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So, I've got cancer

2023-05-19 · letter vlog · Hank · 13:48 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Health, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal update · tags: heavy topic, civic or action cta

Hank tells John he has Hodgkin's lymphoma, a very treatable cancer he will treat with at least four months of chemotherapy, explains why its spread matters less than in solid tumors, says he does not know what he will make while sick, and asks viewers for no health advice, newsletter sign-ups and light media recommendations.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — How Hank's enlarged lymph nodes led to an ultrasound, a biopsy and an unnervingly fast health care system

  • ★★★ Hank noticed his lymph nodes were big; his doctor said it was probably nothing and sent him for an ultrasound, where the tech went to get a doctor. — 00:00:12
  • ★★ The doctors said it looked possibly suspicious for lymphoma and scheduled a biopsy for the next day; the surgery-office clerk's eyes changed when she learned how fast it was scheduled. — 00:00:25
  • ★★ Hank says nobody expects the American health care system to move quickly, so when it suddenly gets efficient it is disconcerting, like a horse with hands or a flight attendant running mid-flight. (playful) — 00:00:54 · United States

00:01:53 — The diagnosis: Hodgkin's lymphoma, its treatability, why spread matters less than in solid tumors, his risk factors

  • ★★★ Hank announces the biopsy showed cancer: Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system and one of the most treatable cancers; the goal of treatment is cure. — 00:01:53 · cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma
  • ★★ A friend of Hank's who is ten years past Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment has been someone to text when he panics. — 00:02:23 · Hodgkin lymphoma
  • ★★★ Hank will very soon start the fairly well-established treatment, a system of chemotherapies; he does not look forward to it but looks forward to starting on the path. — 00:02:37 · chemotherapy
  • ★★ Hank says the prognosis for people with Hodgkin's lymphoma is very good. — 00:02:45 · Hodgkin lymphoma
  • ★★ Hank says it seems his cancer was caught early, though he is still waiting on a scan to confirm it. (hedged) — 00:02:52
  • ★★★ Hank explains that for solid tumors such as lung or prostate cancer, living elsewhere in the body means the cells have evolved new survival strategies, which is why metastasis is a big deal. — 00:02:57
  • ★★★ Lymphoma is a cancer of immune cells that are already all over the body, so its spread, though worse, means less than in solid tumors: the gap between early and late stages is smaller. — 00:03:21
  • ★★ Hank has several lymphoma risk factors (medications, an autoimmune disease, mono as a kid), so he had been watching for it and is glad it was taken seriously. — 00:03:50

00:04:14 — Logistics, work and obligations: friends' advice, symptoms, chemo, not knowing what he will make

  • ★★ Hank told John that this is the best time so far in human history to get lymphoma, which he calls a very Hank Green thought. — 00:04:14
  • ★ John Green (quoted): John answered Hank with a very John Green thought: a year from now would have been better. (playful) — 00:04:20 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank will talk about the diagnosis here only in terms of his work; he is processing it emotionally and personally, but that is too heavy to discuss now. — 00:04:30
  • ★★ Friends who have been through cancer all told Hank that treatment is his job now: take it one day at a time and have no obligations, only optional things to do. — 00:05:10 · cancer
  • ★★ Hank says depression and anxiety are a big part of cancer treatment; though he has not struggled much with them, he has now seen how intricately linked they are. — 00:05:23
  • ★★ Hank feels no symptoms of the cancer beyond biopsy soreness; stress is his main symptom, but chemo will bring many symptoms. — 00:05:52
  • ★★★ Hank does not know whether he will make Vlogbrothers videos, Dear Hank and John, SciShow or Tangents during treatment; he is playing it by ear. (unsure) — 00:06:14 · Vlogbrothers, Dear Hank and John, SciShow
  • ★★ Hank explains chemotherapy as intentionally poisoning the body so the hungriest cells are poisoned more and die, and says it works well. — 00:06:42 · chemotherapy
  • ★★ Nobody will expect anything of Hank, but as a driven person who runs on obligation he worries most about pressuring himself, something he must get better at. — 00:06:42 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank tells John he hopes John is fine with him making things when he feels up to it, because he loves it, and knows John will be fine with breaks. — 00:07:29 · John Green

00:07:58 — An identity thrust upon him, losing control, and the lesson that investing in friendships pays off

  • ★★★ Hank says his chemotherapy will last no less than four months. — 00:07:58 · chemotherapy

  • ★★ Hank is wrestling with cancer becoming part of how people imagine him, an identity thrust on him; he wants to be the fun goofy science guy, though one can be both. — 00:08:10

    “I want to be like fun goofy science guy not like struggling with anxiety cancer guy”

  • ★★ Hank says there is now a whole spectrum of things he has no control over, which he is struggling with and has to grieve. — 00:08:49

  • ★★★ Hank's lesson: all the time he has invested in friendships, even when hard or busy, has been joyful in the moment and wise in the long term; he has really needed friends lately. — 00:09:15

    “has been joyful in the moment and wise in the long term”

00:09:46 — Requests: no health advice or non-mainstream cures; prognosis as science, care, attitude and chance; the tuberculosis aside

  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers not to give him health care advice: he is very well cared for, and suggestions from a group this big would overwhelm him. — 00:10:00
  • ★★ Hank finds suggestions of non-mainstream ways to deal with and fight cancer well-meaning but confusing, distracting and not for him. — 00:10:15
  • ★★★ Hank is not a 'let's fight this together' guy: he thinks prognosis comes down to good science, health care, outlook, attitude and chance, much more to chance than we like to think. — 00:10:45
  • ★★ Hank feels very grateful to everyone who has spent their careers studying disease, cancer, lymphoma and Hodgkin's specifically. — 00:10:45 · cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma
  • ★★ Hank says Hodgkin's was first thought to be a form of tuberculosis when discovered in the early 1900s, joking to John that everything is tuberculosis. (playful) — 00:11:14 · Hodgkin lymphoma, tuberculosis, John Green
    • a number in question (doubtful): "early 1900s" — check against the recording

00:11:35 — Asks for newsletter sign-ups and light media ideas; it sucks for everyone; the channel will play it by ear; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers to sign up for the newsletter (top link in the description): writing for it may be his easiest way to keep creating if videos and podcasts are too much. — 00:11:35
  • ★★★ Hank asks for ideas for movies, TV shows and video games that are not heavy at all and could not make anyone cry; even the Dungeons & Dragons movie was not all restful. — 00:12:05
  • ★★ Hank says he is fine but not fine; it sucks most for him but also for everybody in the community; he feels like apologizing but won't. — 00:13:00 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank hopes this is not his last Vlogbrothers video for four months, but will not pressure himself if it is. (hedged) — 00:13:00 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Hank expects John will probably take some time off, since posting only John on the channel would be weird; they will play it by ear. (hedged) — 00:13:00 · John Green, Vlogbrothers

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ The description says Hank's first chemotherapy treatment begins as the video goes live. — video description · chemotherapy
  • ★★★ The description reports that a PET/CT scan showed the cancer has not spread from its original location in Hank's left armpit/chest area. — video description · cancer
  • ★ In the description Hank apologizes to friends who are learning the news from a YouTube video. — video description
  • ★★ In a comment John asks for no-bummer recommendations and offers his own: all nine Fast and Furious movies in order, Harvey and Happy Gilmore. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: cancer · friendship · Hodgkin lymphoma · lymphoma

Also: Projects: Dear Hank and John · Hank and John email newsletter · SciShow · SciShow Tangents

Works: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Concepts: alternative medicine · anxiety disorder · autoimmune disease · chemotherapy · depression · immune system · infectious mononucleosis · Luck · Lung cancer · metastasis · prostate cancer · tuberculosis

Places: United States

Only in the description or credits: Fast & Furious · Happy Gilmore · Harvey (film)

Also centred on friendship: How to Make Friends · How Do Adults Make Friends? · How I Made Friends · Views · My 2025 Bingo Card · I Was a Teenage Dirtbag

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2023-05-19 – 2023-06-13.