February 6, 2025 • 28 mins
No symptoms, no issues, but a thyroid cancer diagnosis? Radio & television host Kevin Manno shares how his wife Ali and a full body scan changed his life forever as he reveals an update on his health.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's Almost Famous podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
We are here today to speak to somebody who's been
in the headlines recently for something very unfortunate and something
we want to get some clarity on because I honestly
I'm reading through our rundown and there's just a lot
of intrigue that I have to speak to Kevin Mano.
(00:29):
That's how I said it, right Mano?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it, Hi, guys.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Kevin Mano is also known as Ali Photosyno's husband his
relationship to Bachelor Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's how I've met you, guys. You've
both been very nice over the years, and your team
sent some nice stuff over here after my news came out,
So thank you, guys.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, you have a radio voice, and I know you
have a career in radio. As we kicked this thing off,
I want to keep it light at the beginning, if possible.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Are you still working in radio?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Kind of give everybody an idea of where they could
hear you or where they can catch up with you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Sure, yeah, that's thanks. We'll do the plug right off
the top.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I do a morning show, a morning radio show.
I did it and I won in LA for like
ten years on now one oh four to three MYFM there,
and now I am on one oh seven five The
River in Nashville. We've lived in Nashville for four years
or so, and I do the morning show here on
a station called The River with my friends Ricky and
Zach and it's a ton of fun. And I've been
doing morning radio for you know, almost fifteen years now,
(01:32):
and I absolutely love it. I wake up at four o'clock,
even on the weekends, and so that that schedule suits me.
I like it.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Yeah, I know that's a special person.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Something wrong with me. But then I also do a
daily podcast which is just my own solo thing called
First Thing with Kevin Mannon which is ten minutes every morning,
just a quick recap of all of the top headlines,
just a very easy, efficient way to get the news
in the morning. So doing all that, I've.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Listened to your podcast, I think it's great.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I love the concept of a quick hitter to get
me caught up and then any further details I need
I can go out and kind of research. I think
it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Totally, and I'm so I love listening to podcasts and music.
I always have my AirPods in so to be able
to get sort of the headlines without having to doom scroll,
just while you're doing other things, while you're getting yourself
ready in the morning. Like that, to me, that's how
I want to consume the news. So that's that's what
I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
You to You just said that you've been in Nashville
for about four years. I remember when I moved to
Rhode Island. Ali, I think she. I think she messaged
me being like, I'm also in the same boat right now.
We just moved to a new place, like I'm kind
of regretting it, we both having moved from LA at
the same time. And she was like, I hear it's
supposed to take two years to get adjusted to a
(02:47):
new place. How have you guys adjusted now four years then.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
We've definitely adjusted. I mean, there are still things that
we miss. Honestly, we missed about California. We will always
love California. We go back and visit. We have a
bunch of friends there, but no, Nashville is home now
and we love it here. We have a ton of friends,
the kids have tons of friends, so I love my job.
Like it didn't take about two years, was right? I
would say two years in a new place is probably
(03:11):
a good a pretty good uh you know barometer. But yeah,
we're we're good now we're settled here.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Well, you might have a new neighbor in Ben in
a few years.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
My my wife's family's off from Nashville, so everybody keeps
pushing us.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, Ben, I'm sure you and I talked about this
a lot a long time ago when we first met.
But I grew up, I spent so much time in Warsaw, Indiana.
That's where all of my mom's sisters and my grandma.
That's where everybody lived when I was growing up, so
we were always there.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I remember this. Not a lot of people have been there,
but the good ones have.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Kevin, Yes, Why it feels like you're always meeting somebody
who has memories from Warsaw.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Bet And it's apart a small town?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Is it a little the lake?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, it's just like it's it's kind of like a hub.
People gravitate towards it.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
When they want to better themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
How are you? How are you? Do you say? Rhode Island?
How are you there?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah? It's I've definitely adjusted. I would still rather view
by my family in Virginia, but we'll see that might
happen at some point.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
She makes no secrets, Kevin. Speaking of.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Kevin, before we dive into kind of why we're here today,
Ali did leave four Special Forces, and that is a
topic that I am curious about now. I'm a little confused, Kevin,
and maybe you can bring some clarity to this. Trista
and Ryan obviously are married. Trista was on the show
(04:40):
as well. Ryan was posting, we're not gonna go into
you know how we feel about the post. We've already
done that in a very past episode. But he was
posting like she was gone for a long time, even
though we only saw her on two episodes, right, Yes, Allie,
similar situation when she left the show? Are they gone
a lot long? And then my fallow up to that is,
(05:01):
how was that on you? Being kind of a solo parent?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
My mom came and helped out when she was gone,
which was very nice that, you know, I needed the
help because of my job and having to get the
kids to school and all that stuff. And honestly, Ali
had trained so hard for Special Forces, like truly she
was fully committed to this. We got a cold plunge
because of it. She was working out three times a day,
like it was crazy. She was ready. So we were
(05:28):
hoping she would be gone the whole time, like best
case scenario when she said goodbye to me that morning
when she was leaving the hotel, like I wouldn't hear
from her for ten days. Sadly, that did not happen.
They made her leave the show because her finger. She
hurt her finger and so they medically withdrew her. But yeah,
she was there. There were like two or three days
of like you know, doing interviews and like stuff, just
(05:50):
random stuff that happens with the TV show before they
even left to go start filming the show. So I
would say all total, she was She was only on
two episodes of the show, but she was probably gone
for seven or eight days.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And those seven or eight days you had support.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And so, I mean, as sad as it is to
not have your spouse around, you were doing okay.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I was doing okay. And you know, I mean distance
makes the heart grow fonder whenever, you know, if she's
out of time for a couple of days, it's nice
to have a big bed to myself.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Stretch out, I got it.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, full starfish.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Didn't she like train for six weeks?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, I mean the minute she did.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
She know that I have that much notice. I feel
like oftentimes you don't get that.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'm not sure why. Honestly, she as far as we know,
she was one of the first people to be approached
about the show, and she said yes, and she started
training immediately. We started watching the previous episodes of the show,
and she just hit the ground run in like that day.
And I was I mean, I like, I like to
work out and stay active and fit, but I was
blown away by the things she was doing and how
(06:53):
strong she got before the show, and it was man like.
I was sleeping one night, it was, you know, two
nights into her filming the show, my phone rang and
she has like a special ring on my phone and
it woke me up, and my heart just sank because
I knew that meant she was back with her phone
in a hotel room somewhere and she was no longer
on the show. So that was rough, But I'm still
proud of her.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, it's a big deal just to say yes.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Yeah, Kevin, we're talking about family and we're talking about
physical fitness, and the reason we're here today is because
recently you've came out publicly about your diagnosis with thyroid cancer.
The first question I have for you is, how are
you doing right now? Do we have an update since
the announcement.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, I'm a little anxious because I
have surgery coming up in a few days here, and
I haven't really had too many surgeries in my life,
so the whole thing is just sort of, you know,
freaking me out a tiny bit. But I know I'm
in good hands with my surgeon and everybody at Vanderbilt
here in Nashville. But really, I'm not just saying this.
I'm so good. I feel like the overwhelming feeling is
(07:56):
just like gratitude that we caught it and that I
know about this and we have a plan, and that
everybody has been so supportive, and again my Mom's coming
back to help us out when I'm recovering from the surgery.
But I just I feel good. I'm not stressed, I'm
not freaked out. I'm like, I know that this is
an easy one to just go in there and get
(08:17):
and then you know, I have to be in bed
for a bit to recover, but I'll be back back
in action before before you know. It's so I feel good,
I really do.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Your Instagram noticed to all the followers about it was
also very positive. What were your symptoms going into it
that made you even get checked out in the first place?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
None, I had no symptoms. Ali and I. Yeah, a
little over a year ago, we went to Chicago and
we did those Perneuvo full body scans.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Okay, I just reached out to them because Trista also
just got one it. Actually I'm interested.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah, I mean, that's the only reason I know about this, honestly.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yes, When we did it, you know, we got our
results from the scans, and for the most part, Ali
and I both had you know, clean bill of health,
which was great. But we obviously shared the results of
the scans with our doctor and there were like two
tiny dots on my thyroid that she was like, let's
keep an eye on that. You know, we'll check back
in in a year and see if it's grown or
(09:12):
if it's nothing whatever. And so a year after we
did those scans, she wanted me to get an ultrasound
on it. I did, and yeah, then it we found
out that those little spots had doubled in size over
the past years. So then we did a biopsy and
then a cat scan, so we did all the stuff
and here we are. I would not have known had
it not been for that full body scan.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Pre Novo is like the next step in our health.
I really feel like, be totally magical if we could
just make getting one of those scans every few years
to be like our annual checkup.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yes, and that's so that's kind of my I mean,
if anybody is, you know, paying a little more attention
to us in our life at the moment, that would
be the message I want to get out there is
just preventive care. Whatever you can do to you know,
be aggressive when it comes to your health and get
checked whatever that looks like for you. Everybody should be
doing whatever they can to just stay on top of
(10:04):
these issues.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
That's like Maria Minuno's she had pancreatic cancer and they
found it so early, which pangaratic cancers never found early,
and she had a baby on the way and everything,
and she's fine because they caught it that early. With
pre Novo.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, there's not enough emphasis in our healthcare system or
not here to go on a rant about the healthcare system,
but about preventative stuff, you know what I mean. A
lot of it is like treatment based, but any sort
of preventative care you can do, I think is a
great idea.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Now for the listeners, I think a first big takeaway
you obviously went to Chicago for this, and you live
in a metropolitan area that has a lot of access
to incredible health and services. If somebody's listening, no matter
what kind of financial place are in in life, where
(11:06):
can they find one of these facilities? Where do you
recommend them reaching out to?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I mean, Pernuvo has you know, offices around the country.
There are none in Nashville. I think the closest one
actually to Nashville would be Atlanta. Chicago would probably be second,
but I know there's a bunch in California.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
They are all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Over the place. So their website has a full, you
know list of where you could go do it if
that's something you are able to do. I know there
are other places where you can do like a you know,
a pretty comprehensive blood draw and they'll do a ton
of tests on you, so you know, whatever's in your
price range. If any of this stuff is I would
just say, look into whatever works.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, why did you decide to get it in the
first place? That's all Alie.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
She's very She's so much more on top of this
stuff than I am. So if it wasn't for her,
I wouldn't even know about it. But she she knows
all these things, and we're always doing all this stuff,
and I'm so thankful for that, or e'lse, I would
just be walking around on with thyroid cancer and have
no idea.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, I haven't got a physical in years, which brings
me to the next question.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That that'd be me, Bene if it was Alli wasn't
in my life.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You're making me feel all convicted here. You know, when
you get this kind of news, it's it's something you
don't really prepare for. And I know that you're positive,
and I know your doctor even initially called it like
the boring cancer, which I think would feel good. But
how did Ali respond and how have the two of
(12:29):
you supported each other in the midst of still getting
news that you have cancer?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I mean, it feels weird to say that it's brought
us closer, but and it's not like we had any
issues prior to this, but it has it's been a
nice like bonding experience because she is she has really
taken the reins on, just like reading all the stuff
and reaching out to all the people and making all
the appointments for me, and like I'm my doctor told
me to, you know, alleviate stress for my life. So
(12:56):
I'm trying not to do any of that stuff and
she is taking it all on, and I could not
be more appreciative. She's really I mean, I wouldn't be
in the situation without her, and I wouldn't be able
to do it like I am without her either, because yeah,
it's just it's been great and I'm very thankful for
for everything she's done.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Now, if you had symptoms, what would they be? What
should people look out for?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
That's a good question. We should get Ali in here
to talk because she's the one doing all the reading.
I know most of the time, people will like develop
like a lump that they can feel and touch in
their throat because the thyroid's like right below your Adam's
apple area. So that's how most people realize that they've
got something going on, is they'll you know, they'll feel
this giant thing growing inside of them.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
And you're deciding whether or not, or at least the
last time I heard we heard from you publicly, you
were deciding whether to get half of it out or
the full thy word out. You decided, And what does
that even mean for your life going forward?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I think I was so freaked out at first about
having cancer that I was like, go just take the
whole thing out, Like I don't want to have to
deal with this again in two years. I don't want
to keep an eye on the other half to see
if that now has cancer, and like always, I just
get rid of it and I don't want to think
about it anymore. That's kind of where I was at first.
But the more we looked into it, everybody, all the
experts were saying, like, if you can save half, you
(14:15):
should always save half, whatever body part that might be,
you know, try to save what you can. So yeah,
I think that's where we are now. And my surgeon
is not gonna know until she gets in there to see,
like there are some little like lymph nodes or something
that might the cancer might have spread to those, and
she's gonna they're gonna like, while I'm under on the table,
(14:36):
they're gonna like send those to the lab to see
if they're cancers whatever. They might have to take the
whole thing. And if that's the case, that you know,
that's that's what they're gonna have to do. But I
really hope, I mean, this is it's you know, we
all think about like these cosmetic things and stuff, and
I don't care about a scar or anything, but I
do work with my voice doing radio and so whatever.
(14:57):
I've heard some stories from people that are like, oh,
my voice really heal for eight months, and that's not
gonna work for me, really, So I just I hope
that they can, you know, avoid any damage to my
vocal cards. But I'm again, I know I'm in the
best hand, so I'm not too worried about it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I feel like a doctor in Nashville probably has worked
with a lot of people that rely on their voices totally,
and so I'm guessing that isn't like a new shocking thing.
You have surgery and warsaw Indiana. They might be like,
I don't know what's gonna happen. I think they know
what's gonna happen in Nashville. Kevin, we did mention that
you two have some some smaller children. I'm curious about
(15:39):
if they know of the situation maybe, or how you
told them or why you decided not to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
No, we did. I was so I was so nervous
about telling our kids. And our daughter is so sensitive
and she's eight and she knows what cancer is. We
have friends that have, you know, battled cancer, and she's
seen them lose their hair and everything. So I was
I was worried that she would freak out when she
heard that word. But we told him as softly as
we could, like the doctors found the smallest amount of cancer.
(16:07):
They're just going to go in remove it. It's not
gonna be a big deal. And then I said, and
Mimi's coming when I'm after the surgery. When I'm in Ben,
she goes me, this is the best surgery ever. That
was her response. So she was fine. They're okay with it.
They're excited that I'm gonna be home from work for
a week.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
So how do you regulate hormones and such? How does
the thyroid, like you know, that's what it does. How
does your body continue to do that once it's out.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
That's a great question, Ashley. I don't know if you
looked it up or knew that.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Because I didn't know, I like to pretend that I'm
a doctor on TV.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
That was good. I didn't know anything about the thyroid
before any of this happened. But there's like a very
standard medication. I would say the name of it, but
I know I'd get it wrong. But like, my mom
had her thyroid removed a long time ago. They found
pre cancer cells on hers. So she's been taking this
medicine every day for I mean, over twenty years. And
it's just a pill you take every day, and it just,
(16:59):
like you know, does what the thyroid would do.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
One of my best friends had his thyroid removed when
he was a teenager and he's doing just fine. But yes,
he takes a pill every day and it helps regulate everything. Kevin,
as we close up here with you, you mentioned at
the beginning there's a little anxiety right now about the
surgery itself. Maybe not as much even why the surgery
(17:24):
is happening, but the surgery itself. And I wanted to
hear if you could dig into that anxiety a little bit.
How are you feeling and what is exactly making you
nervous about you know, next week?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, the only other surgery I've ever had was I
had one single wisdom tooth removed, and that was the
only time I've ever been put under and that was,
I mean fifteen years ago, so before I had kids
or anything. And sorry to get heavy on you here,
but like I keep just like my mind wanders to,
like what if I don't wake up? And I know
that's you know, a one in a millionth chance of happening.
(17:55):
But those are probably natural thoughts for people to have
if they're experiences for the first time really in their life.
So that's kind of where my mind goes.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But I very.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Quickly know that's not going to happen. It's all gonna
be great again. I'm in great hands. But you know,
I mean just spinning the wheels and stuff like that
for no real reason.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
My dad's an antithesiologist, and yet if I ever have surgery,
it's the waking up from the sleep that is the
scariest thing to me as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, yeah, but he's I mean, is it an inappropriate
question to ask, you know, since you have somebody in
the field, like, does it people usually wake up? Right?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I'm very I don't think that that happens, so so
rarely like good, You're great, Kevin Ashley.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I appreciate that. Yeah, I just text Ali and said,
if you're here, pop up and.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Here's she is.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I just wanted to say, yeah, Ali, we only have one.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean, we have so many questions for you, but
we'll only ask you one based on respect for you.
We were wondering these symptoms of thyroid cancer if Kevin
was them for people to look out for, and he
thought you would know.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You've been doing all the reading.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
The research.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I've been doing all the reading.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
I feel like that's what I haven't been reading up
about as much, just because that's he.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Didn't have any We already knew he had it.
Speaker 6 (19:15):
But from what I understand, the symptoms are feeling like
a lump in your neck. So we're just sort of
feeling your neck and feeling your thyroid and seeing if
you feel like a little bulge or you know.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
But it's not necessarily sore.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
It can be sore. Hoarseness like a hoarse voice all
of a sudden could be an early sign.
Speaker 6 (19:35):
But from what I understand, like the most most people
find out from like an accidental scan, like going in
and getting scanned for something else. And then they see
it if the people who don't have symptoms. But yeah,
I mean, gosh, we're just so lucky that we found it,
and yeah, we're just I think count he's he's more
(19:57):
anxious than he's letting on.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Also, let me just.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Say a lot of anxiety in general. I'm just like.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
Yeah, like he's like playing it cool and everything, and
he's being very positive, which is also important. But you know,
it's still cancer and it's still surgery, and I.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Think Ali's getting annoyed with me, like, you know, her
and the kids are trying to relax at the end
of the night, I'm just pacing around the house, just
looking for things to stay busy. Yeah, so yeah, she
definitely witnesses my anxiety, but it's not too bad.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
But we're like making plans like tonight we're going out
with friends to play trivia, and I'm just we're trying
to do things to like just keep his mind busy
because I'm also what we've heard from other people who
have had cancer, stress is like the absolute worst thing
for cancer. You want to minimize that as much as possible,
So we're trying.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
You know, Kevin, we were just talking to Ali as
we closed up here on why he was anxious, and I,
you know, take it for me. I've had ten surgeries,
none of them cancer related, so I'm not there's no quantifying,
you know, better or worse here. I always no matter what,
and I don't think I'm.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Scared of surgery.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I always have these thoughts for like three days leading
up to the big event, of like worst case scenario thinking.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
And you know it is for me. It comes from
most of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I try to have control, and I know that for
this period of time in my life, I'm gonna have
zero control. But here's the cool part. Here's the thing
to find comfort in. The people that will have control
are literally the experts at keeping you alive. Like that's
what they get paid for, and like, I don't get
I don't even know how to keep myself alive, but
they do.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And Ben's that jogging when he says he doesn't know
how to keep himself alive. When was your last physical?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Ben?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
This five years ago.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I'm going to get in so much trouble. My mom's
gonna listen to it, my wife's gonna listen to this.
They're gonna ride away be so.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Mad at me.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
You have to like get your blood work done into that's.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Just like a wifely duty, right, Yeah, Allie, I feel
like I'm always the one that's like, I'm making you
a doctor's appointment because I know that you never ever will.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Yeah, that's exactly us too.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
I'm I'm sure Kevin might have already said this, but
since this happened, I've like ordered everything under the sun,
whether it did you like brazil nuts or blueberry powder
or roughly sprat.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
We have changed so we have a new gray toilet
paper in the house. So there's so many little changes
that she's implemented.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Oh, it's not bleached, because regular toilet papers bleached, so
we're just.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Like ring away.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
Down there especially you know for girls, Like there's a
lot of very sensitive absorbent parts of your body down there.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
So it's anyway, that's a whole other time.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Ali, come on and do another health podcast with us.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Kevin, you're never gonna have a cheeseberger again.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Well, I don't want that to happen.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
We've gone down the health rabbit for sure.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
But you know what, that's good to me, Like, it's
it's only.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Positive to make positive changes in your life.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, uh, well, we'll be thinking about you, guys.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
We have been obviously, this is a this is a
big deal, not to be go understated, but your positivity,
your outlook and also here's the cool part. What everybody
that knows is saying is this is gonna be great.
Like you're gonna be just fine, and that is an
awesome thing to celebrate. We're glad you caught it early
(23:23):
and thankful for those scans. Everybody listening, if you have
the opportunity of the chance, go do it. It's save
some lives. It's also saved some really difficult situations. So
but yes, we'll be thinking about you. When is the
date of the surgery again, so anybody listening can check in.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm not sure when this will be posted, but it's
a few days away and it's the tenth. It's Monday,
so the day of Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Okay, we'll have it up, uh and I will be
checking in to the hospital that night to have our
very first baby.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
So this is this is the craziest thing ever. You're
both gonna do this on Super Bowl Sunday. You're not
gonna be to enjoy that moment at all.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
More important things in life right, Well.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Ben, that's awesome.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
Congratulations Manas, that's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
That's why I was asking the parenting questions. I'm trying
to get any wisdom and advice that I can. And
so how do you tell your kids really difficult news?
And it sounds like you just sandwich it with and
by the way, our Grandpa's coming.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
They go, oh, exactly, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
That really works. I want to end with a fun
question for both of you guys, because you're both going
into something life changing, possibly in all good ways, on Monday.
What is your guilty pleasure comfort thing? Is there a
food that you're going to celebrate with? Is there a
song that's keeping you giving your spirits up?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It's a good question.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Kevin will be eating broccoli spouts and blueberries.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
No, I'm looking forward to Ali and my mom bringing
me a bunch of smoothies because the doctor said I
just have to drink food for a while. So I
like a good peanut butter smooth But I also, I mean,
it's not a song, but I'm looking I don't lay
in bed and watch movies ever, but I'm gonna watch
all of the Best Picture nominees while I'm laying in bed, recovering.
So I'm gonna watch all those Oscar nominated.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Movies, all those very indie movies these days.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, yeah, done, That's what are my comforts? Yeah goodness.
Right now it's vodka soda at the end of the
day or or Honestly, my wife and I have spent
the last week like going to bed early, laying in
bed and just appreciating like this time before chaos, of
(25:39):
just the dog, two of us snuggling watching TV without
any other thoughts in the world.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I mean, man, it's your final few days of just
the two of you.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Really try to save it as much as you can.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It's awesome and wild.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
Can I give my last minute unsolicited yea acting advice? Okay.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
One thing, especially now that our kids are older, that
I have been reflecting on every day, and I think
this has been like even multiplied one hundredfold since we've
got Kevin's diagnosis, is just how quickly time is going by, right,
And once you have kids, time is going to start
going by so much faster than it used to, right, Like,
I feel like the last nine years of my life
(26:22):
our daughter's eight. But you know, I was pregnant for
that first time has gone by faster than like the
previous twenty five years, and so I guess my advice
would be like to slow down as much as you can,
like because it truly does.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
They say it goes.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
By so fast, and I know that's such a clised,
shaye thing to say, but I think when you think
of it in terms of like I don't know, hearing
from parents that truly the time, like it's just it's
like fast forward. And then now with what's going on
with Kevin in health, and we realize that we're at
that stage in life where people start getting cancer and
people start getting sick and old, it just makes you
like really appreciate every moment.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
So it would be And then Kevin Alli, I wonder
if you're with me on this, you're going into your
first child like it's gonna be fine. It's the second
one that just turns your world upside down. Yeah. I
think the same here.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And I missed those days when our daughter Molly was
just a tiny little baby. Just taking care of a
tiny little baby was like that was your only care
in the world. It was so great, So you're gonna
love it.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Yeah, Yeah, Jared and I were thinking about that's a
lot this week. I don't know why this week of
all weeks, but like, do you remember what it was
just Dawson? How easy was that? How did we think
that was ever?
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Hard?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:36):
But it is gonna be hard, Ben, don't.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
I'm sorry that's gonna be hard to it is hard.
It don't feel bad for it being hard.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
It's it's an exciting time again. Kevin wishing the best
being Almost Famous podcast and I've been Ben, I've.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Been Ashley se Yah.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen in the podcast
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's Almost Famous podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
We are here today to speak to somebody who's been
in the headlines recently for something very unfortunate and something
we want to get some clarity on because I honestly
I'm reading through our rundown and there's just a lot
of intrigue that I have to speak to Kevin Mano.
(00:29):
That's how I said it, right Mano?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it, Hi, guys.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Kevin Mano is also known as Ali Photosyno's husband his
relationship to Bachelor Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's how I've met you, guys. You've
both been very nice over the years, and your team
sent some nice stuff over here after my news came out,
So thank you, guys.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, you have a radio voice, and I know you
have a career in radio. As we kicked this thing off,
I want to keep it light at the beginning, if possible.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Are you still working in radio?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Kind of give everybody an idea of where they could
hear you or where they can catch up with you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Sure, yeah, that's thanks. We'll do the plug right off
the top.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I do a morning show, a morning radio show.
I did it and I won in LA for like
ten years on now one oh four to three MYFM there,
and now I am on one oh seven five The
River in Nashville. We've lived in Nashville for four years
or so, and I do the morning show here on
a station called The River with my friends Ricky and
Zach and it's a ton of fun. And I've been
doing morning radio for you know, almost fifteen years now,
(01:32):
and I absolutely love it. I wake up at four o'clock,
even on the weekends, and so that that schedule suits me.
I like it.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Yeah, I know that's a special person.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Something wrong with me. But then I also do a
daily podcast which is just my own solo thing called
First Thing with Kevin Mannon which is ten minutes every morning,
just a quick recap of all of the top headlines,
just a very easy, efficient way to get the news
in the morning. So doing all that, I've.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Listened to your podcast, I think it's great.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I love the concept of a quick hitter to get
me caught up and then any further details I need
I can go out and kind of research. I think
it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Totally, and I'm so I love listening to podcasts and music.
I always have my AirPods in so to be able
to get sort of the headlines without having to doom scroll,
just while you're doing other things, while you're getting yourself
ready in the morning. Like that, to me, that's how
I want to consume the news. So that's that's what
I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
You to You just said that you've been in Nashville
for about four years. I remember when I moved to
Rhode Island. Ali, I think she. I think she messaged
me being like, I'm also in the same boat right now.
We just moved to a new place, like I'm kind
of regretting it, we both having moved from LA at
the same time. And she was like, I hear it's
supposed to take two years to get adjusted to a
(02:47):
new place. How have you guys adjusted now four years then.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
We've definitely adjusted. I mean, there are still things that
we miss. Honestly, we missed about California. We will always
love California. We go back and visit. We have a
bunch of friends there, but no, Nashville is home now
and we love it here. We have a ton of friends,
the kids have tons of friends, so I love my job.
Like it didn't take about two years, was right? I
would say two years in a new place is probably
(03:11):
a good a pretty good uh you know barometer. But yeah,
we're we're good now we're settled here.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Well, you might have a new neighbor in Ben in
a few years.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
My my wife's family's off from Nashville, so everybody keeps
pushing us.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, Ben, I'm sure you and I talked about this
a lot a long time ago when we first met.
But I grew up, I spent so much time in Warsaw, Indiana.
That's where all of my mom's sisters and my grandma.
That's where everybody lived when I was growing up, so
we were always there.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I remember this. Not a lot of people have been there,
but the good ones have.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Kevin, Yes, Why it feels like you're always meeting somebody
who has memories from Warsaw.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Bet And it's apart a small town?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Is it a little the lake?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, it's just like it's it's kind of like a hub.
People gravitate towards it.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
When they want to better themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
How are you? How are you? Do you say? Rhode Island?
How are you there?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah? It's I've definitely adjusted. I would still rather view
by my family in Virginia, but we'll see that might
happen at some point.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
She makes no secrets, Kevin. Speaking of.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Kevin, before we dive into kind of why we're here today,
Ali did leave four Special Forces, and that is a
topic that I am curious about now. I'm a little confused, Kevin,
and maybe you can bring some clarity to this. Trista
and Ryan obviously are married. Trista was on the show
(04:40):
as well. Ryan was posting, we're not gonna go into
you know how we feel about the post. We've already
done that in a very past episode. But he was
posting like she was gone for a long time, even
though we only saw her on two episodes, right, Yes, Allie,
similar situation when she left the show? Are they gone
a lot long? And then my fallow up to that is,
(05:01):
how was that on you? Being kind of a solo parent?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
My mom came and helped out when she was gone,
which was very nice that, you know, I needed the
help because of my job and having to get the
kids to school and all that stuff. And honestly, Ali
had trained so hard for Special Forces, like truly she
was fully committed to this. We got a cold plunge
because of it. She was working out three times a day,
like it was crazy. She was ready. So we were
(05:28):
hoping she would be gone the whole time, like best
case scenario when she said goodbye to me that morning
when she was leaving the hotel, like I wouldn't hear
from her for ten days. Sadly, that did not happen.
They made her leave the show because her finger. She
hurt her finger and so they medically withdrew her. But yeah,
she was there. There were like two or three days
of like you know, doing interviews and like stuff, just
(05:50):
random stuff that happens with the TV show before they
even left to go start filming the show. So I
would say all total, she was She was only on
two episodes of the show, but she was probably gone
for seven or eight days.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And those seven or eight days you had support.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And so, I mean, as sad as it is to
not have your spouse around, you were doing okay.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I was doing okay. And you know, I mean distance
makes the heart grow fonder whenever, you know, if she's
out of time for a couple of days, it's nice
to have a big bed to myself.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Stretch out, I got it.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, full starfish.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Didn't she like train for six weeks?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, I mean the minute she did.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
She know that I have that much notice. I feel
like oftentimes you don't get that.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'm not sure why. Honestly, she as far as we know,
she was one of the first people to be approached
about the show, and she said yes, and she started
training immediately. We started watching the previous episodes of the show,
and she just hit the ground run in like that day.
And I was I mean, I like, I like to
work out and stay active and fit, but I was
blown away by the things she was doing and how
(06:53):
strong she got before the show, and it was man like.
I was sleeping one night, it was, you know, two
nights into her filming the show, my phone rang and
she has like a special ring on my phone and
it woke me up, and my heart just sank because
I knew that meant she was back with her phone
in a hotel room somewhere and she was no longer
on the show. So that was rough, But I'm still
proud of her.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, it's a big deal just to say yes.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Yeah, Kevin, we're talking about family and we're talking about
physical fitness, and the reason we're here today is because
recently you've came out publicly about your diagnosis with thyroid cancer.
The first question I have for you is, how are
you doing right now? Do we have an update since
the announcement.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, I'm a little anxious because I
have surgery coming up in a few days here, and
I haven't really had too many surgeries in my life,
so the whole thing is just sort of, you know,
freaking me out a tiny bit. But I know I'm
in good hands with my surgeon and everybody at Vanderbilt
here in Nashville. But really, I'm not just saying this.
I'm so good. I feel like the overwhelming feeling is
(07:56):
just like gratitude that we caught it and that I
know about this and we have a plan, and that
everybody has been so supportive, and again my Mom's coming
back to help us out when I'm recovering from the surgery.
But I just I feel good. I'm not stressed, I'm
not freaked out. I'm like, I know that this is
an easy one to just go in there and get
(08:17):
and then you know, I have to be in bed
for a bit to recover, but I'll be back back
in action before before you know. It's so I feel good,
I really do.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Your Instagram noticed to all the followers about it was
also very positive. What were your symptoms going into it
that made you even get checked out in the first place?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
None, I had no symptoms. Ali and I. Yeah, a
little over a year ago, we went to Chicago and
we did those Perneuvo full body scans.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Okay, I just reached out to them because Trista also
just got one it. Actually I'm interested.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah, I mean, that's the only reason I know about this, honestly.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yes, When we did it, you know, we got our
results from the scans, and for the most part, Ali
and I both had you know, clean bill of health,
which was great. But we obviously shared the results of
the scans with our doctor and there were like two
tiny dots on my thyroid that she was like, let's
keep an eye on that. You know, we'll check back
in in a year and see if it's grown or
(09:12):
if it's nothing whatever. And so a year after we
did those scans, she wanted me to get an ultrasound
on it. I did, and yeah, then it we found
out that those little spots had doubled in size over
the past years. So then we did a biopsy and
then a cat scan, so we did all the stuff
and here we are. I would not have known had
it not been for that full body scan.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Pre Novo is like the next step in our health.
I really feel like, be totally magical if we could
just make getting one of those scans every few years
to be like our annual checkup.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yes, and that's so that's kind of my I mean,
if anybody is, you know, paying a little more attention
to us in our life at the moment, that would
be the message I want to get out there is
just preventive care. Whatever you can do to you know,
be aggressive when it comes to your health and get
checked whatever that looks like for you. Everybody should be
doing whatever they can to just stay on top of
(10:04):
these issues.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
That's like Maria Minuno's she had pancreatic cancer and they
found it so early, which pangaratic cancers never found early,
and she had a baby on the way and everything,
and she's fine because they caught it that early. With
pre Novo.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, there's not enough emphasis in our healthcare system or
not here to go on a rant about the healthcare system,
but about preventative stuff, you know what I mean. A
lot of it is like treatment based, but any sort
of preventative care you can do, I think is a
great idea.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Now for the listeners, I think a first big takeaway
you obviously went to Chicago for this, and you live
in a metropolitan area that has a lot of access
to incredible health and services. If somebody's listening, no matter
what kind of financial place are in in life, where
(11:06):
can they find one of these facilities? Where do you
recommend them reaching out to?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I mean, Pernuvo has you know, offices around the country.
There are none in Nashville. I think the closest one
actually to Nashville would be Atlanta. Chicago would probably be second,
but I know there's a bunch in California.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
They are all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Over the place. So their website has a full, you
know list of where you could go do it if
that's something you are able to do. I know there
are other places where you can do like a you know,
a pretty comprehensive blood draw and they'll do a ton
of tests on you, so you know, whatever's in your
price range. If any of this stuff is I would
just say, look into whatever works.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, why did you decide to get it in the
first place? That's all Alie.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
She's very She's so much more on top of this
stuff than I am. So if it wasn't for her,
I wouldn't even know about it. But she she knows
all these things, and we're always doing all this stuff,
and I'm so thankful for that, or e'lse, I would
just be walking around on with thyroid cancer and have
no idea.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, I haven't got a physical in years, which brings
me to the next question.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That that'd be me, Bene if it was Alli wasn't
in my life.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You're making me feel all convicted here. You know, when
you get this kind of news, it's it's something you
don't really prepare for. And I know that you're positive,
and I know your doctor even initially called it like
the boring cancer, which I think would feel good. But
how did Ali respond and how have the two of
(12:29):
you supported each other in the midst of still getting
news that you have cancer?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I mean, it feels weird to say that it's brought
us closer, but and it's not like we had any
issues prior to this, but it has it's been a
nice like bonding experience because she is she has really
taken the reins on, just like reading all the stuff
and reaching out to all the people and making all
the appointments for me, and like I'm my doctor told
me to, you know, alleviate stress for my life. So
(12:56):
I'm trying not to do any of that stuff and
she is taking it all on, and I could not
be more appreciative. She's really I mean, I wouldn't be
in the situation without her, and I wouldn't be able
to do it like I am without her either, because yeah,
it's just it's been great and I'm very thankful for
for everything she's done.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Now, if you had symptoms, what would they be? What
should people look out for?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
That's a good question. We should get Ali in here
to talk because she's the one doing all the reading.
I know most of the time, people will like develop
like a lump that they can feel and touch in
their throat because the thyroid's like right below your Adam's
apple area. So that's how most people realize that they've
got something going on, is they'll you know, they'll feel
this giant thing growing inside of them.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
And you're deciding whether or not, or at least the
last time I heard we heard from you publicly, you
were deciding whether to get half of it out or
the full thy word out. You decided, And what does
that even mean for your life going forward?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I think I was so freaked out at first about
having cancer that I was like, go just take the
whole thing out, Like I don't want to have to
deal with this again in two years. I don't want
to keep an eye on the other half to see
if that now has cancer, and like always, I just
get rid of it and I don't want to think
about it anymore. That's kind of where I was at first.
But the more we looked into it, everybody, all the
experts were saying, like, if you can save half, you
(14:15):
should always save half, whatever body part that might be,
you know, try to save what you can. So yeah,
I think that's where we are now. And my surgeon
is not gonna know until she gets in there to see,
like there are some little like lymph nodes or something
that might the cancer might have spread to those, and
she's gonna they're gonna like, while I'm under on the table,
(14:36):
they're gonna like send those to the lab to see
if they're cancers whatever. They might have to take the
whole thing. And if that's the case, that you know,
that's that's what they're gonna have to do. But I
really hope, I mean, this is it's you know, we
all think about like these cosmetic things and stuff, and
I don't care about a scar or anything, but I
do work with my voice doing radio and so whatever.
(14:57):
I've heard some stories from people that are like, oh,
my voice really heal for eight months, and that's not
gonna work for me, really, So I just I hope
that they can, you know, avoid any damage to my
vocal cards. But I'm again, I know I'm in the
best hand, so I'm not too worried about it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I feel like a doctor in Nashville probably has worked
with a lot of people that rely on their voices totally,
and so I'm guessing that isn't like a new shocking thing.
You have surgery and warsaw Indiana. They might be like,
I don't know what's gonna happen. I think they know
what's gonna happen in Nashville. Kevin, we did mention that
you two have some some smaller children. I'm curious about
(15:39):
if they know of the situation maybe, or how you
told them or why you decided not to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
No, we did. I was so I was so nervous
about telling our kids. And our daughter is so sensitive
and she's eight and she knows what cancer is. We
have friends that have, you know, battled cancer, and she's
seen them lose their hair and everything. So I was
I was worried that she would freak out when she
heard that word. But we told him as softly as
we could, like the doctors found the smallest amount of cancer.
(16:07):
They're just going to go in remove it. It's not
gonna be a big deal. And then I said, and
Mimi's coming when I'm after the surgery. When I'm in Ben,
she goes me, this is the best surgery ever. That
was her response. So she was fine. They're okay with it.
They're excited that I'm gonna be home from work for
a week.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
So how do you regulate hormones and such? How does
the thyroid, like you know, that's what it does. How
does your body continue to do that once it's out.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
That's a great question, Ashley. I don't know if you
looked it up or knew that.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Because I didn't know, I like to pretend that I'm
a doctor on TV.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
That was good. I didn't know anything about the thyroid
before any of this happened. But there's like a very
standard medication. I would say the name of it, but
I know I'd get it wrong. But like, my mom
had her thyroid removed a long time ago. They found
pre cancer cells on hers. So she's been taking this
medicine every day for I mean, over twenty years. And
it's just a pill you take every day, and it just,
(16:59):
like you know, does what the thyroid would do.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
One of my best friends had his thyroid removed when
he was a teenager and he's doing just fine. But yes,
he takes a pill every day and it helps regulate everything. Kevin,
as we close up here with you, you mentioned at
the beginning there's a little anxiety right now about the
surgery itself. Maybe not as much even why the surgery
(17:24):
is happening, but the surgery itself. And I wanted to
hear if you could dig into that anxiety a little bit.
How are you feeling and what is exactly making you
nervous about you know, next week?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, the only other surgery I've ever had was I
had one single wisdom tooth removed, and that was the
only time I've ever been put under and that was,
I mean fifteen years ago, so before I had kids
or anything. And sorry to get heavy on you here,
but like I keep just like my mind wanders to,
like what if I don't wake up? And I know
that's you know, a one in a millionth chance of happening.
(17:55):
But those are probably natural thoughts for people to have
if they're experiences for the first time really in their life.
So that's kind of where my mind goes.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But I very.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Quickly know that's not going to happen. It's all gonna
be great again. I'm in great hands. But you know,
I mean just spinning the wheels and stuff like that
for no real reason.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
My dad's an antithesiologist, and yet if I ever have surgery,
it's the waking up from the sleep that is the
scariest thing to me as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, yeah, but he's I mean, is it an inappropriate
question to ask, you know, since you have somebody in
the field, like, does it people usually wake up? Right?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I'm very I don't think that that happens, so so
rarely like good, You're great, Kevin Ashley.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I appreciate that. Yeah, I just text Ali and said,
if you're here, pop up and.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Here's she is.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I just wanted to say, yeah, Ali, we only have one.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean, we have so many questions for you, but
we'll only ask you one based on respect for you.
We were wondering these symptoms of thyroid cancer if Kevin
was them for people to look out for, and he
thought you would know.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You've been doing all the reading.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
The research.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I've been doing all the reading.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
I feel like that's what I haven't been reading up
about as much, just because that's he.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Didn't have any We already knew he had it.
Speaker 6 (19:15):
But from what I understand, the symptoms are feeling like
a lump in your neck. So we're just sort of
feeling your neck and feeling your thyroid and seeing if
you feel like a little bulge or you know.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
But it's not necessarily sore.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
It can be sore. Hoarseness like a hoarse voice all
of a sudden could be an early sign.
Speaker 6 (19:35):
But from what I understand, like the most most people
find out from like an accidental scan, like going in
and getting scanned for something else. And then they see
it if the people who don't have symptoms. But yeah,
I mean, gosh, we're just so lucky that we found it,
and yeah, we're just I think count he's he's more
(19:57):
anxious than he's letting on.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Also, let me just.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Say a lot of anxiety in general. I'm just like.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
Yeah, like he's like playing it cool and everything, and
he's being very positive, which is also important. But you know,
it's still cancer and it's still surgery, and I.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Think Ali's getting annoyed with me, like, you know, her
and the kids are trying to relax at the end
of the night, I'm just pacing around the house, just
looking for things to stay busy. Yeah, so yeah, she
definitely witnesses my anxiety, but it's not too bad.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
But we're like making plans like tonight we're going out
with friends to play trivia, and I'm just we're trying
to do things to like just keep his mind busy
because I'm also what we've heard from other people who
have had cancer, stress is like the absolute worst thing
for cancer. You want to minimize that as much as possible,
So we're trying.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
You know, Kevin, we were just talking to Ali as
we closed up here on why he was anxious, and I,
you know, take it for me. I've had ten surgeries,
none of them cancer related, so I'm not there's no quantifying,
you know, better or worse here. I always no matter what,
and I don't think I'm.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Scared of surgery.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I always have these thoughts for like three days leading
up to the big event, of like worst case scenario thinking.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
And you know it is for me. It comes from
most of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I try to have control, and I know that for
this period of time in my life, I'm gonna have
zero control. But here's the cool part. Here's the thing
to find comfort in. The people that will have control
are literally the experts at keeping you alive. Like that's
what they get paid for, and like, I don't get
I don't even know how to keep myself alive, but
they do.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And Ben's that jogging when he says he doesn't know
how to keep himself alive. When was your last physical?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Ben?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
This five years ago.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I'm going to get in so much trouble. My mom's
gonna listen to it, my wife's gonna listen to this.
They're gonna ride away be so.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Mad at me.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
You have to like get your blood work done into that's.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Just like a wifely duty, right, Yeah, Allie, I feel
like I'm always the one that's like, I'm making you
a doctor's appointment because I know that you never ever will.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Yeah, that's exactly us too.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
I'm I'm sure Kevin might have already said this, but
since this happened, I've like ordered everything under the sun,
whether it did you like brazil nuts or blueberry powder
or roughly sprat.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
We have changed so we have a new gray toilet
paper in the house. So there's so many little changes
that she's implemented.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Oh, it's not bleached, because regular toilet papers bleached, so
we're just.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Like ring away.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
Down there especially you know for girls, Like there's a
lot of very sensitive absorbent parts of your body down there.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
So it's anyway, that's a whole other time.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Ali, come on and do another health podcast with us.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Kevin, you're never gonna have a cheeseberger again.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Well, I don't want that to happen.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
We've gone down the health rabbit for sure.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
But you know what, that's good to me, Like, it's
it's only.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Positive to make positive changes in your life.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, uh, well, we'll be thinking about you, guys.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
We have been obviously, this is a this is a
big deal, not to be go understated, but your positivity,
your outlook and also here's the cool part. What everybody
that knows is saying is this is gonna be great.
Like you're gonna be just fine, and that is an
awesome thing to celebrate. We're glad you caught it early
(23:23):
and thankful for those scans. Everybody listening, if you have
the opportunity of the chance, go do it. It's save
some lives. It's also saved some really difficult situations. So
but yes, we'll be thinking about you. When is the
date of the surgery again, so anybody listening can check in.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm not sure when this will be posted, but it's
a few days away and it's the tenth. It's Monday,
so the day of Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Okay, we'll have it up, uh and I will be
checking in to the hospital that night to have our
very first baby.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
So this is this is the craziest thing ever. You're
both gonna do this on Super Bowl Sunday. You're not
gonna be to enjoy that moment at all.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
More important things in life right, Well.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Ben, that's awesome.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
Congratulations Manas, that's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
That's why I was asking the parenting questions. I'm trying
to get any wisdom and advice that I can. And
so how do you tell your kids really difficult news?
And it sounds like you just sandwich it with and
by the way, our Grandpa's coming.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
They go, oh, exactly, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
That really works. I want to end with a fun
question for both of you guys, because you're both going
into something life changing, possibly in all good ways, on Monday.
What is your guilty pleasure comfort thing? Is there a
food that you're going to celebrate with? Is there a
song that's keeping you giving your spirits up?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It's a good question.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Kevin will be eating broccoli spouts and blueberries.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
No, I'm looking forward to Ali and my mom bringing
me a bunch of smoothies because the doctor said I
just have to drink food for a while. So I
like a good peanut butter smooth But I also, I mean,
it's not a song, but I'm looking I don't lay
in bed and watch movies ever, but I'm gonna watch
all of the Best Picture nominees while I'm laying in bed, recovering.
So I'm gonna watch all those Oscar nominated.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Movies, all those very indie movies these days.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, yeah, done, That's what are my comforts? Yeah goodness.
Right now it's vodka soda at the end of the
day or or Honestly, my wife and I have spent
the last week like going to bed early, laying in
bed and just appreciating like this time before chaos, of
(25:39):
just the dog, two of us snuggling watching TV without
any other thoughts in the world.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I mean, man, it's your final few days of just
the two of you.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Really try to save it as much as you can.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It's awesome and wild.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
Can I give my last minute unsolicited yea acting advice? Okay.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
One thing, especially now that our kids are older, that
I have been reflecting on every day, and I think
this has been like even multiplied one hundredfold since we've
got Kevin's diagnosis, is just how quickly time is going by, right,
And once you have kids, time is going to start
going by so much faster than it used to, right, Like,
I feel like the last nine years of my life
(26:22):
our daughter's eight. But you know, I was pregnant for
that first time has gone by faster than like the
previous twenty five years, and so I guess my advice
would be like to slow down as much as you can,
like because it truly does.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
They say it goes.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
By so fast, and I know that's such a clised,
shaye thing to say, but I think when you think
of it in terms of like I don't know, hearing
from parents that truly the time, like it's just it's
like fast forward. And then now with what's going on
with Kevin in health, and we realize that we're at
that stage in life where people start getting cancer and
people start getting sick and old, it just makes you
like really appreciate every moment.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
So it would be And then Kevin Alli, I wonder
if you're with me on this, you're going into your
first child like it's gonna be fine. It's the second
one that just turns your world upside down. Yeah. I
think the same here.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And I missed those days when our daughter Molly was
just a tiny little baby. Just taking care of a
tiny little baby was like that was your only care
in the world. It was so great, So you're gonna
love it.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Yeah, Yeah, Jared and I were thinking about that's a
lot this week. I don't know why this week of
all weeks, but like, do you remember what it was
just Dawson? How easy was that? How did we think
that was ever?
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Hard?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:36):
But it is gonna be hard, Ben, don't.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
I'm sorry that's gonna be hard to it is hard.
It don't feel bad for it being hard.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
It's it's an exciting time again. Kevin wishing the best
being Almost Famous podcast and I've been Ben, I've.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Been Ashley se Yah.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
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Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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