We 6/28 - Hitting Pause For Cancer Treatment

It's Wednesday, June 28 2023. It's time to nerd out.

The ad nerds podcast delivers ad industry news weekdays we are the go to source for people who spend money on advertising, covering Big brands, small businesses and the latest marketing trends. It's me Spanky Moskowitz, the show's host and nearly 40 year vet of the ad industry. I paid ads for Chevrolet, Budweiser m&ms, Frito. Lay the NFL and NBA, and my most recent favorite Hooni pizza ovens. I created over 100,000 ads generating hundreds of billions in client revenue. If you're in or interested in the world of advertising and want to stay up to date with the latest news. The ad nerds podcast is the perfect place to start.

Well, folks, the time has come. I've been talking about this since May 6 Team roughly. I shared the news with you on in May that I recently was diagnosed with a lower colorectal cancer, rectal cancer. And I was said that my podcast episodes, episodes were going to be sporadic. Because of who knew right, I was having medical appointments, doctor visits, I've been probed, prodded and examined by lots of people. And but now the time has come for me to get into the treatment and healing phase of this cancer. And I'm going to be stepping aside for probably a few months. And so today, this episode is going to be my last ad nerds podcast for a while until I am back and can sit in front of or behind this microphone, depending on your perspective.

Now, let me talk to you a little bit about being lucky over the past month. Well it's been about a month since the diagnosis. I have been told by countless doctors. When I say countless doctors I think I'm at a dozen now who have said to me You have no idea how lucky you are. And the cancer diagnosis itself does not feel very lucky like getting told, hey you have rectal cancer doesn't feel like a lucky thing. But the other day when I met with my oncologist, Dr. Kristina Gomes, by the way, she's amazing. And like me, she doesn't like pickles on Hoopoe Bondo sandwiches because pickle juice is disgusting, when it gets all over your sandwich. Anyway, why am I lucky? And here's why. Because they don't see patients like me. They see patients and people who don't go for colorectal screenings, they don't go for colonoscopy is because they're afraid of the prep, or it's embarrassing, or whatever. And I went and my cancer was diagnosed at a stage that it's treatable, that I'm not going to have to have months of chemotherapy and radiation. In fact, when the tumor board met at MD Anderson Cancer Center, by the way, by nominal care, shout out to the to the folks to the team at MD Anderson Cancer Center. These medical professionals are the most compassionate, uplifting, happy doctors, nurses, and staff you've ever met. Literally the moment you walk in there you feel embraced, loved and cared for, which when you're going through something like this is kind of important. Well, it's very important not kind of so Dr. Gomez said to me the other day you have no idea how lucky you are. And I said you know I've heard that from a lot of people. And the reason behind this is this. I got my screening.

I went and got a colonoscopy routine colonoscopy I am asymptomatic even as I sit here today, recording my final podcast for a while. I am asymptomatic. I have no symptoms other than it was discovered during a routine colonoscopy. And the symptom I have is a stage two rectal cancer. Most patients come in with symptoms. They have pain, they have bleeding, they have some issue. I don't have any of those and the reason is, is because I don't fear having a colonoscopy, and I want to tell you if you're putting it off, and this is men and women alike, if you're putting off getting a colonoscopy because you're fearful of the procedure, you don't like the prep for it, because you got to drink this disgusting liquid. Let me tell you that, all of that is it pales in comparison to not knowing you're living with a ticking time bomb. I literally discovered a ticking time bomb before it exploded. All because I went for routine colonoscopy. Think about that for a second, a simple test that took no more than 20 minutes. And I didn't even know because I was asleep. By the way, you get a proper fall into snap. Think it's called proper fall to amazing drug. If you want a good nap, without a hangover, get a colonoscopy. Take time out of your day. That simple test saved my life. I talked about this. Last week I was at the commitment summit in Costa Rica. And I literally spoke about this on stage. And it was my last stage presentation for a while. But I'm telling you right now, this is my public service announcement to you. Dr. Gomez was so grateful that I did my routine screening. She was like oh my god, good for you. She applauded me. Because they don't see patients like me at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Please do not fear getting a colonoscopy. Please don't fear the exam, just get it done. Because if you catch it early enough, you can wind up in a situation like me. So initially, I was told I was going to have a complete, they remove everything. And I was going to have a colostomy the rest of my life that was a hard pill to swallow. And then I met with the team at MD Anderson. And I was told well wait a second, we approach this a little differently. First, the typical protocol is this. And so we would treat this with radiation and chemotherapy, shrink this sucker down, and then go in and do surgery because we have a better, better margin, right? The radiation and chemo helped that cancer shrink. But when the tumor board met, they all looked at my case and they decided, wait a second, this cancer is shallow enough. It's small enough, and it's in a location where it's operable. And so they're doing surgery first. Now, they could find when they do the surgery, that the lymph nodes that they are removing have cancer in them. They could or they could not and if they don't know radiation and chemo after surgery, if they don't upstage the cancer during surgery, no radiation or chemo after surgery. So what I'm facing now are simply two surgeries. My surgery next week, July 5. And by the way, the reason I'm not doing any more podcasts after today's I've got a bunch of pre op stuff to do. I get like tests and other things. And I gotta get a lot of things done because I'm going to be out for a while. So I have two surgeries coming up July 5, at MD Anderson, where they're going to remove the cancer, do the surgery and give me a temporary ileostomy. Right. It's just a bag so everything can heal. We're adults here. We're talking about this because it matters. Or Ill I'm talking about this because it matters. I'm talking to myself right now. But if you're hearing this, I'm not talking to myself. Then six to eight weeks later, and assuming everything is good and they don't upstage me, they don't find cancer in the lymph nodes. I go back for my second surgery and they put me back together. And then at that point is just healing from that. And then a few months down the road. They do a quick check. And then a year down the road. I get my first colonoscopy post surgery. And then from there, the trend continues. But I'm done. caught early. colon and rectal cancer is treatable. It is surgically fixable and does not kill you. Please please please go to your doctor. Schedule your account treatment, tell them you need to get your colonoscopy done. The age of colonoscopies has gone down. They don't want you to wait till you're 50 anymore, or 55 or whatever the old number was, if you're in your 40s if you have a history, anyone in your family that has cancer or has had cancer, go get it. They're seeing colon and rectal cancers in people as young as their late 20s. Let that sink in. It's a completely curable cancer. It is completely manageable and treatable if it's caught early. So do yourself a favor and do me a favor and message me. Let me know you're got a ton. Don't be afraid. This test could literally save your life as it did mine. So while I didn't talk about advertising today, I did want to share that with you. And who knows I might do an episode from my couch or recliner or something. There won't be any production probably won't sound this good.

I might sound weak. It might be noisy. You might hear a dog bark. But that's where we are today. Hey, if you liked the ad nerds podcast when I do stuff about advertising, please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. Give it a five star rating and a great review. I'd appreciate it. That's the ad nerds podcast for a while. Wednesday, June 28 2023. Spank Spanky out thanks for listening. Talk to you soon.