:

the groups that you've mentioned, Howard. And I've been

Lee Silverstein:

to a number of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, conferences

Lee Silverstein:

and, and all that. And my wife, Linda came with me to a couple

Lee Silverstein:

of them. And I'm looking around I said to her, I was like,

Lee Silverstein:

where's all the dudes? You know, this, this conference? It's all

Lee Silverstein:

women, and maybe you know, 20 25%, guys, and as you and I both

Lee Silverstein:

know, colour, colorectal cancer strikes, men and women pretty

Lee Silverstein:

much equally, right? And you go on these Facebook groups through

Lee Silverstein:

these various organisations, and they are incredible, and they're

Lee Silverstein:

wonderful. But it's 90% women, right? And I remember

Lee Silverstein:

interviewing, and I think it was, I don't I don't want to say

Lee Silverstein:

who was because I might get it wrong. But one of the people I

Lee Silverstein:

interviewed on the podcast, guy said, Men don't want to sit

Lee Silverstein:

around in a circle and talk about their feelings. Right?

Lee Silverstein:

Especially in front of women. Right? And there was proven So

Lee Silverstein:

Trevor and Joe come up with this idea to create this private

Lee Silverstein:

Facebook group and this community called men up to

Lee Silverstein:

cancer. And it's amazing. What you see happening there is

Lee Silverstein:

what's not happening in these other groups, men being

Lee Silverstein:

vulnerable men saying I'm struggling, men, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

saying you know, I need help, which you do not see, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

and what, you know, whatever you want to, you know, frame the

Lee Silverstein:

reason as, I think it's just a gender thing that men don't want

Lee Silverstein:

to show vulnerability in front of in front of women So and, you

Lee Silverstein:

know, the group is open to all types of cancer doesn't

Lee Silverstein:

discriminate on sexual preference, gender, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

cancer type, religion and those things, everybody's welcome. But

Lee Silverstein:

the amount of vulnerable vulnerability that's expressed,

Lee Silverstein:

and the amount of support coming back to those of us, me

Lee Silverstein:

included, I have shared my struggles and my down days as

Lee Silverstein:

well, because even when we have an amazing support system like

Lee Silverstein:

you and I are blessed with, sometimes you just don't want to

Lee Silverstein:

burden them, you will, you know, you'd rather go to a neutral

Lee Silverstein:

party, if you will, right to share what's on your mind in a

Lee Silverstein:

safe space. And you talk about identifying an untapped need. In

Lee Silverstein:

this instance, Joe and Trevor, and all the guys that run this

Lee Silverstein:

group, they have absolutely hit it out of the park, and done an

Lee Silverstein:

amazing service for the men who are dealing with cancer.

Howard Brown:

Yeah, I couldn't say it any better. I mean, this

Howard Brown:

is like the I was never a fraternity brother. But this is

Howard Brown:

a fraternity. There's a bond that builds that people actually

Howard Brown:

there's mentorship going on. And again, I have a chapter in my

Howard Brown:

book on mentorship is leadership. It's basically being

Howard Brown:

a mentee, and being a mentor are selfless acts where you care for

Howard Brown:

one another and take interest in one another. And it's also part

Howard Brown:

man cave, there's sports, there's, there's booze talking.

Howard Brown:

But I gotta tell you, when someone raises the white flag,

Howard Brown:

boy, boy, two people come out in numbers, but also people share

Howard Brown:

their victories too. And it's not just for that. And there's,

Howard Brown:

it's really a very warm community. And I think that's

Howard Brown:

what surprises most people, because it's also a little bit

Howard Brown:

of a locker room and all that it's all that mixed into one.

Howard Brown:

And I've just, I'm just so pleased at the growth and the

Howard Brown:

support and that the shape is taking, because you don't know

Howard Brown:

when you first start something and you invite a few of your

Howard Brown:

friends. But I gotta tell you, there's people with, you know,

Howard Brown:

cancers that don't really want to talk about Brett mal breast

Howard Brown:

cancer, right, you know, testicular cancer losing and

Howard Brown:

not, you know, prostate cancer. I mean, there's all cancers are

Howard Brown:

welcome. And for those caregivers that are men as well,

Howard Brown:

that are taking care of folks, and there's something for

Howard Brown:

everybody. And listen, you don't have to be so vocal in there

Howard Brown:

too. You can just absorb and take in some of the great wisdom

Howard Brown:

that's being shared as well and many do. But for those that do

Howard Brown:

actually come out and get jump on a pot or a zoom and and go

Howard Brown:

for that support that way. There's a lot of benefits this

Howard Brown:

and then tell them about the the big retreat, they have the

Howard Brown:

gathering of the wolves in Buffalo.

Lee Silverstein:

Yeah, so they had the first one last year and

Lee Silverstein:

I wasn't able to go and they're doing it again this year at a

Lee Silverstein:

like a sleepaway camp ground it looks like just outside of

Lee Silverstein:

Buffalo, the weekend after Labour Day, and as soon as I saw

Lee Silverstein:

that, it was going to be happening again this year. I

Lee Silverstein:

couldn't sign up quick enough, right. And I'm really looking

Lee Silverstein:

forward to meeting a lot of these guys that you'll only know

Lee Silverstein:

through the screen. Right? And I know they had guys from

Lee Silverstein:

literally, you know, even I'm over from Europe. That's the

Lee Silverstein:

other thing about this group is you've got guys from all over

Lee Silverstein:

the world. Right. And, and just to go off on a little tangent. I

Lee Silverstein:

know when I was first diagnosed, Howard, you know, I wasn't shy

Lee Silverstein:

about looking for some sort of a in person support group. And all

Lee Silverstein:

I could find was breast cancer. Right? That's all that was out

Lee Silverstein:

there. Right. There were some caregiver groups. So again, you

Lee Silverstein:

know, they they've really fulfilled, fulfil that a need

Lee Silverstein:

here. And I just have so much admiration and respect for what

Lee Silverstein:

they've done with this community.

Howard Brown:

Listen, I think they had 60 They'll probably

Howard Brown:

have, you know, maybe he could be 80 or 100. You know, men

Howard Brown:

coming together. I know that they sit by the campfire,

Howard Brown:

everyone gets to, you know, share if they want to. There's

Howard Brown:

cheers, there's tears. There's tonnes of laughter It's a lot of

Howard Brown:

fun and bonding that happens with this and I gotta I gotta

Howard Brown:

see if I can get myself there too, because it's an

Howard Brown:

opportunity. I don't want to miss out.

Lee Silverstein:

And I understand there's a big US

Lee Silverstein:

versus Canada cornhole tournament. That's going on.

Howard Brown:

Boys will be boys. Competitive, right? Again, heavy

Howard Brown:

rock throwing, and it'll be a competition but the upper right.

Howard Brown:

So listen, sitting around watching guys playing cornhole,

Howard Brown:

or whatever type of Delta regular beverage you have.

Howard Brown:

There's nothing better. The nice summer of Buffalo, New York. So

Howard Brown:

don't tell me this. And we'll kind of we'll bring the show

Howard Brown:

wrapped up a little bit. But this is really important because

Howard Brown:

you and I know each other, and I'm dealing with the seven years

Howard Brown:

and then before I you know, you know 32 years ago I had my first

Howard Brown:

diagnosis of lymphoma and miracle, my twin sister was an

Howard Brown:

exact match. But you said to me, and again, I don't know if

Howard Brown:

people can actually realise this, you said that it's been

Howard Brown:

the best 12 years in the worst 12 years of your life. Talk to

Howard Brown:

me about that and tell people what that means.

Lee Silverstein:

I have said, I'll correct you. I've only said

Lee Silverstein:

it's been the best 12 years. I've not said it's been the

Lee Silverstein:

worst 12 years. And I say that Howard with no hesitation and

Lee Silverstein:

someone who listening is probably going fast catch stage

Lee Silverstein:

for cancer has been dealing with it for 12 years, is he flipping

Lee Silverstein:

out of his mind, these have been the best 12 years. But when I

Lee Silverstein:

stop, and I look at what's happened in my life, in the last

Lee Silverstein:

12 years, and I'll just briefly summarise it. I got a second

Lee Silverstein:

chance at love and met my wife and we just celebrated in

Lee Silverstein:

December, our 10 year anniversary, I got an amazing

Lee Silverstein:

new job. I saw two kids graduate college, get engaged, get

Lee Silverstein:

married, I've got five grandchildren. And bond you and

Lee Silverstein:

I share. So I'll drop a little drop a little Yiddish here. I've

Lee Silverstein:

seen so many symbols. And for our non Jewish friends, that

Lee Silverstein:

word means celebrations and happy occasions. I've seen so

Lee Silverstein:

many, you know, weddings, and like I said, grandchildren and

Lee Silverstein:

all of these things. And oh, by the way, I got cancer. And when

Lee Silverstein:

I compare the list of all the great things that have happened

Lee Silverstein:

in my life, and the one thing that sucks that I'll guess which

Lee Silverstein:

list is a whole lot longer, right? Does that mean the cancer

Lee Silverstein:

experience has been easy and without struggles? Absolutely

Lee Silverstein:

not. And when I'm sitting there the weekend after chemo, you

Lee Silverstein:

know, barely able to move off the couch. It you know, it

Lee Silverstein:

sucks. There's no other way to put it. But that doesn't change

Lee Silverstein:

how I feel about what's happened to me in the last 12 years. They

Lee Silverstein:

have with no doubt Howard, been the best 12 years of my life.

Howard Brown:

I appreciate that. Mazel Tov means congratulations,

Howard Brown:

because you mentioned besides, you know, getting a good job,

Howard Brown:

you mentioned life events and memories. Okay, that's what's

Howard Brown:

really important, okay, you don't even have 144 characters

Howard Brown:

to put on your tombstone, right? It's loving, you know, Husband,

Howard Brown:

Son, and Grandpa, you know, that's what's matters. And

Howard Brown:

that's what you that's why the list is so long. And I

Howard Brown:

appreciate that not not. And that's why I wanted you to say

Howard Brown:

that because I want people to understand that, besides those

Howard Brown:

life events, some of the most amazing people that an amazing

Howard Brown:

experience I have been able to have these last seven years are

Howard Brown:

because of that, right? I never would have been a book author, I

Howard Brown:

never would have been speaking on stages, I wouldn't have been

Howard Brown:

podcasting, we wouldn't have met Stacy hurt introduced us and

Howard Brown:

said you guys have to meet your stories are very similar. And we

Howard Brown:

just, we had to do it. But we both agree that Cancer sucks. No

Howard Brown:

doubt about it. There's nothing good about it. But we but the

Howard Brown:

good thing is that we have met some of the most amazing people

Howard Brown:

and had amazing experiences. Because I think that we are very

Howard Brown:

intentional. And we take our lives pretty seriously because

Howard Brown:

we know how vulnerable it can be 100%.

Lee Silverstein:

And, you know, then those are even things I

Lee Silverstein:

didn't even put on the list, Howard, you know, the

Lee Silverstein:

opportunity to meet so many amazing people like yourself.

Lee Silverstein:

The flip side is, and if you haven't experienced this through

Lee Silverstein:

the podcast, I know you have without the podcast, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

the challenges is when you go back and well, you know, you

Lee Silverstein:

know how many former guests are no longer with us. Right? And

Lee Silverstein:

that's, that's the yin and the yang of getting yourself very

Lee Silverstein:

involved in the cancer community is just by definition, there's

Lee Silverstein:

going to be lost there. But the amazing people who have touched

Lee Silverstein:

my life, and opportunities for speaking podcasts, and all those

Lee Silverstein:

things are also part of that list. And to your point about,

Lee Silverstein:

you know, memories, experiences, I put so much extra value in

Lee Silverstein:

those things. We go to concerts, we go on vacations, you know,

Lee Silverstein:

hey, let's go grab a beer at the local brewery. All these things

Lee Silverstein:

are just, you know, sitting on the couch and watching something

Lee Silverstein:

on Netflix with my wife. I don't even take that for granted.

Lee Silverstein:

Right. That to me is also a special occasion. I'm not shy

Lee Silverstein:

about telling people that we'll put music on in the house and

Lee Silverstein:

Linda and I will dance in the kitchen. Right? And because

Lee Silverstein:

that's what we love to do and That's just another way of just

Lee Silverstein:

celebrating our love and celebrating her life. And I and

Lee Silverstein:

I don't take any of that for granted whatsoever.

Howard Brown:

Listen, we both know many people that are still

Howard Brown:

in the battle. And in the stage for cancer world we do live with

Howard Brown:

death. And it's not that they gave up it's that the cancer

Howard Brown:

burden became too great. And then God called them and called

Howard Brown:

them up to heaven. And it is very tough. That is a very tough

Howard Brown:

about and they know about this whole thing. But the

Howard Brown:

appreciation that you expressed dancing with your wife in the

Howard Brown:

house, it's beautiful. Those are the beautiful moments so so the

Howard Brown:

I want you to put on your sunglasses now take off your

Howard Brown:

glasses. For those those that are listening and not viewing

Howard Brown:

this although to get to YouTube. We are wearing our shining

Howard Brown:

brightly sunglasses, because the shining brightly spotlight is on

Howard Brown:

Lee Silverstein, Lee, tell everyone how they can get in

Howard Brown:

touch with you. And then also give me some final comments. And

Howard Brown:

we'll call this a wrap shortly.

Lee Silverstein:

Certainly, so you can find me on Facebook, you

Lee Silverstein:

can find me on Instagram at Lee Silverstein and the

Lee Silverstein:

wehavecancershow.com website but if you just go on Apple podcasts

Lee Silverstein:

or Spotify and search, we have cancer podcast, you'll find a

Lee Silverstein:

back catalogue, as Howard mentioned of like 200 episodes,

Lee Silverstein:

we've interviewed patients, survivors, caregivers, medical

Lee Silverstein:

professionals around all kinds of cancer. And there's something

Lee Silverstein:

there for anybody that's been touched by cancer. And I greatly

Lee Silverstein:

appreciate Howard the opportunity to shine brightly

Lee Silverstein:

with you today. And share my story.

Howard Brown:

I love it. And so I this is Howard Brown and you

Howard Brown:

can always find me at shiningbrightly.com and Lee you

Howard Brown:

are a brother in arms and we join hands together we hope our

Howard Brown:

hockey teams win but but more than that, you you're a dear

Howard Brown:

friend and I think about you all the time and we you brought me

Howard Brown:

onto your show twice and we we watch out for each other and

Howard Brown:

that's that's that's what we do in this world is that we check

Howard Brown:

on each other that we watch out for each other so we will shine

Howard Brown:

brightly to make the world a better place for ourselves for

Howard Brown:

others in our communities, and keep shining always thank you.

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