What Every Cancer Patient Should Know: Lessons from a Survivor with Jace Yawnick

Mark Hyman, MD

Full Transcript

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Dr. Mark Hyman
Coming up on this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show.

Jace Yawnick
I'm lucky to have had such a tremendous support system. And I can recall my oncologist after he diagnosed me said, are you close by to family? Because if you're not, you need to move wherever they are right away.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Before we jump into today's episode, I'd like to know that while I wish I could help everyone via my personal practice, there's simply not enough time for me to do this at this scale. And that's why I've been busy building several passion projects to help you better understand, well, you. If you're looking for data about your biology, check out function health for real time lab insights. If you're in need of deepening your knowledge around your health journey, check out my membership community, Hyman Hive. And if you're looking for curated and trusted supplements and health products for your routine, visit my website, supplement store, for a summary of my favorite and tested products.

Hey, everyone. It's doctor Mark Hyman. Everyone wanted to ask me your health and wellness questions directly. Well, here's your chance. I have an exciting exclusive event coming up that you could be part of as a thank you for being a loyal listener on The Dr. Hyman Show.

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This is a place for conversations that matter. And if you have cancer, I've had cancer, know anyone with cancer, which pretty much covers almost all of us, I think you're gonna find this conversation with this young, brave, 26 year old man, Jace Jahnik, who is right now in the middle of his own journey in cancer. He's got non Hodgkin's lymphoma. He just finished chemo and radiation, and he's waiting for his next scan. And we go deep into his story about how he navigated this condition, what he learned, and how he's actually become a dedicated advocate and leader in the fight against cancer.

He's actually now focusing not just on himself, but he's literally in the middle of getting treated, and he's turned his attention to help others, which is so moving and profound. He's committed to improving the lives of those affected by cancer through support education, community engagement. He's such a deep thinker even at the young age of 25. He's built an incredible network of volunteers and supporters making a huge impact in the cancer community, and his vision is really to inspire others through community engagement and content, fostering hope and resilience for cancer patients and their families. So we're going to dive right into this conversation.

I literally was in tears. Much of the conversation was just overwhelmed by the wisdom and intelligence and compassion of this young man who has been through hell and has turned that into something beautiful. So I think you're gonna love this conversation. Let's jump right in. Well, Jace, welcome to The dr. Hyman Show.

I'm I'm really honored that you've decided to join and tell your story, which is compelling. It's moving. It's inspiring, and it's courageous that you've taken the opportunity to actually tell your story publicly through social media, through other avenues that you've basically created a whole movement to try to raise awareness around how to help people with cancer. And, you know, you're now 26. Right?

And, you know, you were vigorous, healthy, energetic. You know, you were kinda ripped. I saw you on Instagram before you got cancer. And and then you were 25 and boom. Out of nowhere, you got a bunch of weird symptoms that were initially misdiagnosed and

Jace Yawnick
turned

Dr. Mark Hyman
out to be a B cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma. And for those who are listening, that's a lymph cancer that is not uncommon. And in fact, my sister had it and it really is one of those sort of things that can hit younger people. But we're also seeing a rise in cancer among younger people in general across other cancers. So, Jason, I just want to sort of honor you and also kind of invite you to start by sharing kind of the story of how this happened, what was going on in your life, and and and then how you began to kind of metabolize this experience and actually metamorphize it into something good.

Well, first

Jace Yawnick
of all, thanks for having me. I mean, I I've been a fan of you for a while. So being here, I'll try to kinda suppress my my butterflies.

Dr. Mark Hyman
It's alright.

Jace Yawnick
But it's it's incredible to be here, so thanks for having me on and and allowing me to share my story. Man, I mean, where do I begin? The whole process has been a lot to to digest, and I'm not quite at the finish line yet, but I'm very close, which which feels good. But it really goes back to early 2023 where I started to notice sort of some fatigue that I really attribute it to just work and stress. I feel like a lot of people are are stressed, and, you know, everybody's working.

So I just kinda had this tough it out attitude. And over the course of 2023, the symptoms got worse. What started as a light cough became an aggressive cough, so much so to the point where I was almost, becoming sick, almost vomiting from how aggressive the cough was, and that was towards late 2023. But mix that in with I had shooting pains throughout my back and my arms, all of which very strange, and all of which eventually led to me getting diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. And and, you know, you had, you know, you you had otherwise a great life. Things are going great, and then just it sort of knocked you down. And and in some ways, you know, for most people, it would just sort of knock them off their feet. And I I imagine it did for you for a while.

But what was it that kinda made you take this experience and then transform it into something that could be useful to other people?

Jace Yawnick
I honestly it it wasn't you know, I got diagnosed, and the first thought in my mind wasn't I'm gonna turn this into something great. It was, you know, I wanna I wanna call my mom. I wanna call my dad, and I want them to tell me that everything's gonna be okay. And I was terrified, and you're right. I I had a great life.

I still have a great life, and it this just felt like it it felt like a means to something that could be the end to my life, and it's just it was terrifying. And so it it wasn't until after I talked to them and started going through the process that I really transformed this into what it is now, and it happened organically. I didn't say I'm gonna document this journey with the intention of sharing it with the world so that I could become, you know, viral or a public figure. It was so that people that were close to me could follow the journey and hear about what I was going through every day because I wasn't able to text everybody or call everybody and give them an update on where I was at.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. And so you just kind of naturally started sharing, and then it kinda people started paying attention, and all of a sudden you've got, like, almost a 1000000 Instagram followers. Right?

Jace Yawnick
It was it was shocking. I mean, the way it truly went was I posted initially on my personal Instagram, which just captured my close family friends, acquaintances that I'd met through over the years, high school, college. And when I was diagnosed, I was super overwhelmed. I did not know what to do, so I posted that. I went on my Instagram and I posted, I was just diagnosed with cancer.

I normally wouldn't share this kind of information, but I need support. And I just that was it. Just in text. And I started to get all these people reaching out to me, some of whom had been going through cancer themselves, which was a shock to me because these are people my age. Some of them had family members that were going through cancer, and what emerged from that was every day I would get phone calls and text messages.

What's the update today? How are you doing? And as I was tackling all of this, that became overwhelming. So I resolved to form what today is Jaycee Beats Cancer, and I posted it on my personal Instagram, and I wrote, if you want to follow along as to my daily updates, I'm gonna be posting them. I promise to be open and honest on them, and here's the account, and go ahead and follow.

So for a while, it was, you know, me and a couple hundred of my, you know, family, friends, acquaintances, and and, you know, people that I knew. And I remember I was in the hospital as I was getting chemo, posting the updates as I normally would, and I woke up one morning, and I opened my social media apps, and there was 20,000 followers on one of them, and, you know, 40,000 on Instagram, and I was blown away. I I said to myself, I I don't I don't know what's going on here. Like, what's happening? People wanna watch this.

So it was great.

Dr. Mark Hyman
And and and one of the kinds of things that people were responding with because, you know, cancer is one of those things that's a little bit taboo. Right? It it's scary to talk about. People don't know how to talk to people with cancer or about cancer. You know, it's it's it's sort of it's got a stigma to it.

And and and there's not a there's often an outlet for people to actually have a conversation about it who have it. And you touched a nerve. So what were the kinds of things that people were sharing that had had already had cancer and gone through it or they were maybe experienced this to their family? Like, what were the kinds of things you you started to hear about?

Jace Yawnick
I I heard so much. I I mean, my DMs were on Instagram were filled with cancer survivors sharing everything about their experience. It was details of what you should be doing. You know, make sure you're drinking enough water. Here, here's something that helped me reduce bone pain that came from my, my white blood cell booster shot.

Here are, here's something to prevent the mouth sores that you'll get. And then there were things that were just from the heart, which were, you're gonna make it. You're gonna be okay, or it's okay that you're upset or angry right now, or if you need me, I'm here for you. And they would share their story. They would say, I was a stage 4 cancer survivor, or, you know, I was supposed to only have a year left to live, and I'm still alive 40 years later.

You know, just the most incredible, invigorating, you know, educational, just I mean, everything you can imagine. And I was I mean, it's a huge reason why I was able to have the mindset that I do. Just all these people willing to help each other.

Dr. Mark Hyman
So just in the in the process of just sharing your story from a vulnerable place, it actually brought out all these people who then started offering you gifts and being your support system and sort of helping you actually navigate the process from everything from how to deal with the physical challenges of getting chemo and radiation to how do you deal with the psychological and emotional and spiritual aspects of, like, having this diagnosis at 25 years old?

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. It was the most incredible thing. And coming from a place where, you know, growing up, I was consuming content, and a lot of the stuff out there can can be negative, or you see people online, and they're maybe not being so nice. To have so many people come to my profile and just showcase the love that people in this world have for each other was super eye opening and a testimony to the goodness that exists. And, again, just I I feel was a crucial part of of my recovery and me me beating cancer.

Dr. Mark Hyman
And just for people listening, you know, we're we're recording this podcast in this really, vulnerable window where you finished radiation and chemotherapy which is was what a 6 month process?

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. Just about about 6, 7 months total.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot to go through. You lose your hair. You you know, you get sick.

It's not fun. And and you're done. Like, you you did you did the you did the hard stuff, and now you're in this window of 6 to 8 weeks waiting until you get your scan to tell you whether or not this is completely gone or if there's still work to do. Right? So, can you tell us about what that experience is like being in this?

And when we post this podcast, I'm sure we're going to have an update for those wondering. But what's the experience like for you in the middle of all this? You reported, like, crying on your on your last radiation, you know, just sort of with relief, and, you know, like, it was very moving.

Jace Yawnick
Every moment is, is different in its own way, but right now, I'm in this I kinda call it I wanna call it a vacation, almost. I'm in this middle world where I just I can't even put into words how I'm feeling mentally about what I just went through. I I think about it, and it makes me I mean, I I have I don't know if I should call it grief, but, I mean, all this time that just I spent fighting for my life and and staring death in the face every day and going through procedures and spinal taps, it's a lot to digest. And every time I finish a checkpoint, a major treatment, like when I finished chemo and when I just recently finished radiation, a piece of that weight is lifted off my shoulders, and it's it's emotional, and it's intense, and it's it just feels like I'm that much closer to being finished. So right now, I'm in this middle ground of I just finished the hard stuff.

I just finished you know, I'm done with the chemo. I'm done with the radiation. The fatigue is slowly getting better every day that I'm out of radiation, although it's still present, and I'm just enjoying that. And on the other side, I do have this this anxiety where I have all these what ifs, but I try my best to pay those no no attention if I can. I try to steer clear of those and just focus on what I know right now and what I know today.

And when I get to that point where I do the next Pest scan and they they tell me what I need to know, I'll I'll process it then. But for right now, I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and, and being here and being present.

Dr. Mark Hyman
That's beautiful. I mean, that's very courageous. I mean, it's it's hard to, you know, stare death in the face and and kind of meet meet it directly. And I'm wondering what that experience was like for you and how it's sort of been through the last months of treatment because I'm sure it's been up and down. Like, there's been moments of, you know, kind of I got this, and there's probably moments of, like, oh, fuck.

You know? Right? Can you share a little bit about your your inner journey around this?

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. It's I I posted so much of the raw truth of what this looks like, but I wasn't able to grab a camera in every moment, and grab my phone. And I had some really dark times, and I've talked about that in a few videos I've posted, but there are days where I was getting chemo, and I was so weak, and my dad's standing there with me, and, you know, he's watching his son get another chemo bag hooked up. And he's staring, and he's just wondering, you know, who's you know, how can I take care of my son right now? You know, what can I do?

And, you know, to see my dad in that spot where he wants to do everything, he wants to take this away from me, you know, he he wants nothing more than for me to be better, and for him to not be able to do anything and for everybody to be so weak. Those are some dark times. Those are some dark moments, and you all you can do is just do your best. That's it. You could just do your best in that moment, and you hug people that you love, and you thank the doctors, and you thank the nurses that are there, who are saving your life every moment, and asking for nothing in return, and you just you try to create this fortification mentally around yourself where it's, how can I be honest and truthful to myself and those around me?

And then also, you know, how can I make sure that I'm being strong for myself? And I just those were the moments that I embraced, but everything from those moments to there were times where I was at home, and it was just me and my girlfriend, and I'd be in the bathroom, and the chemo is making me sick, and I'm throwing up, and I have no energy, and she's having to pick me up off the ground. My you know, this woman that I love and, you know, helped me back to bed, and I can't I can't get back into bed. So, you know, getting we had to get a stool so that we could step up on the stool and get it climb into bed, and it's it was hard. I I don't have all the words for it, but, you know, there were there were hard times, but there were there were beautiful times too.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Wow. I'm very, very touched by that. I mean, I, you know, I I, you know, can't really imagine. I mean, I haven't been through cancer, but certainly been as a doctor, helped many patients through it and and my sister, as I mentioned. And, you know, it's it's it's, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of thoughts that go through your mind.

You know, there there's, like, why me and, you know, WTF. And, like, what caused this? And did I do something to make this happen? And, what do I do now? And how do I prevent this from happening again?

And, right, all that stuff, I imagine, is going through your inner dialogue. And and and being, you know, you know, being human, you know, our minds sort of tend to have a mind of their own and can sometimes hijack our our kinda higher self, I would call it. So how how did you sort of sort of navigate that kind of terrain between your lower self and your higher self in this process?

Jace Yawnick
Like like my inner mind? Like, how did I

Dr. Mark Hyman
Your inner dialogue is like is like, yeah. You're having all these these thoughts that are kinda not great. Right? That may not be connected to reality that are just fear or belief or projection. And how how do you kind of tap in for you, I'm just asking for you, how did you tap into this place where you were able to sort of persevere and end up where you are now?

Jace Yawnick
1st and foremost, I'm I'm lucky. I have so many friends and and family close to me that are there for me, and not just there for me mentally, but, you know, physically are close by. My my parents or my mom lives only 30 minutes away. My girlfriend lives with me. All my friends live in the area, so I'm I'm lucky to have had such a tremendous support system.

And I can recall my oncologist after he diagnosed me said, are you close by to family? Because if you're not, you need to move wherever they are right away. And it it was true because you you can't take this stuff on alone. So to answer your question, first thing that I need to give credit to are are the people around me. They helped to quiet, the other thoughts I was having.

They helped to distract me from the pain. They helped to distract me from those thoughts that I didn't wanna have. And in the moments where they weren't around and those thoughts were seeking in, you know, the fear for my mortality and what's next, and what if this comes back even after you beat it, and all these all these what ifs. I leaned on the things that I loved. I love music.

I have a big record collection, so I'd I'd put on some music or I'd play some guitar. And outside of that, it was actually verbally speaking out loud what I wanted my mind to think. So in the really hard moments, I would go into my bathroom, and I'd look in the mirror at myself, and I would say, you are strong. You are beating cancer. You've beaten cancer already.

You're gonna make it. You're happy. It's okay what you're going through, and just continue to say these kind of affirmations. And I did this every day for 6, 7 months, and I still do them. I mean, it made a notable impact on my mental health, and in those moments where I wanted to think about those other thoughts, I just, boom, went right into that habit, went right into speaking those affirmations.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. I mean, that's a powerful thing is is is most of us don't feel in control of our minds, and they run or they run our lives. And and to to be a 25 and have the the presence of mind to go, okay. I know this is just a bunch of noise, and I'm not gonna let it take over. Yeah.

It's gonna come around now and then, but, actually, I'm in charge here. And, I'm gonna take a different it's it's very moving, Chase. And, you know, I I I kinda wonder also about your journey in in dealing with the probably overwhelming amount of advice you're getting, solicited and unsolicited from friends, family, strangers, or doctor Google, or now doctor Chat GPT. You know? Like, how do you kinda sort that out?

Because with cancer, people go, what should I take? What should I eat? What supplements are good? How do I navigate, all those the things that could help me that that I maybe should be doing? And how did you kinda navigate all that?

Jace Yawnick
Trial by fire. In some cases. I mean, I shouldn't say trial by fire, but I was overwhelmed. That is the word. You immediately go I I'm a I'm a former and probably still.

I'm I'm a hypochondriac too. It kinda runs in my family. So I've learned the lessons before with, I like how you said it, doctor Google, where you're going online and, you know, typing in, what does this mean? And that's what I was doing before my diagnosis. They had just found the mediastinal masses.

I never heard the word mediastinal. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it correctly.

Dr. Mark Hyman
That's good. You're pretty good.

Jace Yawnick
Okay. Alright.

Dr. Mark Hyman
You're right on.

Jace Yawnick
I'll take your word

Dr. Mark Hyman
for it. Right? That means the area in your chest around your heart, basically. Yeah.

Jace Yawnick
Right here. So they they For those of us identified. Yeah. Right. And I had to go to Google to figure that out.

I started going to Google looking up mediastinal shadows or masses, and you know, you get all this information. What does this mean? Here's a few lakes here. And something that I've become aware of and through this experience is there is a enormous amount of information available on the Internet, which we all know. But figuring out what's credible and what's not credible can be a harder task for somebody who doesn't know what they're looking for and where they're looking.

So I learned really early on that looking stuff up online was not helpful, and even if it was the correct information, it wasn't gonna tell me the true diagnosis. It wasn't gonna tell me the things that my oncologist and the other people that were doing the tests on my biopsy and all that, the information they had. The Internet was never gonna give that to me. So I learned really early to just not look up anything online. Maybe here and there, I'd lightly research something if I didn't understand a term that my doctor had given to me, but I I adapted into this habit of just relying on the team that I had.

And I had a phenomenal team. I had a few doctors working with me. I had my family who, you know, would help me on the mental health side of things, and that was my core team, and that's who I relied on. And I I avoided going to Google whenever I could because you just don't know what you're gonna get, and more often than not, even if it gives you the correct answer, and I'm putting that in air quotes if if you're listening, it's not going to be necessarily the answer that the credible person that you need to talk to would tell you.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. For sure. And in terms of, like, things you incorporated, did you change your diet at all? Did you take any supplements? Did you just pause on everything and just do the chemo and radiation?

What what was your sort of way of navigating this?

Jace Yawnick
I, first and foremost, went in I had some habits that I wasn't a fan of even prior to being diagnosed with cancer. I was eating some foods that I know you would not be approving of, but

Dr. Mark Hyman
I You told me you're drinking Coca Cola.

Jace Yawnick
No. I wasn't drinking soda, but, you know, I I I did enjoy, you know, some of maybe the more processed, deli meats from time to time in a sandwich. I don't know. But, even some, I mean, candies, I was I was having every now and again. But other than that, I was relatively healthier.

I really would focus on eating USDA organic and non GMO project verified foods. So that's where I really leaned to. I mean, I went to the max on that side. I would only shop and purchase foods with, you know, healthier ingredients, and I I didn't even just trust the label necessarily. I would actually look at the ingredients on the back and see what was in it.

Is there added sugars or are there natural sugars? And just being really careful about what I put into my body, because I knew my body was fighting the fight of its life being pumped filled with chemotherapy, which was, you know, destroying a lot of, you know, everything in there, including the cancer. And so I wanted to make sure that I was giving it the nutrients it needed, but also not limiting the amount of food I was consuming. I've read different things, but to put it bait put it plainly, I was just trying to eat locally as much as possible. So going to farmers market and then eating as clean as possible, and then cutting out sugar also.

That was a big one.

Dr. Mark Hyman
So that all sounds completely reasonable. You just wanna eat real nutrient dense food, not processed food, no sugar. It's just common sense. But I'm curious if your doctor said, what you eat doesn't matter, or, yeah, you should probably eat healthy, or eat whatever you want. If you're if you're losing weight, just have ice cream.

Like, what what did they say?

Jace Yawnick
It's it's funny you say that because I was shocked when my doctors, a few of them told me I had a few different doctors all working together, which was great, and all of them had various opinions on certain things, but my main oncologist, when he talked about eating, his focus for me was eat whatever you can. I want you to make sure that you're eating, that you have the energy that you need, because your body needs nutrients. So very literally, he was saying, you know, you need to eat ice cream or things like that. You know, eat those eat those foods, eat those things. And that was a bit of a shock to me.

I mean, he wasn't saying to go crazy, but his focus was on getting me to eat as opposed to not eating. But when I would look up online, and I'm curious to hear your take on, I mean, I've read all these things about sugar, you know, being a fuel source for cancer and tumors. Is that is that the case?

Dr. Mark Hyman
Are you asking me? Yes, actually. I I think that the data is very clear on this that that, you know, insulin resistance and sort of metabolic syndrome, which is a result of eating sugar and refined carbohydrates, drives most of the major cancers that we have today, breast cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and and not so much the lymphomas. I I don't think the lymphomas are directly related to diet in the same way that some of these other cancers are. But that said, there's just enormous amount of data on, how to help people through chemo remediation using things like even a ketogenic diet.

And and the reason is that that cancer only has one source of fuel, which is carbohydrates, whereas your body can run on fat or carbohydrates. So what what the data has shown and and, is is pretty clear on this is that the side effects of chemo radiation are far less when you do a ketogenic diet and that the outcomes, in terms of treatment response are better. So I think it it you know, in some cancers, it may be more or less important. And I imagine for non Hodgkin lymphoma, it's probably, like, less important. But I think I think it's, it's still, I think, a really important thing to think about.

And I, you know, when I was in residency, I had a a professor who was on I did the oncology rotation, and I I said just just because I was very interested in diet and nutrition and even back then. And I said, how much of the cancers we're seeing are dye related? And I thought he would say, like, 10 or 20%. He was, like, 70%. And this was back in 1986 or something.

You know? And I was like, wow. And I think it's it's true, and it's just astounding to me that that doctors still don't acknowledge this and leave their patients in a lurch and worse, tell them to eat things that are maybe harmful to them. I mean, I actually had a patient who was a radiation oncologist from MD Anderson, which is the number one cancer center in the world. And, you know, I know people from other cancer centers might argue that, but it's it's basically right up there.

Like, you know, I think it's where Kate Middleton went. It's where, like, you know, it's like it's that place. And and he was like, listen. I'm so frustrated because I I completely understand what you do, and I understand the important nutrition. And I, sort of just kind of at a loss of what to do in the oncology space even in MD Anderson because the nutritionist and the doctors there are telling people to eat ice cream and eat whatever they want.

You know? They're telling breast cancer patients not to eat tofu, but they're it's like because they're worried about the estrogen and the tofu, which doesn't actually work like that. But it's it's pretty it's pretty shocking. So I I know the doctors you had are really good doctors, and they're really good people, and they know what they know really well. It's just what they don't know sometimes is a little shocking.

And, and and for people listening to this who, you know, are facing cancer, who who had cancer, who family members addressing this is really important. Getting your nutrition straight is key. And just eating a whole food nutrient dense diet, which you did, is just is, like, 80 to 90% of it. So I think that's so key. But it it it is one of those areas that's is in in medicine.

This is challenging. You know, when when one of the things that, you know, I think is actually kind of exciting in medicine right now is this whole area of cancer screening because it's very, very hard to to just detect cancer early enough to really make a difference. Like, you were you had a you know, you said you had a tumor the size of a softball, right, before you figured it out.

Jace Yawnick
I I actually had a doctor correct I I said it to him. He's my, actually, my radiation oncologist. I I shared with him, oh, that's that's where my softball was. I I joked about it, and he said, softball. And I I thought he was gonna tell me it was a lot smaller.

And I was like, oh, maybe it was dramatic to say something. And he goes, no. It's probably closer to, like, a volleyball.

Dr. Mark Hyman
A volleyball. Yeah. Right.

Jace Yawnick
Just like that's great.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Like like this big. Right? So think about it. You know? And and so often cancers detect late, and, you know, we do have screenings like mammograms and pap tests and colonoscopies and, you know, PSA, prostate tests for blood, blood tests.

But they're not that great, and they're not that sensitive. And what's really emerged, and I hope your oncologists are gonna use this for you, is what we call liquid biopsy. Have you ever heard about this?

Jace Yawnick
I haven't.

Dr. Mark Hyman
So, you know, you would know what an actual biopsy is because you had one where they have to stick something in you and take a piece of tissue, and it's a surgical procedure. It's not fun. This is basically using blood, a blood test that now we we actually have the ability to order this. The the the main company that does this, it's called the multi cancer detection screening test, and it looks at over 50 different of the most common cancers. And through a simple blood sample, it can detect really early a year to 3 before you ever get any symptoms, before you can see it on other diagnostic scans.

So it's it's called Galleri by by Grail, and I use it now routinely in my patients. In fact, I just had a patient recently who had some weird symptoms, and I'm like, oh, something's off. And I you know, he would have gone on for quite a while. Kinda like you. Like, you went to doctor to doctor, and you oh, you have reflux or you have a heartburn or you have a high hernia.

You have whatever. And but I, you know, I I I kinda kinda clued into something wasn't right. And I you know, after 40 years in medicine, my intuition's pretty good. And I'm like, you need to get this test. And he went and did it, and he had actually a Hodgkin's lymphoma.

And it it showed up, on this blood test. And so, you know, these are kinds of things that are really important. And and, actually, I cofounded a company called Function Health where you can actually get this kind of testing, and I I certainly do it as a routine test now for myself, and I recommend it to my patients. But, you know, the question, when should you start? Like, you start when you're 50 or 60 or you start when you're 30 or 20.

Like, I don't think we really know. But it's it's as cancer rates are rising in the young younger population, as people are struggling to kind of learn how to navigate this, the beauty of this test is it helps you detect it very early before it's spread anywhere. So there are tumor specific liquid biopsies that your oncologist may wanna talk to you about, but but this is a part of now cancer care, which is these liquid biopsy screenings rather than just waiting for a PET scan or, you know, I have another patient I had who was given a clean bill of health. But a shaman told her they thought her breast cancer maybe had come back. And she told me the story.

I'm like, gee, I don't know, but let's check this multi cancer detection screening test. And turn up, she had it occurred, and their doctors hadn't found it. So I think it's, you know, just for people out there listening who are, you know, concerned about cancer, who perhaps want to get ahead of it and and do screening. I think this is a is a whole new era of oncology. So and then there's, you know, lots of other new therapies emerging like dietary, ketogenic diet therapies, and other therapies that are emerging around immunotherapy.

So I think it's, you know, cancer has been in, you know, one of those tough things for medicine. Luckily, your cancer is one of those 100% curable cancers where, you know, the odds of you living a long life and dying of old age are high. So that's good. But but we're gonna, you know, make sure we keep track of you and follow what's going on. Is is there any anything you wanna share about about, you know, the the the sort of the effect that actually have you actually creating JPS Cancer and you sharing your story and you trying to help others even while you're in the middle of, you know, sort of fighting for your life.

You know, what was that like, and and how did that how did that impact you?

Jace Yawnick
It was part of my healing in a huge way. I I didn't know it happened overnight. Like, it it happened over the course of a few weeks, and it was overwhelming. I mean, it was in the middle of this intense cancer treatment, and then all of a sudden, boom, there are 100 of thousands of people watching you. You know?

There's, like, a pressure that kinda goes with that. And I just knew to myself, I I just was, like, I'm just gonna keep openly and honestly sharing this story, because at this point, making the videos had become extremely therapeutic to me. And as we discussed before, there were all these people that were sharing their experiences as survivors. But on the whole other side of this, there was this community of people that were going through treatment at the same time as I was, and I had not realized that there was this whole other section of people until they started messaging me. And it became this really unique bond between cancer patients.

Every time I'd see another cancer patient in person, there was just this unspoken kind of, I know what you're going through. You know what I'm going through. We're in this together at the same time kind of mentality. And having that even through social media and messaging.

Dr. Mark Hyman
So, Jace, you know, I'm just very curious about, you know, your experience of not only being a patient, but starting a movement, jayspeedscancer.org, and how how you're, serving others, right, by volunteering and sharing your story and supporting others. How did that impact you through this whole process? Because, you know, you think, god, I mean, when I have cancer, like, I'm the victim. Right? I'm help me.

But you were actually out there supporting other people, and and and you actually created a whole platform for people to get involved and to support each other and create community. And it's just quite moving, and I'm I'm wondering how that how that impacted your own journey through this process because you're still you're still in it. Right? So

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. It it's it was it happened organically. Once I started to have this this following that just kept growing as I was going through treatment, as I shared with you before, there's this whole one side of of the group that were cancer survivors. And this group was there giving me tips and advice on how to, you know, relieve pain here, and what I wish I did here, and, you know, guiding me through this process. And on the other side, there was also this community of other cancer patients going through their own cancer journey, and they would start messaging me or or writing letters.

And we all started interacting with as many of them as I could. And I realized I have this big platform now. I wanna use this for something positive. And I, in so many scenarios through this, have realized that I'm so lucky, and one of those areas was I have the insurance to cover a lot of my cancer bills. And that's that's something that I'm very fortunate to have.

It's still there was a lot of costs involved, but when you look at some of these bills, I mean, they they will they will follow you for the rest of your life if if you don't have the insurance to cover them. And so I decided that I wanted to start a nonprofit organization for a few reasons. One was to just find ways to continue to unite this community of cancer survivors and cancer patients and people impacted by cancer, the advocates, the family members, and find a place where we can all connect and to help one another. And we do that through we have a Facebook group, and there's educational resources that are posted, and and all of that. And I'm still working out how to do all of it, but fortunately I have some people helping me.

But the other side of it was also people wanted to donate to support me. And as much as I appreciated that, I I am lucky, and I I had a lot of it covered, and I I was gonna figure out the rest of it. But I wanted to help the people that didn't have that insurance to cover their their treatments, these extremely costly treatments. So that's what what led me to initially create this organization, and anybody who was looking to donate to me, I I told them I would love for them to donate so that we could give it to somebody else who needs it. And we've been doing that for ever since, I believe, my second cycle of of chemotherapy and just been working with hospitals to identify patients that are in need of that financial assistant, and not all of them need financial assistance.

Some of them are looking for, a bone marrow transplant match. So, you know, getting it out to the community about their story and hopefully finding them a match. So it's been this growing, organic kind of process, but all centered around the ideals of just helping other people with cancer.

Dr. Mark Hyman
It's so beautiful, and it it just, it's like how your tragedy has turned into, and in some ways, a blessing for for so many and also for yourself. It's like this sort of we never know kinda when we go through these challenges and we go through these various issues, you know, how we navigate that. But it's just it's it's just beautiful to see how you've how you've done this, how you've navigated it. Is there anything else you'd love to share about your story, about, you know, what you've been through, what you're going through?

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. There I mean, there's there's so much that, you know, I could always continue to talk about with with this journey. But the biggest thing for me has been this passion to to help other people. And I say that because before cancer, I, admittedly, was very self focused. I was really focused on progressing, you know, my own career and getting to this level and, you know, making this much money or something like that and, you know, getting the watch or the car.

And I had this experience, that I made a video about, and my dad, who who's my hero. He came over to my home in in Florida, and he lives in Boston. And this was right before I was gonna start my 2nd cycle, and he sat down with me and said, Jace, we need to do some paperwork. And he he's always been the responsible, you know, helping me to learn finances and budgeting, and and he said we need to go through this paperwork where we need to understand some things. I said, okay.

So he asked the first question and said, in the case that you're unable to you're you're unresponsive, what who do you want to be in charge of your your medical decisions moving forward? What do you want those medical decisions to be if you were had to be put on life support? How long? All these things. And at this point, I was a wreck.

I was crying as my dad was reading to me, you know, potential outcomes of what I was about to go through. And then

Dr. Mark Hyman
That's a conversation you have with a 90 year old, not a 25 year old. Right?

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. But that's you know, we we had to do the paperwork, and that's my dad. You know, he's he wants to make sure all the ducks are in a row, and and it's good. It's it's taught me a lot. And then he moved on from that paperwork and looked at me and said, Jace, we need to we need to write your will.

And I him and I, at this point, we're both just in full tears. And I had to look at my dad and tell him about all the stuff that I had, that I wanted him to have or my mom to have. And I realized in that moment that I would would have given it all away just to have some more time with my dad. You know, that stuff doesn't doesn't matter. And we we finished it, and we said we're not gonna need this will.

We're gonna be okay, but in that moment, I realized the importance of what truly matters, and and for me, that's helping other people. You know? It's not getting the stuff. It's it's helping the people around me that that need it, and and so that's that's the one thing that really has stuck with me through this.

Dr. Mark Hyman
That is one powerful lesson, Chase. It's something most of us don't get to learn until it's too late. We're so focused on success and accumulation and money and kinda miss the boat on relationships and family and community and, you know, serving others, which is actually what being human really is about. It's not about, you know, getting more followers on Instagram or making more money or having this car or this house or this career. It's you know?

It it you know, I I I heard Warren Buffett recently talk about time. And, he said, you know, I have enough money. I can buy anything I want. The one thing I can't buy is time. And, you know, it's the most precious thing we have and how we spend it, who we spend it with, what we spend it doing is consequential.

It matters. And, you know, you you've had to face that at a really young age. And it sounds like the Jace that got cancer is very different than the Jace that has gone through the process and is now on the other side of it. And and maybe you can talk a little bit about more and more about this because I think it sounds like, you know, you're a great kid and great guy. You're doing cool stuff, but, you know, kind of this whole reoriented your life.

And I'm just sort of wondering what what you see as now having gone through this, how you imagine the rest of your life.

Jace Yawnick
My stepmother is a she's a death doula, which so she frequently meets with people at the end of life and helps them, you know, through what that looks like. And she shared with me this idea midway through treatment where she said, Jace, you have to mourn the loss of your former self, because the person that you will be after this experience will not be the same person. And this was a a hard concept for me to grasp at first. I was saying to myself, like, I'm Jace. I'm still Jace.

I'm gonna still be Jace on the other side. And there there's a part of that that's true, but she was absolutely right. I I've become a different person, and the values that this new version of myself has are are different. And what life looks to me moving forward holds those ideals. It's the ideas of any time I can spend time with my family, people that are still with me today.

I wanna do that. I wanna make it more of a priority to spend those moments being with those people. I wanna spend more moments doing the things I love. I also want to spend more moments maybe doing the things that aren't, you know, in my comfort zone. I always would would stretch it a little bit, but there are opportunities that we get that we're held back by, you know, with anxiety or fear or, you know, addiction to comforts that we have.

And I just somebody asked me, if you had a second shot at life, what would that look like? And he said, that's the question you should be asking yourself because you're gonna get a second shot at life here. And so I'm I'm taking that, and and I'm going with it. And so if I can do the fun stuff, I will, and spend time with my dad and my mom and my family. Just, those are, those are the new ideals that are important to me.

Not not how can I get enough money to buy a Rolex or, you know, do all this or get my sports car, you know, that stuff isn't isn't there?

Dr. Mark Hyman
Yeah. That's that's amazing. I you know, we we all get these lessons and, you know, the the person that you they are, like, at the core kinda led you to actually be able to go through this in the way you have and turn it into something that not only changed you, but has changed so many people's lives. And, wow. I mean, I'm just kinda speechless, honestly, and just kinda moved and touched.

And I'm just honored that you shared your story with us. And, oh, be sure to follow along. And, and everybody, if they wanna follow more about you, they can go to jace beatscancer.org. I saw you on Instagram and and keep on with your story, which I encourage everybody to do. And I think, you know, for those listening, I imagine, you know, some of this conversation might be hard to listen to and challenging, but cancer is one of those things.

It's, like, kinda comes out of nowhere, and it's it's it's, you know, it's not something that people have a really, solid way of relating to in the sense of, you know, am I going to get it? You know, who's going to get it? And and I think, you know, it's part of the reason that I, I co founded this company, Function Health, was to sort of empower people with the tools to be proactive around their health and to, to screen for their, their biomarkers and to check for, you know, this cancer screening, which is now available. And, you know, you go to functionhealth.com and forward slash mark, and you can learn more about what it is. But it's, you know, you know, it's it's something we don't want anybody to have to go through.

Like, you went through it. You you turn, you know, lemons into lemonade. But, you know, I wish you didn't have to have lemonade. But who knows? Like, it's like it reminds me of that story of, you know, the blessing and the curse.

You know, the the the parable where the parable about this this young man who's is on this, you know, lives on this farm and and, you know, he's he's sort of goes out and into the field and he finds this wild stallion and, you know, captures it and brings it home. And and all the the friends of the father go, oh, what a what a blessing. Your son has got this beautiful animal and it's now his. And he's like, well, it seems like a blessing, maybe a curse. And what seems like a curse, maybe a blessing.

And then his son, you know, rides the horse, but then falls off and breaks his leg. And everybody goes, oh, how terrible. This is horrible. And your son broke his leg. And they go, no.

It seems like a blessing, maybe a curse. It seems like a curse, maybe a blessing. And then, of course, there was a war that broke out, and all the young men were recruited to go fight, except he couldn't go because he had a broken leg. You know, it's like it started all like that. So it's like, you know, it's really, you know, one of those things we can't we can't predict, and we wouldn't wish on our worst enemy.

But for me, I had the same, you know, thing. I was 36 and had severe chronic fatigue syndrome that came out of nowhere and was really brought to my knees by by this illness. And for me, it made me become who I am and want to serve people and understand medicine, biology. And I'm kind of relentless about it. So it's really been the catalyst for everything that I've done in my life.

So I hope this is the same for you. It seems like it obviously is, and and, I just stay in touch and and and keep, keep this connection.

Jace Yawnick
Yeah. Absolutely. I I appreciate you so much for inviting me on and allowing me to share my story. And just as I've gone through this, finding resources, I I had been following you before, but, you know, people like you, and and you, the fact that you're out there and sharing people ways for them to stack the odds in their favor is so important because I was perfectly healthy, and then out of nowhere, it feels like I got diagnosed with cancer. And there are so many ways metabolically we can prevent it, or at least stack the odds in our favor.

And there are solutions that are emerging, like function health, which I'm excited to look into, because I was I was at my primary care physician, and he was doing blood tests and then didn't catch non Hodgkin's lymphoma through what I assumed would have caught it. So, the more resources we have, the better. And, again, thank you for for having me on and for doing what you do.

Dr. Mark Hyman
Of course. Well, thanks, Jason. We'll see you. Thanks for listening today. If you love this podcast, please share it with your friends and family.

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