-Cancer isn't something you can check off
your to-do list in a day.
A day in treatment never goes...
I woke up. I had some coffee.
I, um, did my cancer stuff for a little bit.
And then I met my friend, Cuban Mike.
We did a little cross-fit, got a smoothie.
Cancer is more of a shadow
that gets cast over everything you do.
Even when it's the last thing you wanna think about.
Cancer has this way of complicating everything.
First few months of treatment were really rough.
It was the middle of winter in Denver, Colorado.
Not much to do outside. I didn't have a car.
I was living with my mom.
-Oh! It's "Jeopardy!" Fun!
-The one thing that I was always look forward to
is video chatting with my girlfriend back in New York City
who I literally fell for two days
before going back home to go through treatment.
We had been good friends for years
and something sparked between us in the days before going home.
So we got to spend the honeymoon phase
of our relationship in a long-distance relationship.
I sit in a chair for about five hours
while chemo drips through a hole in my chest.
My pee turns bright red and I get to puke all day.
And I get to look forward to doing that every two weeks
for the next six months.
-Sweetie, that sounds awful.
Is there anything I can do?
Okay, fine.
-No, it froze, it froze.
Oh!
-That's all you get.
-I miss you so much.
-I'll be there before you know it.
Just take care of yourself.
Bye, sweetie. -Bye.
-Hey, Nick, "Jeopardy!" is on.
-I felt like a caged animal.
I needed some release.
And it came in the form of my good buddy Derek from college
who swooped in like an angel
and handed me the keys to freedom.
-What do you think?
-Are you serious? I can just borrow this?
-Yeah, dude, it's the least I can do.
Actually, that's the least I could do.
-[ Laughs ] -Hop on.
-Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh! How do I look?
-Oh. One more thing.
-Ooh! -Bad ass.
-Take it for a spin, dude!
All right, dude, great.
[ Engine starts ]
Oh!
I should probably get him a helmet.
Look both ways.
[ Horn blares ]
Ooh, la, la-la, ooh, la, la-la
-You seem better, happier.
-I'm happier. I feel better.
-Is it that because I'm coming next week?
-Is that next week?
-Yeah, I bought a ticket.
You're the worst.
Ooh, la, la-la, ooh, la, la-la
-When Elizabeth finally came to visit,
all I wanted to do was scooter around town.
We were finally gonna have a honeymoon phase
and with the scooter, it was going to be
like a honeymoon in Paris.
Bonjour!
Oh, wow!
-[ Gasps ] Oh! It's beautiful.
[ Smooches ]
[ Birds chirping ]
Oh, God! I missed you so much, sweetie.
-Oh! I missed you, too. -What is this?
-Oh, this?
This...
is pretty sweet, right? Wanna go for a ride?
-Yeah, there's no way I'm riding that death trap.
[ Whimpers ]
This is awful.
Okay, I'm done.
I'm not riding that thing ever again.
-Why? It's fun!
-And I really don't think you should be either.
Do you realize how insensitive
it is to be riding around on a scooter?
I mean, what if you crashed? What if --
What if somebody hit you?
Babe, you are risking your life while you have cancer.
It's selfish.
-But it makes me feel better.
If it makes me feel better, is it not a good thing?
-Don't you think you have enough life-threatening sh-t
going on right now?
I just, you know, I just think it's for the best, right?
-Whatever.
[ Laughs ]
-The craziest thing about you in college
is you looked like a little boy.
Why is this grown up hanging out with this little boy?
-I knew she was right.
I shouldn't add anymore risk to my life.
-Um...well, you know,
I've been doing a lot of things.
-It's just that I chose this risk.
It didn't choose me.
-Are you still mad about the scooter?
-No, I get it. It just sucks.
-I'm just worried about you.
-Everybody is.
It's a story of my life.
[ Airplane passing by ]
Something changed after that trip.
The honeymoon phase was over.
The reality of our distance had set in.
What is the Berlin wall?
-What is the Iron Curtain?
-Correct. -Sh-t.
We didn't talk as much.
Lizzie had a life to live in New York
and I was just a cancer patient, without a scooter.
-Hey, it's Lizzie, leave me a message.
-Hey, Lizzie, it's Nick. I just wanted to check in.
Hope you're doing well. [ Beeps ]
Oh, hey, that might be you.
[ Chuckles lightly ] What's up dude?
-Hey man, what're you doing Friday afternoon?
-Let me check my schedule. Nothing.
-My mom wants you to come over for lunch.
-Yeah! That sounds great, man. I'd love to.
-We can eat and watch the Summer Olympics.
It's female gymnastics that day, dude.
Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, the beam.
-Tight. -Tight.
-Cancer.
I can't even imagine.
-Nah, it's all good. Well, it's not good,
but this is really good.
-Thank you. -So do you, like, puke a lot?
-Oh! Derek, be sensitive.
-Um, is it like hard for you to hold stuff down?
[ Cellphone vibrating ]
-I got to take this.
Lizzie, hey I haven't heard from you forever. How are you?
-I'm great! Oh, my God!
You will never guess who I ran into on the train today!
Michael Cera.
-Wait, from "Superbad"?
-Yes, and we just started talking like we were friends.
-That's awesome.
So nice to hear your voice.
-He looks really bad. -I know. I know.
-He is hilarious, isn't that amazing?
We're gonna grab a drink.
-Whoa, whoa. Like, on a date?
-No. I told him all about you and how you have cancer.
Anyway. I got to go get ready.
-Lizzie? Lizzie? Hello?
-Do you think that's his doctor?
-Probably, yeah.
-They're calling to talk to him about the cancer.
Hey, I wanted you to know
that if you want to talk about cancer,
I am available for you to talk about it.
Alternatively, if you would like to not discuss it at all,
like what are we talking about,
we're not talking about cancer. That's cool too.
-We can talk about wrestling and...
-Yeah, because I'm the cool mom.
-I got to go.
-What about women's gymnastics?
They're on the beam!
[ Hard rock music playing ]
[ Tires screech ]
-At that moment I felt my life flash before my eyes.
I should've listened to her.
What if I died in a scooter accident?
-[ Gasps ] -Oh!
-Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.
-At that moment I realized I was going about
six miles an hour
and all I did was scrape my wrists up a little bit.
And what I was more concerned about was the fact
that this woman, who was already freaking out,
didn't find out that I had cancer.
I didn't want cancer to complicate things.
-Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!
Are you okay? -I'm okay. I'm okay.
-I'm gonna call 911. -No, no, no, no.
no, please, please don't. I'm just shaken up, that's all.
-Are you sure you're okay, though?
Your head could be concussed. Take off your helmet.
-No, no, please don't take off my helmet. I'm okay.
I'm fine. I just live a few blocks down the road.
I'll be okay. -Do you want some money?
No, okay.
Okay, cool.
Nice to meet you.
-[ Sighs ] Ohh! [ Winces ] Ah!
[ Computer chimes ]
Hey.
-How are you? -I'm okay.
How was Michael Cera?
-Oh, yeah, it was -- it was weird.
I guess it kind of was a date
and I was uncomfortable.
I'm sorry.
Are you okay? You seem sad.
-I just miss you.
-I miss you, too.
-And that's the funny thing about cancer,
is I got this disease that I didn't ask for
and I couldn't control, and it affected everything.
And all I wanted to do was take the reins
back in my life a little bit.
Having cancer definitely reminded me of my own mortality.
But it also reminded me that you just get one life.
So you got to live it,
but wear a helmet and obey traffic signs,
and maybe don't operate machinery
if you're jealous or upset,
but otherwise you gotta live it.
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[ High-pitched ] SoulPancake! Subscribe! [Laughs]