Kevin Bohn === Vince: [00:00:00] Are you in California? Kevin: I am in California, yes. Okay. Whereabouts? Uh, like the Sacramento area, so kind of in between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento. Vince: Okay. Okay. So what's the weather like today? Is it super hot there or is it actually kind of mild? Kevin: Oh, it's been so hot for the last like week. Uh, I think the lowest it got was like. 79 at like six in the morning was our low. So yeah. Daniel: What's the high Ben have you hit? Uh, Kevin: we're one 15. Whoa. Something like that. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Kevin: So it's great for marathon training, you know, it's perfect. Temp. Be outside. I take your word for it. Vince: Yeah. Kevin: Yeah. Vince: Do you guys have a lot of humidity or not so much? No, thank God. Okay. Yeah. Oh, so it's a dry heat. You're fine. Yeah. Oh yeah. isn, that what they say in Phoenix and Vegas? Yeah, it's uh, no, 115 is 115. Yeah. I don't care if it's dry or not. Stop. Stop trying to sell it. It's still hot. Yes.[00:01:00] Is this thing going? Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Summits podcast. Thank you all for joining us from wherever you get your podcast or if you're joining us on the Heroes Foundation YouTube channel. Thank you for tuning in While you're there, if you hadn't hit the subscribe button, shame on you. Hit it. We won't subject you to 115 degree heat with, with or without humidity. It doesn't really matter, but just take your time. Do that. And by the way. When you do that, then also hit that little notification bell icon. When you do it, takes two seconds. That will alert you when new episodes like this one drop and won't cost you a penny. Alright, today's guest, Mr. Kevin Bone. Kevin, welcome to the Summits podcast. Kevin: Thank you so much. Thanks Vince: for having me. You're welcome. Um, why don't you give everybody a little background on yourself, where you're from and, uh, some other background goodies. Kevin: Yeah. Uh, born and raised in California. Um. [00:02:00] Had a super normal childhood, super athletic kid, played all sports from team sports, skateboarding, snowboarding, all of that. Um, went to college, had a normal college experience, was in a fraternity. Um, all that. What'd you to school? Social life. I went to Chico State, which is a very small. School up in like the northern part of Northern California. Vince: Mm-Hmm. Kevin: Um, has quite a party school reputation, so I had a lot of fun with that. Um, Daniel: and then the moon, did you, did you play any sports while you were there? Kevin: Uh, no I did not. Okay. It was just like intermurals for the fraternity. Yeah. Got it. Things like that. Um, so then after I graduated there, I moved up to Lake Tahoe and worked at a ski resort. Nice. Did the whole snowboard bum thing for a little bit. Daniel: Nice. Nice. Which is Kevin: great. Um, and then [00:03:00] ended up moving to San Francisco and getting like a grownup job and doing that whole thing, so. Okay. Yeah. Vince: What'd you do in San Fran? Kevin: Uh, I was a recruiter. Mm-Hmm. For about eight months, and then quickly realized that that wasn't what I wanted to do as a career. Vince: Yeah. Kevin: Um, so then I moved into cybersecurity and I've been with my company for over like five years now. Daniel: Okay. Nice. Cool. Yeah. Kevin: You got a question there? I Vince: was gonna, yeah, I was gonna ask something then You're gonna look at me like I'm Daniel: an idiot. That was dumb, you guys. Yeah. Yeah. What's, uh, do, can you mind sharing what company it is? Kevin: Yeah. uco. Um, Daniel: oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We make the little Kevin: hardware keys. Daniel: Yep. UB keys and uh, yep. We use those around here. So. Kevin: Nice. Yeah. Here. Love that. Yeah. Daniel: So five years into that, still enjoying it, it sounds like. Kevin: Loving it. Constantly learning new things. 'cause you know, things are always changing in that space. Um, and I'm in the. Uh, customer [00:04:00] support team. Vince: Okay. So Kevin: I'm handling both our enterprise customers and our e-comm customers. Okay. So it's nice to have a little bit of, you know, yeah. Both of those types of interactions. But yeah, absolutely love it and plan on staying there a while, so it's cool. Daniel: Nice. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Certainly good field to be in. Vince: I'd say. It's certainly a thriving market, there's no question. Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Kevin: Yeah. Vince: Cool. So, um. You, you've got a, a very interesting story, and I thought we would, we would roll into your cancer story a little more quickly perhaps than others, because then I know there's a, a story behind that as well. So, Kevin, why don't you share with us what is your cancer story? Kevin: Um, yeah. My cancer story started with what I thought was bronchitis in 2019. Um, you know, being a 25-year-old kid, like. I had this cough for a while, wasn't really going away. Um, you know, my chest would hurt if I was like laughing too much, [00:05:00] so I pushed off the doctor's appointments, like, yeah, they're just gonna gimme, you know, antibiotics or whatever for this bronchitis. I'll be fine in no time. Um, so I ended up, and I didn't have A-A-P-C-P in San Francisco at the time, so I found a random PCP scheduled an appointment. Thought it'd be super easy. And then he starts asking me these like, oddly specific questions that I was saying yes to. Like, yeah, so are you getting like super hot at night? And I was like, wait, I just installed a window fan in San Francisco where it's already freezing cold, just so I would stop sweating at night. So yes, I am doing that. And then he's like, um, you know, are you getting super winded going up the stairs? I'm like, yeah, he's, and. All of these things like started to line up and I could tell he was starting to get a little bit concerned. So he is like, um, yeah, I think I'm gonna schedule an X-ray for a chest x-ray for as soon as possible. [00:06:00] Um, so then later that day I went and got a chest X-ray and then had, it was obviously like on a Friday, so you have to wait over the weekend to get the results. Mm-Hmm. So all that anxiety there, um, I. And then turns out I get a phone call from him the, the following week he says, yeah, we see something in there. Have you had any dental work done or anything like that? It could have just been like a. A piece of dental equipment that ended up in your lung after an operation and I was like, I don't think so. That's odd. Oddly Daniel: specific also. Yeah. Right. Kevin: So then, um, the next step was he referred me to UCSF, which is like one of the leading cancer, uh, hospitals in the nation. So I was very lucky to be living there when this was happening. Um, and that's when the ball started rolling pretty fast. Um, they [00:07:00] just started, you know, every touch, like possible way to try to biopsy any of the three tumors. So after my PET scan, I learned that there was one in my neck, one on my lung, and then one in my stomach. And I actually didn't even know about the one in my stomach 'cause I wasn't really experiencing that much pain. Until, like right after the scan and, and like the diagnosis is when the stomach pain started. Um, so then I was scheduled to meet an oncologist after that, and that's when she said, you know, we're gonna, we wanna start chemo as soon as possible. Um, we're gonna do, it's called R chop. Um. Which is a pretty common for, for lymphoma diagnosis, I believe. And she said, you know, I can tell like you're a little worried about [00:08:00] this, but just so you know, lymphoma, think, what's that? Vince: You're like, you think? Kevin: Yeah. Yeah, Vince: exactly. So at that, at this point though, right? At this point, they had already formally diagnosed you, correct. Kevin: So they knew that it was some type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Okay. At first they were thinking it was primary mediastinal b-cell lymphoma, but they ended up not getting an exact confirmation until the final biopsy, which was like a week later. Daniel: Okay. Kevin: And the final, uh, it was confirmed the diagnosis was, um, diffused large B cell lymphoma. Um, and so she, at that initial appointment was like, um, lymphoma's, a very gentle cancer. Like the reason I went into the, the blood cancer field is 'cause it's so treatable. Um, like you might even feel better during treatment [00:09:00] than you do now. And I'm getting, I'm getting stoked. Like I'm getting hyped up, like, oh yeah, I'll be starting to feel good as soon as I start chemo. Like, this is sick. Daniel: Yeah. Kevin: Um. Then the, after the third biopsy, um, then I found out that it was stage four. So then, and I kind of started to get a lot more concerned in that initial, if you Vince: would, um, for listeners and viewers, um, tell us why they defined it as stage four. Kevin: Um, because I had tumors in both my lower abdomen, upper abdomen, and above my abdomen. Vince: Yeah. Okay. So had, had spread. Did they, were they able to determine what was the initial site? Kevin: Um, I believe it was the lung first. Vince: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Kevin: Um. And it took three, yeah, like I said, three biopsies to even get there. So [00:10:00] they originally tried just going with a needle to the one in my neck. I. And that was unsuccessful. Um, okay. That was the smallest tumor by far. So then they thought the best way would be to get to the lung tumor. So they made an incision at the bottom of my neck here, and I guess they went in and like dug around and tried to get some of the tissue. Um, that was inconclusive. So lucky me, they decided that the least invasive would. Be to stick a giant needle in my chest and kind of dig around until they got some of the tissue out. So that's, that's how they figured it out. Vince: Wow. Yeah. That, that one, that one rings a bell. Yeah. Kevin: Yeah. And you can't be sedated for that one. No. They need you to breathe at certain times and its just like, Vince: oh, you're laying there like an angle at Mm-Hmm. At least this is where I was. I dunno if it's similar, but, and it's, there's a screen up there and he is like, just, just focus on that screen, but yet the hands are right here. And this like. You can see it going in. You're like, [00:11:00] what the, like I'm not watching that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Very, very odd. Kevin: Yeah. Vince: Situation. Kevin: So then after that biopsy, they determined it was stage four, um, and that I would be starting, um, chemo the next day. Um, but. In between the initial, oh, you have B lymphoma. It's super gentle to the, Hey, this is stage four, we're treating it tomorrow. Like, I thought life was good. I. Like, my family and I went to lunch after that conversation, the initial conversation Mm-Hmm. We're like, this is great news. I was like, let's go up to the lake house for the weekend, just to like have one last good weekend before chemo. Um, and while I was up there, actually the tumor in my stomach, which ended up being 10 centimeters, had, um, had ruptured. Oh [00:12:00] Daniel: man. Kevin: And so I. Was essentially like dying, trying to crawl to the bathroom 'cause I could feel that I had to go to the bathroom. Um, and then just kinda laid there in and outta consciousness for a while and called my parents and they came and got me, took me to the hospital and all they said, it was like, oh, he must be dehydrated. So I got another, um, just an IV of saline or whatever fluids. Um. And then went back down to San Francisco and then it ruptured again. And I was like, okay, this is not good. But it kept embolizing itself, which was nice. Hmm. Um, so then that's when I was, my oncologist was like, all right, we're gonna take you inpatient. This is gonna be inpatient for a little bit just so we can monitor you and all of that. So. Yeah, that was when I got the [00:13:00] stage four diagnosis and then chemo started the next day. Daniel: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So quick, pretty quick reversal there as far as like how things seemed like they were gonna go and then what actually unfolded in rather short order. Kevin: Yeah. Super fast. Yeah. And then, yeah, so I started chemo and that seemed to be fine. I was in the hospital just to monitor me for a few days, and then they released me to go home. I was actually staying at my uncle's house who, um, lived in San Francisco as well. So my parents were staying in one bedroom. My uncles were in another, and then I was in the third. Um, and then I was staying there for about four days. And this was a week after my first round of chemo where shit really hit the fan. Um, so at like 5:00 AM [00:14:00] I, I always had a little bell next to my bed in case like I needed help. Mm-Hmm. Like now and at like 5:00 AM Exactly. One week after I started chemo, I could feel like it was rupturing again and I was losing consciousness. And so I started ringing the bell. My parents came in. I started like throwing up blood everywhere. Blood coming out of both ends. I was losing it so quickly, losing consciousness. Um, they called the ambulance. And San Francisco's houses are so like small Mm-Hmm. Closely together. Vince: Mm-Hmm. Kevin: They couldn't bring like a stretcher in. So they had to, they had to put me on like, just like a dining room chair and carry me down the stairs while I'm like in and outta consciousness like this. Oh man. Daniel: Um, Kevin: and then, yeah, quick ambulance ride to the hospital and that's when I got my first two units of blood. I think from there [00:15:00] while we waited until I was stable enough for a CT scan. Daniel: Wow. Vince: So what transpired at that point? I mean, what, what was the leading cause of that other than just the one of the tumors rupturing? Is that pretty much it or was it causing other, um, external issues? Kevin: Yeah, so the first one before the treatment was, it seems to be a rupture. And then the, the big one that I was just explaining, which caused me to go to the er, um. They think that the tumor was like so deep into the tissue and the vessels of the stomach that when the chemo started working, it kind of just shrunk and deteriorated everything, including the cancer cells. Yeah. Um, which kind of left just a hole in my stomach, um, for blood to leak out of. Daniel: Wow. Kevin: Yeah. So then [00:16:00] let's see what happened after that. I got a CT scan to see where the bleeding was. Um, and then they took me to interventional radiation where they were able to like go in there and stop it from bleeding. Um, and that was their, their first try. Um. And so they sent me back up to the ICU after that just to monitor me. And everything seemed like pretty good after that. Um, I even had like friends come visit. I was in high spirits, doctors were in high spirits. Um, and I kind of thought we were through the worst of it. But the next day is kind of where, where things got brutal. Vince: Now you've not had your second, um, chemo treatment yet at that point, had you? Kevin: Correct. Vince: Okay. Kevin: So that was just one week of the [00:17:00] first round of chemo. Vince: Hmm. Kevin: Um, and then, so two days after being admitted to the er, um, I could feel my, uh, I was losing consciousness again, just laying in bed. So I called the nurse in and my blood pressures was dropping extremely low, so I was bleeding again. Um, and they called the rapid response team in, they rushed me to the ICU. Um, and I actually, this was the first time that I coded, so they had to start doing the chest compressions just to keep the blood flowing and all of that. Um, and they kept doing that until I was stable enough to get another CT scan. Um, 'cause they wanted to see like if the bleeding has moved or if it's something else. Like what, what can we do to stop it? Um, but [00:18:00] so this is when they, I was started to lose so much blood that they called for a, um, massive transfusion protocol. Um, which is pretty wild. I didn't know this was a thing. They basically take the widest gauge needle that they have, stick it in both of your arms, and just have somebody like pumping the bags of blood in as fast as they can. Wow. While they have other nurses running to the blood bank and back with coolers just to like keep it going. Vince: Wow. So I think Kevin: I ended up going through like three. Times as much as my normal blood, so like three people's blood worth. Wow. In that process. Yeah. Daniel: Just cycling it through. Then like Yeah, it's like a manual dialysis almost. Kind of, yeah. Okay. Since I was Kevin: losing it so fast, they were just trying to keep up with getting it in me while I was still losing it to try to keep me somewhat [00:19:00] stable. Daniel: Wow. Kevin: Um, which ended up working, um, the internal bleeding embolized again on its own. And then, um, I. They decided that I would have to go back down to IR again, but they were worried that I wasn't gonna make it, um, down the elevator. So they had a whole plan in place with the people pumping the bags and like somebody ready to go if I did code again. And then I guess in the, uh, in the elevator on the way down, I did code again. And so they had to start the chest compressions for, I don't know how long that one lasted for, but that ended up working again, um, enough to get me down to the or. Um, but at this point there was [00:20:00] an artery that's attached to my stomach that had burst as well. Wow. So this artery filled my stomach. With blood and the way that I was laying was there's enough pressure in the back to kind of plug up where the bleeding was coming from. Vince: Huh. Kevin: So then when they took me off of the stretcher onto the OR table. That pressure was released and I coded again and started bleeding again. Yeah. Wow. So, yeah, that was another round of chest compressions there. Daniel: What, what was the, what was the time period of that for those three coating? Like, was it 20 minutes, an hour, three hours? What? Kevin: Um, from my notes here, it's about three hours. Daniel: Okay. Wow. Wow. Kevin: Yeah. Um, and I believe after [00:21:00] that one they, so that's when they realized, um, that, sorry, one second. Oh yeah. So then while I was down in the, um, or the head of medicine at UCSF came in and was talking to my family and basically told them like, yeah, Kevin's the sickest one in our hospital and we have like a liver transplant going on. Which is like pretty wild to hear that one of the largest hospitals in the country, like I'm the sickest patient, like, mm-Hmm. That's insane. Daniel: What, what do you remember from the, over those three hours? I mean, um, I would imagine, sounds like obviously you're in and out, but, and you're checking notes, so I would, it kind of seems like maybe you don't remember from when that started happening. What, what, what was that experience like for you during that time? Kevin: Yeah. Um. So I was definitely in and out a [00:22:00] lot. I know the feeling of when I started to code, I could feel it coming on and then they would get me back stable again. But then I think after this third one is when I got my, um. Breathing tube to in, and then they just put me in an induced coma for a few days after that. So, yeah. Okay. No memory after coding? The second or third time. Daniel: Okay. Kevin: Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Uh, I can only imagine what the level of, I guess, controlled chaos may have been trying to. Transition you from each place and keeping everything together and, and every, I mean, obviously things happened unexpectedly and trying to keep it all together is probably, uh, yeah. A scene to be seen. Kevin: Um, a lot of like the, um, ICU nurses and doctors were like, this is like something out of a movie. Like [00:23:00] we don't have this happen. Vince: Yeah, it's Kevin: crazy. Um, and I guess after my, after one of the nurses' shifts who was there when I coded, and she was the one that was doing the chest compressions, she was doing a shift change with another nurse and explaining like everything, but like she was sobbing while she was explaining like what to do next. And the other nurse was like, honestly, like, just go home and like. Decompress, like you saved his life. Um, so I mean, for her, I can't imagine how traumatic it was, but she did save my life, so Daniel: it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Kevin: That was Vince: awesome. Daniel: Wow. Vince: Um, so, okay, so where, where, where are we now? You're, you've had a surgery, correct? Kevin: So that was Yes. Another surgery. Um, lemme see here.[00:24:00] Yeah, so that was another surgery, um, to embolize the bleeding through interventional radiation. And that was Monday the 27th, and I got my first round of chemo on Friday, May 17th. Vince: Okay. So Kevin: yeah, that's like the timeframe there. Um, and then. After that embolization, they kind of thought it was good, you know, they weren't really worried about it, they were just gonna monitor me and then move me down to the, um, oncology ward, um, to, you know, figure out what the next steps for chemo would be. Vince: And this of course is post induced coma, right? Kevin: Yes, correct. Yep. Um, so then the next morning, um. It started bleeding again. [00:25:00] Um, and they had to kind of come up with a decision of what they're gonna do. They've already embolized it three times and that that's not working. So they kind of had like a conference between ir, um, and surgical and oncology. And it seemed like the best solution would be to just completely remove the stomach and spooning as a whole. So they called my family into like a conference room and it explained like it we're gonna have to like, remove his stomach. Um, and my parents and family didn't know that that's even possible to live like a normal life. So they're like, I don't like, should we do this? So then they ended up asking the doctors like. If you were in our shoes, would you do this? And all of them said yes, a hundred [00:26:00] percent. Um, and they were just waiting for an answer to just take me down to the OR to do it as fast as possible. So as soon as they got the yes from my family, they like wheeled me down right away. Um, and the chief of surgery at UCSF, uh, Dr. Harris was the one that, um, performed the operation. So he's like their head doctor there. Mm-Hmm. Vince: Um, Kevin: so. Then I get back up to my room later that day. Um, and they actually had to put a sign up in front of my door that says, patient does not know about gastrectomy. Um, family's waiting to tell him what, like at the right time or something? Yeah, because I'm still intubated at this point too. Vince: Okay. Kevin: Um. And then the next day they tried to take me off of the sedative, um, because they wanted, they wanted me to like get off the sedative and get the [00:27:00] breathing tube out as soon as possible. Vince: Yeah. Mm-Hmm. Kevin: Um, so I, they took me off the sedative at like 8:00 AM and I wasn't responsive until like 12. So they were like very concerned that there could be brain damage or something like that. 'cause four hours is on what they said is a long time to wait for, uh, responsiveness. But, um, I woke up and was like, pretty well aware of like, what's going on or like where I was. Mm-Hmm. Um, so there wasn't a lot of brain damage there, which I'm super thankful for. Um, and then, so the next hurdle was to try to get the, um, breathing tubes out. And they do like a breathing test every day, um, until you can pass. And I didn't pass for like almost a week or [00:28:00] something. I think it was Daniel: okay. Kevin: But yeah, once I got the, uh, breathing tube out, eventually I. Was meeting with my oncologist who was like, okay, we really need to start your second round of chemo. And the surgery team is like, he just had lifesaving surgery. I don't think chemo would be good for his body right now. Um, and my oncologist ended up winning that debate and I started chemo, um, not long after that, so, Daniel: okay. Kevin: Got transferred out of the ICU after being in there for a couple of weeks, um, and then started my next round of chemo. Um, but from there then I, my lungs started to fill up with liquids, so I [00:29:00] had to get like chest tubes put in. Um. Which was way more painful than I thought it would be. Um, that was probably one of the most painful parts of the whole experience, to be honest. Um, and then I had a feeding tube in and I couldn't eat or drink anything, no liquids for I think more than 30 days. And I was all, all like inpatient for the rest of the, the chemo treatments, which I ended up getting six of them. Okay. Vince: How did they, wow. Did they, they spread the, the treatments at all from what they might normally do or, or not so much? Kevin: Not so, I mean, okay. Definitely between the first and the second. Well, yeah. Yeah. Between the surgery, but, um, yeah, after that it's, it was the normal, um. A normal time between each one. Okay. And you said six? Vince: Yeah. Okay. So fast forwarding a little bit, I guess [00:30:00] to you, you have your sixth round of chemo, then what? I mean, how, how are you feeling at that point? About what was the span of time there? I. Kevin: So that would, my last chemo would've been, I think in November or October, still had a, a feeding tube in, I think, um, been in the hospital for like six months. Um, spirits weren't that high. Like, yes, I'm beating cancer, but. Also, I'm 25 and all my friends are gonna music festivals and on these trips. Mm-Hmm. And seeing the world and I've been in a hospital room, can't even like walk for six months. So yeah, that, I think more towards the end of the treatment was where the mental aspect really came into play. Um, and I wished that I had been more vocal. About it because I [00:31:00] didn't end up finding something that really worked for my anxiety until, um, maybe like a year and a half or two years after, uh, I was discharged. Daniel: Oh, Vince: wow. Daniel: Yeah. Vince: Okay. Kevin: Yeah. Vince: So how, how's the mental state today? Kevin: Great. I could not be happier. I'm on, I've been working with this psychiatrist, psychiatrist for about two or three years now, and we've got everything dialed in. I could not be happier. I have so much energy. Um, life's good, man. Happy to be here. Vince: Let's, good. That's great to hear. Yeah, I'm, I'm very happy to hear that. Um, let's talk about now post. Post-cancer experience, post-treatment experience, I should say. Mm-Hmm. Um, let's roll, roll into, I'm not gonna say a normal life 'cause that no one's life is normal, but let's, let's roll into post-treatment and, uh, kind of what, what [00:32:00] carried you into where you are today? Kevin: Um, post-treatment was very difficult since I, so I lost my stomach. I had to learn how to like eat again, so I was constantly throwing up, trying to eat. Uh, I would like wake up in the middle of the night throwing up. Um, and then I also had developed, um, an addiction to opioids because of the surgery. Hmm. Since I was on them for six months in the hospital and then supposed to just like wean off at home. Um, I did a terrible doc job at that, so I was, yeah, it was. Not as bad as the time in the hospital, but it was definitely like, not getting better. I wouldn't say I, that my life was like getting on track yet at this point. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. Vince: So what, what helped kind of get you through that next phase? Kevin: Yeah, I ended up [00:33:00] getting a life coach, um, that helped me with the addiction. Um. Really got me into like meditation, um, journaling, you know, really like looking deeper into myself, which I can't thank him enough. Like he definitely got me off of everything. And yeah, I've been like clean from all that stuff for a long time now and I feel great. So it definitely took a lot of work, but it's so worth it and I, yeah, I could not be happier. Vince: That's Kevin: awesome. Yeah. Vince: Yeah. So when was the first run? Kevin: The first run was surprisingly so I ended up switching medications last May. Vince: Okay. Kevin: And after this switch I was like. I have like extra energy and I had never had energy before, ever. [00:34:00] Like, I was like, all right, point A to point B to the couch. Like there was no energy for anything extra. Mm-Hmm. So I was like, I'm gonna see if I can run a mile. And in the beginning of June of last year, I ran a mile in like 10 minutes. But I did a lot of like walking in between, it's like a little sprint. Walk, sprint, walk situation. Yeah. Vince: Mm-Hmm. Um, now I have to ask, before your cancer experience did, were you into running at all? Kevin: I was always an athlete. Vince: Um, Kevin: and you like an avid Vince: jogger or anything like that? Kevin: Yeah, but my parents were always big runners. Like my dad qualified and ran Boston and Oh, nice. Um, it's always been like around in my family. Sure. And me being like, competitive that I am, it's like I want to do something at my own pace. It's like, okay, now I feel like I'm finally ready to like start living life. I want to do a sport or [00:35:00] have a hobby that you know I can do on my own. Take my time, go as slow as I need to because I'm starting from like scratch. Mm-Hmm. I have no muscle. I, yeah, no conditioning at all. Um. So, yeah, it was a, it's been a super long process with running to get to where I'm at now. Vince: Right. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's, yeah, that's part of the journey, right? Yeah, definitely. Mm-Hmm. So you're, you start running, you did your first mile and then, and then take us into today. Kevin: So did my first mile and then. I got pretty hooked on running shortly after that and it was like, all right, well I'm gonna sign up for a half marathon. So I started training because why not, right? Yeah. Yeah. That seems a logical, if I'm gonna do it, might as well it a mile and 10 minutes. Let's go. Yeah, yeah. Daniel: I'm ready. Don't need a condition. Kevin: So I found like [00:36:00] a couch to half marathon training schedule and stuck with it. Um. Like to a t ended up running my first half marathon in 2 0 5 and that was last November. Okay, nice. Um, and I was like, well, I need to do that again. So ran another one in December and I was like, I think I can do it in under two hours for this one. So then the one in December, it was like one. 54. I think Vince: that's pretty strong. Yeah. Kevin: Yeah. So then, um, just kind of like out of the blue, I saw one for, uh, St. Patrick's Day, weekend of this year in Sacramento. They were doing like a. Cancer survivor, um, supporting run or something like that. And I was like, oh, cool, I'll sign up for that. And I hadn't been running because I actually just had [00:37:00] my first kid, my son was born. Nice. Congrats. Congrats. Yeah, thank you. Um, so I was like pretty outta shape, but I ended up, uh, getting a personal record at that one, um, by a minute. So I ran it in an hour and 53 minutes. Nice. Yeah. Now I got my, my eyes set on the big one. Um, a full marathon on August 25th. Okay. And I'm shooting for sub four hours. Okay. So we will see how that goes. Daniel: Yeah. Kevin: Um, it's a little bit tough with, with fueling and hydration 'cause I don't have like a storage unit in my body, so, Daniel: yeah. Kevin: Just been kind of playing around with different things, trying to find out what works. And I, I think I've got it pretty dialed now and I'm very stoked. Daniel: Nice. Vince: Yeah, so that's, that's interesting. I'm not, I'm not a runner, so I, I can't, I don't, I can't really relate, but what, what would be the, um, I dunno if I wanna say the science behind it, what would [00:38:00] be the strategy behind, okay. I, I've dialed in the, the half marathon, but to double that. With the challenges that you do have, what is, what is the plan like? Is is it be staging specific, uh, nutritional supplements in certain spots that maybe the, the race, can they accommodate that? Or are you gonna have to work with, you know, some family and friends to be staged in certain spots to get what you need? Kevin: Yeah, so I typically do like a, um. I have like a carb, electrolyte liquid mix and like a hydration pack. Vince: Okay. Yeah. I'll Kevin: have two bottles of those. Um, and that's just for like my runs when I'm out by myself. Like, uh, there'll be eight stations along the way that I can just get water and do stuff there. But then I'll typically do like a, like an energy gel that just has like carbs in it every two miles. And then I. An [00:39:00] electrolyte tablets, like a salt stick thing. Vince: Hmm. Kevin: I'll pop those like every mile. Um, and I try to eat as many carbs as I can before the run. Um, most runners do it then like the night before, so that there it, right. It has the time to like absorb and all that, but I have to do it like just right, right before. Okay. Um, and then, yeah, planning on getting a refill of my carb mix at like mile 14. Uh, refill of my, um, energy gels and kind of see what happens. So, yeah. Yeah. Vince: Wow. Where is the marathon on the 25th of August? Kevin: Um, it's in Santa Rosa, California. Vince: Okay, okay. Um, what's the name of that marathon? What was that? What's the name of the marathon? Kevin: Uh, the Santa Rosa Marathon. Okay. When I signed up, I was like, my goal was I'm just gonna finish it. You know, like, I [00:40:00] think that's a good challenge for me. Mm-Hmm. But I was like, kept running and like kept getting faster. I was like, I think I can do. A sub four here, so that turned into the goal. Vince: Nice. No, that's good. That's solid. Yeah. Um, I think a lot of people who've been through this experience, I mean yeah, in some respects we just, we, the goal could be, well, I just wanna finish, but I. As, as that competitive spirit comes out, you're like, nah, no, we need, we need to dial this in a little more specifically. Kevin: Yes, exactly. And I wouldn't be surprised if I have like, qualifying for Boston in my sights at some point in the new future. Vince: Alright, dude. Kevin: Yeah, Vince: you said it, not us. So we, we are here to challenge you today Yeah. To, to qualify for Boston through the Santa Rosa Marathon. And we wanna hear about it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That'd be great. And we'll think about if, if you do, there'll be a root board. We'll think about that. If you don't, we'll figure something else out. Daniel: Well, yeah, Vince: yeah. Perfect. Love it. All right. Nice. Well, cool. Well, I'll tell you what, [00:41:00] man, your, your story a, a pretty wild one. I mean, we've Yep. You know, we've heard a variety of cancer stories from folks and you certainly have been through the ringer without a doubt. Yeah. Uh, lemme ask you this. If you're talking to your 25-year-old self, I mean, it's been your five years removed. Mm-Hmm. You're talking to your 25 years, 25-year-old self or anyone else who's in that same predicament, what, what might you share with them? Um, if you had to look back on that now, Kevin: I would say the faster that you can kind of grieve your. I don't know. 'cause you have these expectations for your twenties of being like the time of your life and like your time to be young and do whatever. But the faster that like you can kind of grieve that, that's not in the cards for you and you have to, you know, find your joy somewhere else. Um, I think the more beneficial that [00:42:00] is. 'cause I had a hard time letting go of like. Okay. I can't be out at the bars until whenever and like I can't just like, you know, go on hikes whenever I want without proper fuel or whatever. So, mm-hmm, the, the sooner that you can kind of like grieve that you're normal life is gonna look a lot different than your previous normal life, then I think you're in great shape. Yeah. Vince: Yeah, yeah. Well said. Um, I'll tell you. So have you turned 30 yet? I did. In March. Yes. March. Okay. Well, hey, thirties is the new 20, right? Yeah, yeah, that's exactly, I'm 51. I still like act like a young idiot sometimes. Just ask him. Yeah, yeah. Or ask my wife. She'll be happy to tell you. Plenty. Plenty. Um. Well, you know what? You've got, you got the right perspective. I'll tell you that. Um, we love what you're doing on the, uh, the running side. We love that you're turning this emotion into action and helping to spread the story and, and do what you can to give [00:43:00] back. Mm-Hmm. That's, that's key. Mm-Hmm. Um, you know, there, there's anything we can, we can do if you wanna. Any questions or ask about our perspective, having been a little bit further out, you know, we're, we're here. Anytime you wanna hit us up, feel free. Yeah. Yeah. Kevin: I appreciate it. And yeah. One thing I'd like to add to that last point. Yeah. Too, I think for me, I, I didn't really look at a normal life beyond cancer. Like after treatment, I was like, well, I like this. Is it, I. I'm tired and I can't do a lot of stuff. Um, but yeah, just gotta be patient. And eventually, like my biggest goal for, you know, speaking out about my story is to let people know that you can have, I. A life after cancer, it might look a lot different than you expected, but you, you can still be happy and have a great life after. Vince: Yeah. Yep. Well, so a hundred percent. And I think you're, you're living life now with a little bit, with a different [00:44:00] perspective, right? Yes. What you're 20, 30, 80, um, you have, I don't know if I wanna say more meaning in it, but more meaning in it. Kevin: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Definitely treating my body way, way different than I was before, Vince: so I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. Well, hey, best of luck with the running. Best of luck on August 25th. We will, uh, be keeping a watchful eye on that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, if, if, if we don't hit you up first, let us know how it went. Mm-Hmm. And, uh, we will, we'll put something together for you. Yeah. Kevin: Sweet. Sounds good. Well, I appreciate you guys having me on. It's been great. Absolutely. Well, thank you sharing for joining us. Vince: We appreciate your time. Appreciate you sharing your story. I'm sure someone out there is benefiting from hearing this in some way, shape, or form, and that's really the whole point of this. Yeah. So thanks again. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Thank you guys. Vince: Cool. All right. Thank all of you guys for joining us on this episode, the Summit's podcast from wherever your podcast, and for you're turning in on the Heroes Foundation YouTube channel. Thank you for tuning in. We appre appreciate [00:45:00] it. And don't forget, think about Kevin as he runs the Santa Rosa Marathon, August 25th, just. You know, find him on Instagram. Mm-Hmm. Send some shout outs to him right before the race and we'll see what his results are. If he doesn't break the four minute mile, let him, let him hear about it. Four hour, four hour. Four hour goal. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. Or the four minute mile. I mean, Kevin: impressive. If Vince: you break the four minute mile. Any one of those miles. That's awesome. Yeah. Kevin: He'll be in pairs for the Olympics if that happens, right? Yeah, exactly. Vince: Yeah. Yeah. Um, but if he does make it, let's also give him some shout outs, you know, comment, you know, him, hit him up, DM, whatever. Uh, let's, let's let him know. Let's let him know about it and give him some words of encouragement and praise. Alright guys, thanks again for tuning in and don't forget. Beat [00:46:00] cancer.