November 12, 2024 • 34 mins
This episode features a conversation with Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who overcame childhood health challenges to achieving success in figure skating displays the value of resilience and perseverance. Scott shares his unique story as an adopted child, along with a humorous recollection of an early ice-skating mishap that nearly stopped his career before it even began.
Scott is an Olympic Champion, cancer survivor, television broadcaster, motivational speaker, author, husband/father and eternal optimist! During his figure skating career, Hamilton’s list of achievements includes his Olympic gold medal, over 70 titles, awards, and honors. In 1990, Hamilton was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and in that same year, he became a member of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
Following his mother’s passing and his own survival of stage 3 testicular cancer, Hamilton launched the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) in 2014, with a mission to improve cancer patient survivorship by supporting world class cancer research and the highest quality patient treatment and care. The same year, he founded the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy, in partnership with the NHL’s Nashville Predators, at Ford Ice Centers in Antioch, Bellevue and Clarksville, TN, to offer students programs to help them fall in love with ice skating.
Embracing the idea of cancer as a blessing may seem counter-intuitive, yet can lead to resilience and a deepened faith.
Learn more about Scott here
Connect to HealingStrong here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
the fear thing you know is is legit.
I mean the fear thing.
I always say fear is a liar,because you know what does fear?
Know that you don't right.
Well, that's just it.
You don't know, so you go intofear.
You know I, when I went in formy surgery, it was going to be
from my sternum all the way downto my groin like straight shot,
open it all up and look for anyremaining cancer.
(00:20):
You know I was scared out of mymind and the doctor said what
is your problem?
What is going on with you?
I go well, have you ever donethis before?
And they go seven this monthand I was like, oh, okay, I'm
good, we're good to go now,let's go have at it.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
You're listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast,
a part of the Healing Strongorganization, the number one
network of holistic cancersupport groups in the world.
Each week we bring you storiesof hope, real stories that will
encourage you as you navigateyour way on your own journey to
health.
Now here's your host stage fourcancer thriver, jim Mann.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
This podcast has been long in the making, since I saw
you skating when I was a child.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's long in the making.
That was a while back.
I got to get him on to thispodcast.
Thank goodness for YouTube,right yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm sitting in the office of Scott Hamilton with
plaques and awards and all kindsof stuff.
I'm surrounded by all kinds ofthings Guitars I like the
guitars especially.
I mean I would go through allthe awards that you've gotten,
but our podcast will be over atthat time.
But people know you as the goldmedalist in the Olympics and
you're also a world champion.
How many times?
Four times, four times.
(01:37):
That's four times more than me.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Four times probably, more than I ever dreamed or
expected.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Wow, four times probably more than I ever
dreamed or expected.
Wow, my introduction to iceskating.
I know you're wondering what itis.
When I was four or five yearsold.
I'm sitting on a bench inBaltimore.
It's an outdoor ice skatingrink.
I don't remember if it was apond or whatever it was, but I
was sitting there my mother'slacing up she's ready to go in
and all of a sudden this ladyfalls right in front of me and
(02:04):
this guy behind her tried toavoid her, but his skate went
right across her forehead andthere I was, a five-year-old or
whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I was seeing blood and carnage everywhere and it
probably was hardly anything,because you know how the
forehead is oh yeah, it getsbigger, and by then you've never
seen anything like that before,so you have nothing to compare
it to Exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Exactly, and so the ambulance came and took her off
and I thought, oh my gosh, theregoes my skating career.
So because of that it was openfor you to get the gold.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You probably got the silver.
It's all about just being inthe right place at the right
time or being in the wrong placeat the wrong time, but thank
you for stepping aside so that Icould realize my dream that I
never thought to dream, butthank you, since I am a year
older than you, I paved the way.
It's not the years, it's themileage right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, there's a little bit of mileage on me, but
tell the people I know youstarted in Canada.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
No, no, you didn't burn in Canada.
No, a lot of people think I'mCanadian.
I go to Canada.
In fact, it's funny.
I see, you know, when I livedin Los Angeles I'd run into
Canadian celebrities and they go.
Have you been back home lately?
And it's like Ohio.
There was an article.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I just read that says you were born in Ontario.
I think oh really Well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I was adopted, so that might be accurate.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
So they knew more about you than you did.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
If they knew my birth parents then they'd probably
know maybe I was born somewhereelse.
But you know, it's remarkablethat you know I grew up again,
you know you could say as wantedto have a larger family and
(03:47):
they just couldn't bring a childinto the world that survived.
They have a lot of reallyhorrible pregnancies.
Some would go full term and thebaby just wouldn't make it, and
so they decided after three Ithink it was three failed
attempts my sister was born ofmy parents she was a survivor of
(04:09):
twins, from what I've been toldand then they said well, we
want to have a family, so we'regoing to go adoption route.
So I was the first one and thenmy brother, four years later,
adopted.
So we look like three totalstrangers.
No, I'm two brothers and asister, but we look three total
strangers.
No, I'm two brothers and sister, but we look like total
strangers.
So growing up as an adoptedchild is really remarkable
(04:30):
because there's sort of anexpectation that comes with
coming with a birth child.
But with an adopted child youjust kind of go okay, let's just
see what happens.
So life just sort of was anexperiment.
My parents were both inacademia.
If I were a birth child.
That probably would have beenmy path, but since I wasn't, I
kind of got into sports.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Right, yeah, and you were not that healthy as a child
, right.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No, I had a really odd thing that I don't think was
diagnosed until 2004.
So I was born in 1958, and then, around 62, I stopped growing
and developing and it was justone of those things where they
couldn't figure out what waswrong.
They didn't know if it was somesort of food allergy or if it
(05:18):
was some sort of something waswrong digestively with me or if
something you know, if somethingwasn't working right.
So four years in and out ofhospitals, started in Ohio, went
to Bowling Green, then toToledo, then to Ann Arbor, and
then, year four, I was in Bostonat Boston Children's, and I had
every symptom of a diseasecalled Schwachman-Diamond
(05:38):
syndrome and my doctor was HarrySchwachman, so he's a celebrity
right.
So I had to be with the man andI was there probably for in and
out for over a year and he saidI can't diagnose this.
He has every symptom but hedoesn't have the disease, so I
can't treat something that Ican't diagnose.
So the advice was to go homeand live a normal life and see
(06:00):
what happens.
And so I went home and ourfamily physician, uh, did a
one-man intervention.
He said okay, um, dot.
Ernie that's my parents namesyou need a morning off to
restore and, uh, just rechargeyour depleted batteries, yeah,
and you need to bond with thisnew baby and you need to do a
lot of things.
(06:20):
So I was eight years old, mybrother was four and getting,
you know, a toddler, getting inall kinds of things and um, and
so they said they took me to therink and it's a brand new
skating rink at Bowling GreenState University, just
Northwestern Ohio, and theyteach kids how to skate from
eight to noon every Saturdaymorning.
So I went and fell in love withit and became a rink rat.
(06:42):
I realized after a few weeksthat I could skate as well as
well kids, because, being theshortest one in my class, the
last one chosen for every teamsport, you know it was kind of
like no self-esteem, right, itwas just, I was the ist, the
littlest, the weakest, thesickest, I was all the ist.
Not the coolest, not thecoolest, no, definitely not.
And so, you know, I, I, I hadgood friends.
(07:04):
You know, we grew up in a verylively neighborhood with lots of
kids and so we were very activeand we did a lot of things, but
I was always kind of the sickkid.
So skating was the greatequalizer, you know, put me on
equal footing with everybody outthere.
And as I started getting better, I started realizing that I
could skate as well as the bestathletes in my grade.
And now, now, all of a sudden,it's like, okay, I now can feel
(07:28):
good about myself.
I'm not a complete failure andeverything.
So I became a skater and thattook on a life of its own and I
started growing again.
I started developing and nobodycould figure out why.
It was just something about.
It just appealed to me, why itwas just something about it just
(07:50):
appealed to me.
And then in 2004 post-canceractually cancer 97, 2004 I'm now
husband and a father and sortof symptomatic.
And so I went in for a checkupand you know, as far as
endovascularly I had very likeyou know, I had hardly any
testosterone in my body and theythought maybe the chemo for my
(08:11):
cancer, you know, prevented mefrom, you know, living normally,
right, so we can treat thattopically, it'll be fine, I go.
No, there's something else.
So they ended up finding abrain tumor that they had to go
in and do a biopsy.
So they went to the top of myhead they joke, you know, it's
funny.
I think we found a safe corridorand it's like well, I think I'm
not using any of it, so I haveat it, and you know all the bad
(08:34):
things that can happen in asurgery like that.
And I woke up and I knew who Iwas, where I was, why I was
there, and then they told me Icould lose speech and motor
function.
I wiggled my toes and I saidtest, I go.
Okay, I can speak.
I guess the surgery went welland I was diagnosed with a
craniofringioma brain tumor thatI was born with.
Wow, and craniofringioma is.
(08:54):
Usually they inhibit growth anddevelopment in young people,
but in the early 60s they had noscanning to find anything like
that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So if they would have caught that, you could have
been 6'4".
Speaker 1 (09:07):
No, if they would have caught it I would have had
a big old C in my head and wouldhave had all kinds of
developmental disabilities.
So it's probably better thatthey didn't find it back then,
because all they would have hadis an open surgery and I don't
think in the 60s they're assophisticated as they are now
and and taking care of problemslike that.
So um, radiation, um, went backto life.
(09:31):
Six years later came back umone surgery, it became nine.
Um, well, finally obliteratedthe aneurysm caused by the.
You know, first surgery andthen six years later came back,
and this one I decided to justhand it to the Lord.
You know, I just felt andeverything in my spirit said
just get strong and you'll beokay.
(09:52):
So that's all I've done is tryto get strong physically,
mentally, intellectually andspiritually.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Now people look at someone like you who's always
seemingly happy.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah, You're known for that.
It is a choice.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, yeah, look at someone like you who's always
seemingly happy.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, you're known it is a choice.
Yeah, yeah, because I couldchoose not to be what they think
.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well, nothing's ever happened, otherwise you wouldn't
be so happy.
Yeah, right, yeah, and uh and Iwatched your uh ted talks oh,
the one on suffering yeah, yeah,I'm like because I kind of knew
your story but I I was soimpressed and that's that's
something that also helped mebecause I'm an optimist.
I think it's just because I'msimple-minded, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Like when I first got there.
Don't overthink it, right, justgive me the facts.
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Like I was devastated .
Of course, when I got mydiagnosis I was at Disney World,
but that fear and everything Imean, I cried like a little baby
.
Once after I've been to thesurgeon, he told me what's going
to happen and you know, I cried, thinking I'm not going to make
it to Christmas, because it wasin September when I was
diagnosed and then after that Iwas fine, I'm like God's got
(10:53):
this and I went on like it wasjust, you know, a cold sore or
something like that, which Iknew was a lot more serious than
that.
But there's something aboutyour mindset that really helps
and I never I didn't think thathad anything to do with it until
that point ecosystem is reallyimportant.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And positivity, joy, laughter yeah, it ignites a
different chemistry in your bodythan stress.
I mean, you think about stress,anxiety, unhappiness, anger you
know all the hostility, youknow all those things can change
, you know, create an acidicenvironment in your ecosystem
that allows for really badthings to happen.
(11:31):
So, um, yeah, I don't mind justsort of tricking myself into
being okay, you know, and that'sokay, that's fine.
I don't want to be superirresponsible or stupid about
anything, but at the same time,I've lived through enough to
have something to compare it to,to compare this moment to, and
right now, this moment is a lotbetter than sitting for eight
(11:52):
hours with a chemo bag attachedto my arm.
Yeah, it's a lot better thanthat and I can compare.
Getting stuck in traffic thismorning was way better than a 38
staple surgery down my abdomen.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Probably.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Way better than that, right, but the fear thing is
legit.
I mean the fear thing.
I always say fear is a liar,because what does fear know?
That you don't right?
That's just it.
You don't know.
So you go into fear.
And you know, when I went in formy surgery it was going to be
from my sternum all the way downto my groin like straight shot,
(12:26):
open it all up and look for anyremaining cancer.
You know, yeah, and I wasscared out of my mind and the
doctor said what is your problem?
Like what is going on with you?
I go well, have you ever donethis before?
And they go seven this monthand I was like, oh okay, I'm
good, we're good to go now,let's go have at it.
(12:47):
But you know, with each of thosechallenges, those adventures,
you know it's like chemo is anadventure and the surgery was an
adventure, and brain radiationwas an adventure, and brain
surgery is an adventure andshoulder surgery is an adventure
, and getting my ankle rebuiltis an adventure, and all surgery
is an adventure, and shouldersurgery is an adventure and
getting my ankle rebuilt as anadventure, and all the medical
(13:08):
intervention stuff, they're allyou can be looking.
You can look upon them as these, these devastating, terrible
periods of your life.
Or you can look at them as I'mnow getting repaired so I don't
have to worry about that anymoreor, um, you know, things are
going to be better once I getthrough this, this period of of
challenge and struggle yeah, you, you had like I said that ted
(13:30):
talks that you had you got twoof them, I think right yeah, I
did one on proton therapy.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I'm the dumbest guy to ever talk about splitting
atoms easily and we're sittingat a proton therapy center,
which is really ironic but Ithought I didn't know this part
about how you would get intocompetition with skating and you
would like come in last or-.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh yeah, I was last place guy for a long time.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, most people give up at that point.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Nah, well, they can.
It was really funny though Ijoke now because I embellish a
little bit just to make it morefun, but I did bit just to make
it more fun, but I did, I mean,my first competition.
I fell so many times that I Iwent from I think I was fifth in
figures and I came in ninthoverall and last, last, last,
right, and and you know, whenyou, when you do that, I mean I
(14:15):
think based on results you youtend to put your yourself in a
category, yeah, and so I kind ofI was last place guy.
I was like, well, here I am,and the next year I went back
and I didn't fall as many timesbut I came in ninth again, but
out of 10, right, well, maybethe guy that was 10th shouldn't
have been there, but yeah, whoknows.
(14:36):
But you know, it got to thatpoint where I felt like if I
beat anybody, it must have beenreally humiliating for them
because I'm last place guy.
It's like I beat two guys myfirst year in juniors.
I was seventh out of nine and Ican just hear the locker room
talk Wait, hamilton beat youReally.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to quit.
(14:56):
I mean, obviously you shouldn'tbe in this sport.
And then, you know, I ended upthe next year.
I kind of saw some things thatwoke me up.
We were going out for apractice and there was this guy
that was supposed to win theyear that I came in seventh.
There was a guy that wassupposed to win and he told
everybody it's mine, you know,you guys are all competing for
(15:18):
second place and basically itwas that.
You know, it was kind, we'regoing out for a practice and the
guy goes, you're all competingfor second place.
And I heard a guy like this guyI knew and he goes, we'll see
about that.
And I'm like you're not justgoing to take that as face value
.
Of course he's going to win.
He was like second or third lastyear.
He's going to win this year.
He goes, we'll see.
(15:38):
And sure enough, the guy thatsaid we'll see won, wow.
And the other guys on thepodium looking at him going what
just happened, this was mine,this was my moment, not his
Right, and I go.
So nothing's out of reach.
And the next year, like I wasthe, we'll see about that guy.
Like I ended up winning juniornationals the next year, wow,
(15:59):
and I don't know if I wouldn'thave witnessed that moment, if I
would have thought it waspossible.
But from there I go up insenior level and I don't do well
at all.
My mom was diagnosed withmetastatic melanoma breast
cancer and we're talking 1975.
And they threw everything inthe kitchen sink at her,
(16:22):
everything they could, to try toslow the cancer down.
But it went into every organand she had her left breast
removed.
It went chemo, it took all ofher hair and she fought it
valiantly but she never had achance and so in that on the
(16:49):
morning I lost her.
I just decided that it was timeto put some big boy pants on and
just try to be the person thatshe thought I could be and the
person that she sacrificedeverything for me to be.
And I started taking my life alittle more seriously and the
results changed immediately.
You know, the last competitionshe saw me skate in, I came in
ninth in the senior level.
My first year.
I went from junior champion toninth on the senior level, and
it was because I was distracted,I was too young, I was immature
, I I wasn't training properly.
(17:10):
I was just interested ineverything else but what I
should have been doing.
And then I was awakened.
We were in her room till aboutthree in the morning.
My brother and I and then mybrother-in-law at the time woke
me up and just said your motheris gone.
And all I could think to say isI know.
And it was really a weirdresponse.
But then I went for a walk inour backyard and I just in that
(17:38):
walk decided that it's time forme to grow up and just try to
honor her and be the person thatshe always dreamed I could be.
And so the next year I wasranked third in the United
States, I was on the podium onthe championship men's level and
11th in the world.
And then the next year I had ahorrible ankle injury that put
me behind.
I ended up fourth at nationals,so I didn't go to the worlds.
And then the year after that Ireally put my head down and
(17:59):
worked harder than I've everworked and I ended up third
again at the nationals and thatput me on the Olympic team and
than I've ever worked and Iended up third again at the
Nationals and that put me on theOlympic team.
And so I was in Lake Placid forthe Olympics as a tourist, a
third guy on a three-man team,and then you know the top three
guys I came in fifth, the topthree guys retired.
So the next year I went into theseason ranked second in the
(18:19):
world.
You know which is kind of likehuh, wow, that was quick.
You know in the world, you knowwhich is kind of like huh, wow,
that was quick.
You know I go from ninth tolike.
Now I'm ranked second in theworld, ninth in the united
states to second in the world,and um, and from october of 1980
until march of 1984 I wentundefeated wow, I don't, I don't
know that feeling no, you know,neither did I.
(18:41):
It was kind like.
But once you get on that train,it's like the first year I won
Worlds.
I thought I'm not worthy, likethe sport is at its lowest place
in history of last place.
Guys on the podium at WorldsLike this is not good.
This is bad for the sport.
I'm killing my sport becauseI'm its champion, right.
And then I went and my coachgot me through that that year
(19:02):
and the next year I went backand I won again.
And now I'm looking around goingwait a minute, I'm not
competing against the history ofthe sport or every sentient
being on the planet.
I'm competing againstknuckleheads just like me.
These guys.
All they want to do is the bestthey can.
My job is to try to stay aheadof them for the next two years
(19:23):
through the Olympics, and if Ican do that, maybe I can win an
Olympic gold medal.
And so that turned into mystrategy.
I was just going to try to stayahead of those guys as best I
could strategically, becausethere were some of the young
guys doing things that I knew Iwould never be able to do and I
just had to find a way to stayahead of them and I did.
And then I got through the nexttwo seasons really well and then
(19:46):
, after March of 84, I decidedthat it was time for me to turn
pro.
But all that time from losingmy mom until then, I was raising
money anywhere I could forcancer research because I
figured if I could find atreatment for my mom's cancer,
I'll know.
I was why I was born in thefirst place, because when you're
an adopted kid you don't knowwhy you were born.
A lot of people aren't right,right.
(20:07):
And then 20 years I had thislike from the Olympics.
I created a professional careerthat just kept going and going
and going and I'm thinking, man,I'm fooling a lot of people
here.
If I get a job next year, I'mreally fooling a lot of people.
And it next year I'm reallyfooling a lot of people.
And it just took off.
It just became this giganticcareer.
It was amazing.
It was just sportsentertainment and it's skating
(20:29):
was hotter than ever and we'vejust rode the wave in a really
cool way.
And then on the I was 50 citiesinto a 60 city stars on ice
tour, where I just got so tiredof the abdominal pain that I
went into an emergency room toget like whatever they get
people with ulcers.
And it was there that they saidwe found a mass and I was like
(20:51):
really.
That's kind of funny.
And they go what's so funnyabout that?
I go well, I mean, I'm reallylike not a tall person.
So here the word mass is kindof like well, it's kind of like
sounds big, right.
And then they're like no, youneed to take this thing
seriously.
And they said it's eitherbenign, malignant or something
(21:12):
else.
And he didn't know what it was.
So I did the show that nightand then I got on a bus and I
went to the Cleveland Clinic andthey biopsied it and told me I
had stage 3 testicular cancer.
And here's the 80% to 90%survival rate due to research.
Two guys in Indiana figured itout.
So I went through threedifferent chemotherapy drugs.
(21:34):
They were eight-hour infusionswe would do five days in a row
and then 16 days off.
Five days in a row and 16 daysoff, I mean four rounds of that.
By the time I got done with thethird round, I wanted to quit
because my life had changed frombeing in front of 17,000 people
screaming and hollering andapplauding to being in a very
quiet space, suffering fromnausea and just looking at
(21:59):
myself in the mirror and notrecognizing me at all.
And I went into.
You know, I went into thatfull-blown pity party that is
easy to get into, right, right.
And then, um, after the thirdround, I had one five day period
left and uh, a dear friend ofmine looked at me.
He started laughing.
I go, what he goes.
You want to quit?
I go, yeah, he goes.
How many rounds got left?
(22:20):
And I said one, he goes, comeon.
I go, yeah, I can get to thelast round and so I did and um,
and then it was the big 38staple surgery and you know, my
man, my size, that's most of megot opened up and, um, the fear
was unbelievable.
And and the doctor was he goes,what's your problem?
I go, I'm scared.
(22:40):
And he goes why?
And I go, have you ever donethis before?
And they go, yes, seven thismonth.
And I go okay, I'll be fine.
And then life became like I gotto live my life again and this
time I was very intentional ondoing it differently.
I was given a second chancewhere my mom wasn't, and so I
(23:00):
just stepped away as best Icould.
I wanted to keep my careergoing because I realized that I
had now an encouragementministry where, if I could get
back on the ice for the nexttour, that might inspire some
people in an infusion room tounderstand that their life isn't
over, that there's a nextchapter.
And so I got back on tour thenext year and did that for a few
(23:25):
more years and I met my wifeand we got married and I had a
child and it was like okay, whatam I doing here?
I want to see my son's firststeps and hear his first words.
Why am I still wearing spandex,running around with knives
strapped to my feet?
It's crazy, and so I steppedaway.
And it was soon after that thebrain tumor started.
(23:46):
But it was all part of.
Like you know, I always jokethat if you live long enough,
all questions will be answered,and, having been born with that
brain tumor, it was justremarkable that okay check.
Now I know why.
I went through all of that as akid and it was.
There was a lot of suffering, alot of humiliation, a lot of
(24:08):
just weird things that happenedaround that period of time that
were difficult.
But once you get through adifficult period of time you
have a better understanding ofhow strong you are and how
resilient you can be, and inthat it just sort of strengthens
you.
I read something in I think itwas David versus Goliath, the
Malcolm Gladwell book, whereHitler thought that he could
(24:31):
intimidate England intosurrender by just bombing them
like crazy.
What he didn't understand wasmore people were surviving than
getting killed, and as theysurvived they got bolder.
So he made them stronger bydoing the bombing instead of
weaker.
As long as he was a threat theywere scared, but as long as
they survived his attacks theywere emboldened.
(24:52):
And it just went the other way.
And I think I related to thatin so many ways because I've had
enough medical intervention tokind of compare life.
Well, life and sick life I cancompare them both and having
been through it, it's like Icould do this, like you know,
brain tumor was like.
First one was like, you know,wow, that was really ignited my
(25:17):
faith in a really cool way andit brought my marriage really
tight.
And then, six years later, itcomes back and it was like
getting kicked in the stomach.
I was like what's going on,Like, why is this going?
Why am I doing, why am I goingthrough this again?
And my assistant, you know,started.
She looked at me and shestarted to laugh a little bit
and I go wait, what's so funny?
(25:38):
And she goes I can't wait tosee where this one takes you.
Because she understoodsurvivors.
She understood that I survivedenough and each time I survived
something wonderful.
I survived cancer and now Ibecome a husband and father.
I survived this brain tumor andnow I'm stronger in my faith
than I've ever been.
(26:02):
And the second brain tumor comesand I realize, like I packed my
own suitcase and um walked outof neuro icu three times and
it's like you do that enough,and it's kind of like okay, I
think there's more in the tankthan I ever thought there was.
I think I'm stronger than Iever anticipated I could ever be
.
And now the fear part of it,especially because I'm rooted in
(26:29):
faith now and not so much onwhat today brings.
But I realize that every moment, every day, is just an
opportunity to do more andthat's why I founded my Cancer
Foundation and now we're onlycuring the promise of
(26:51):
immunotherapy and not the ideaof it but the promise of it, and
we really feel like you cantreat the cancer and spare the
patient harm by igniting theirown immune system to recognize
and destroy the cancer, whileyou know not going with the
status quo of collateral damage.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah yeah.
You're like the perfect exampleof mindset, like I had no idea
that had anything to do with it.
You've been through so manythings you know from birth on
that you, your mindset justchanges as you, that you come
against a challenge and somepeople, uh, just give up and
they have the pity party andthey never really pull out of it
(27:30):
and and that that can be.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I mean, we're all.
We all kind of come out.
You know um the way we are.
You know, and I and I think youknow, when I see people that
you get a diagnosis and they'reparalyzed with fear or they're
just, they're just like frozenin an attitude of no, uh, I'm
(27:56):
not going to do that I.
When I started CARES, we cameacross an Oncology Nursing
Society survey where of newlydiagnosed patients, 30% feared
death.
That was their greatest fear.
42% feared treatment.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
People would rather die than get treated for cancer.
Yeah, and it's like it's it.
And once you've kind of beenthere, done that, because I
didn't know what chemotherapywas.
I saw my mom go through it andso I I had a lot of fear and
trepidation.
But once I go, I go so are yougoing to take me in a room and
replace all my bodily fluids ofthe machine?
And they go no, we're justgoing to hang an iv bag with
(28:39):
stuff in it and it's going tokill your cancer.
And it's like that's it.
And they go yeah, that's prettymuch it.
And I go let's go, let's go, Ican do this.
And my carrot, my wholeinspiration, my daily thought
pattern was I'm going to getthrough this so I can be back on
tour next year.
Because I not only have to dothis because I want my life back
(29:04):
, but I also really feel a senseof responsibility that if I can
do this this quickly, thenmaybe it'll serve somebody.
They'll say, wow, wow, he wentthrough four months chemotherapy
and he's back.
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
That again is a mindset of looking beyond your
cancer, not like, oh, here's theend, yeah or what's my today
like?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It's like, no, I'm still looking ahead.
Okay, so the surgery's going tohappen on June 23rd?
Okay, yeah, so six weeks, thenI can start getting back on the
ice a little bit.
And then I have to worry aboutthe incision because it's an
abdominal thing and I got to becareful of that.
So I have to let that knit andheal, Got that.
So that's going to be another.
So I think I can make it torehearsal in time to be able to
(29:54):
get in shape, like get purelydone for the show.
So we like get purely done forthe show.
So we did choreography withmarking, all the athletic stuff,
and we did all that.
We got prepared, I did all thatkind of off-ice stuff to
prepare for the year.
And then, october 29th, I wasdiagnosed march um, 16th, um,
and then october 29th, I Iskated again.
(30:15):
Wow, and it was um, it was, itwas dumb, it was really dumb.
I'm looking at it back now it'slike why did I just take a year
to heal?
No, because I felt an urgency,that I had to get back on the
ice.
And in that it's like we allcan listen to our spirit, or we
(30:36):
can all listen to the enemywhispering in our ear all the
time, and our spirit is muchstronger than the whispering,
right?
And all the whispering said no,get on your horse, get back on
the horse and get back out there, because this is important, not
for you, this is important toother people, right?
And so I got back and made itback on the ice and it was
(30:59):
amazing and it was a great yearand it was hard and I made some
real big life changes and thatwas hard.
But you know, I just listenedto my spirit and I just said
here's what you need to do andjust don't listen.
Yeah, listen and okay, and beobedient okay all right.
(31:21):
And then all that, all thatlistening, obedience to my inner
voice.
Um, when I meet my wife, whenwe start to date, she goes where
are you in your faith?
And I said what any smart guywould say I said where do you
want me to be?
You know, yeah, but in that youknow I it.
It answered.
It connected all the dots.
It answered all the questions.
It's like ah, that's why.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Okay, cancer was the greatest thing that ever
happened to me.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
The greatest thing that ever happened to me, it is
yeah.
And it's also the worst thingthat ever happened to me, but
it's ultimately the best thingthat ever happened to me.
So you know, I heard a girl saythat, as this young student
athlete lost her leg cancer, shesaid cancer is worse than it
ever happened to me.
And I was at a cancer survivorcelebration, you know, on the
other end and she said but I'mhere to tell you that cancer is
(32:10):
the best thing that everhappened to me.
And I was like wait, what?
And I'm up next to speak, right, it's like OK, that's a
computer virus, right there.
It's like now, what am I goingto say?
Because she was right, yeah, Iwouldn't have the children, the
family, the opportunities that Ihave right now, probably
without cancer.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
We're going to end part one right there of Scott
Hamilton's interview, but beforeI go I want to recognize a
partner of Healing Strong.
Rgcc is globally recognized asthe leading laboratory in the
field of personalized cancertesting.
Rgcc partners with patients andpractitioners throughout the
(32:55):
cancer journey with powerfultesting tools that provide
actionable information allowingfor the creation of personalized
treatment protocols.
To learn more, head tomyrgcccom forward slash healing
dash strong.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
You've been listening to the I Am Healing Strong
podcast.
A part of the Healing Strongorganization.
We hope you found encouragementin this episode, as well as the
confidence to take control ofyour healing journey, knowing
that God will guide you on thispath.
Healing Strong is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
(33:21):
connect, support and educateindividuals facing cancer and
other diseases throughstrategies that help to rebuild
the body, renew the soul andrefresh the spirit.
It costs nothing to be a part ofa local or online group.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(33:43):
finding a group near you or anonline group, or start your own,
your choice.
While you're there, take a lookaround at all the free
resources.
Though the resources and groupsare free, we encourage you to
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
(34:07):
encouragement, and that alsocomes with some extra perks as
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So check it out.
If you enjoyed this podcast,please give us a five-star
rating, leave an encouragingcomment and help us spread the
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on I Am Healing
(34:29):
Strong podcast.
the fear thing you know is is legit.
I mean the fear thing.
I always say fear is a liar,because you know what does fear?
Know that you don't right.
Well, that's just it.
You don't know, so you go intofear.
You know I, when I went in formy surgery, it was going to be
from my sternum all the way downto my groin like straight shot,
open it all up and look for anyremaining cancer.
(00:20):
You know I was scared out of mymind and the doctor said what
is your problem?
What is going on with you?
I go well, have you ever donethis before?
And they go seven this monthand I was like, oh, okay, I'm
good, we're good to go now,let's go have at it.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
You're listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast,
a part of the Healing Strongorganization, the number one
network of holistic cancersupport groups in the world.
Each week we bring you storiesof hope, real stories that will
encourage you as you navigateyour way on your own journey to
health.
Now here's your host stage fourcancer thriver, jim Mann.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
This podcast has been long in the making, since I saw
you skating when I was a child.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's long in the making.
That was a while back.
I got to get him on to thispodcast.
Thank goodness for YouTube,right yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm sitting in the office of Scott Hamilton with
plaques and awards and all kindsof stuff.
I'm surrounded by all kinds ofthings Guitars I like the
guitars especially.
I mean I would go through allthe awards that you've gotten,
but our podcast will be over atthat time.
But people know you as the goldmedalist in the Olympics and
you're also a world champion.
How many times?
Four times, four times.
(01:37):
That's four times more than me.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Four times probably, more than I ever dreamed or
expected.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Wow, four times probably more than I ever
dreamed or expected.
Wow, my introduction to iceskating.
I know you're wondering what itis.
When I was four or five yearsold.
I'm sitting on a bench inBaltimore.
It's an outdoor ice skatingrink.
I don't remember if it was apond or whatever it was, but I
was sitting there my mother'slacing up she's ready to go in
and all of a sudden this ladyfalls right in front of me and
(02:04):
this guy behind her tried toavoid her, but his skate went
right across her forehead andthere I was, a five-year-old or
whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I was seeing blood and carnage everywhere and it
probably was hardly anything,because you know how the
forehead is oh yeah, it getsbigger, and by then you've never
seen anything like that before,so you have nothing to compare
it to Exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Exactly, and so the ambulance came and took her off
and I thought, oh my gosh, theregoes my skating career.
So because of that it was openfor you to get the gold.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You probably got the silver.
It's all about just being inthe right place at the right
time or being in the wrong placeat the wrong time, but thank
you for stepping aside so that Icould realize my dream that I
never thought to dream, butthank you, since I am a year
older than you, I paved the way.
It's not the years, it's themileage right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, there's a little bit of mileage on me, but
tell the people I know youstarted in Canada.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
No, no, you didn't burn in Canada.
No, a lot of people think I'mCanadian.
I go to Canada.
In fact, it's funny.
I see, you know, when I livedin Los Angeles I'd run into
Canadian celebrities and they go.
Have you been back home lately?
And it's like Ohio.
There was an article.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I just read that says you were born in Ontario.
I think oh really Well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I was adopted, so that might be accurate.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
So they knew more about you than you did.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
If they knew my birth parents then they'd probably
know maybe I was born somewhereelse.
But you know, it's remarkablethat you know I grew up again,
you know you could say as wantedto have a larger family and
(03:47):
they just couldn't bring a childinto the world that survived.
They have a lot of reallyhorrible pregnancies.
Some would go full term and thebaby just wouldn't make it, and
so they decided after three Ithink it was three failed
attempts my sister was born ofmy parents she was a survivor of
(04:09):
twins, from what I've been toldand then they said well, we
want to have a family, so we'regoing to go adoption route.
So I was the first one and thenmy brother, four years later,
adopted.
So we look like three totalstrangers.
No, I'm two brothers and asister, but we look three total
strangers.
No, I'm two brothers and sister, but we look like total
strangers.
So growing up as an adoptedchild is really remarkable
(04:30):
because there's sort of anexpectation that comes with
coming with a birth child.
But with an adopted child youjust kind of go okay, let's just
see what happens.
So life just sort of was anexperiment.
My parents were both inacademia.
If I were a birth child.
That probably would have beenmy path, but since I wasn't, I
kind of got into sports.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Right, yeah, and you were not that healthy as a child
, right.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No, I had a really odd thing that I don't think was
diagnosed until 2004.
So I was born in 1958, and then, around 62, I stopped growing
and developing and it was justone of those things where they
couldn't figure out what waswrong.
They didn't know if it was somesort of food allergy or if it
(05:18):
was some sort of something waswrong digestively with me or if
something you know, if somethingwasn't working right.
So four years in and out ofhospitals, started in Ohio, went
to Bowling Green, then toToledo, then to Ann Arbor, and
then, year four, I was in Bostonat Boston Children's, and I had
every symptom of a diseasecalled Schwachman-Diamond
(05:38):
syndrome and my doctor was HarrySchwachman, so he's a celebrity
right.
So I had to be with the man andI was there probably for in and
out for over a year and he saidI can't diagnose this.
He has every symptom but hedoesn't have the disease, so I
can't treat something that Ican't diagnose.
So the advice was to go homeand live a normal life and see
(06:00):
what happens.
And so I went home and ourfamily physician, uh, did a
one-man intervention.
He said okay, um, dot.
Ernie that's my parents namesyou need a morning off to
restore and, uh, just rechargeyour depleted batteries, yeah,
and you need to bond with thisnew baby and you need to do a
lot of things.
(06:20):
So I was eight years old, mybrother was four and getting,
you know, a toddler, getting inall kinds of things and um, and
so they said they took me to therink and it's a brand new
skating rink at Bowling GreenState University, just
Northwestern Ohio, and theyteach kids how to skate from
eight to noon every Saturdaymorning.
So I went and fell in love withit and became a rink rat.
(06:42):
I realized after a few weeksthat I could skate as well as
well kids, because, being theshortest one in my class, the
last one chosen for every teamsport, you know it was kind of
like no self-esteem, right, itwas just, I was the ist, the
littlest, the weakest, thesickest, I was all the ist.
Not the coolest, not thecoolest, no, definitely not.
And so, you know, I, I, I hadgood friends.
(07:04):
You know, we grew up in a verylively neighborhood with lots of
kids and so we were very activeand we did a lot of things, but
I was always kind of the sickkid.
So skating was the greatequalizer, you know, put me on
equal footing with everybody outthere.
And as I started getting better, I started realizing that I
could skate as well as the bestathletes in my grade.
And now, now, all of a sudden,it's like, okay, I now can feel
(07:28):
good about myself.
I'm not a complete failure andeverything.
So I became a skater and thattook on a life of its own and I
started growing again.
I started developing and nobodycould figure out why.
It was just something about.
It just appealed to me, why itwas just something about it just
(07:50):
appealed to me.
And then in 2004 post-canceractually cancer 97, 2004 I'm now
husband and a father and sortof symptomatic.
And so I went in for a checkupand you know, as far as
endovascularly I had very likeyou know, I had hardly any
testosterone in my body and theythought maybe the chemo for my
(08:11):
cancer, you know, prevented mefrom, you know, living normally,
right, so we can treat thattopically, it'll be fine, I go.
No, there's something else.
So they ended up finding abrain tumor that they had to go
in and do a biopsy.
So they went to the top of myhead they joke, you know, it's
funny.
I think we found a safe corridorand it's like well, I think I'm
not using any of it, so I haveat it, and you know all the bad
(08:34):
things that can happen in asurgery like that.
And I woke up and I knew who Iwas, where I was, why I was
there, and then they told me Icould lose speech and motor
function.
I wiggled my toes and I saidtest, I go.
Okay, I can speak.
I guess the surgery went welland I was diagnosed with a
craniofringioma brain tumor thatI was born with.
Wow, and craniofringioma is.
(08:54):
Usually they inhibit growth anddevelopment in young people,
but in the early 60s they had noscanning to find anything like
that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So if they would have caught that, you could have
been 6'4".
Speaker 1 (09:07):
No, if they would have caught it I would have had
a big old C in my head and wouldhave had all kinds of
developmental disabilities.
So it's probably better thatthey didn't find it back then,
because all they would have hadis an open surgery and I don't
think in the 60s they're assophisticated as they are now
and and taking care of problemslike that.
So um, radiation, um, went backto life.
(09:31):
Six years later came back umone surgery, it became nine.
Um, well, finally obliteratedthe aneurysm caused by the.
You know, first surgery andthen six years later came back,
and this one I decided to justhand it to the Lord.
You know, I just felt andeverything in my spirit said
just get strong and you'll beokay.
(09:52):
So that's all I've done is tryto get strong physically,
mentally, intellectually andspiritually.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Now people look at someone like you who's always
seemingly happy.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah, You're known for that.
It is a choice.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, yeah, look at someone like you who's always
seemingly happy.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, you're known it is a choice.
Yeah, yeah, because I couldchoose not to be what they think
.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well, nothing's ever happened, otherwise you wouldn't
be so happy.
Yeah, right, yeah, and uh and Iwatched your uh ted talks oh,
the one on suffering yeah, yeah,I'm like because I kind of knew
your story but I I was soimpressed and that's that's
something that also helped mebecause I'm an optimist.
I think it's just because I'msimple-minded, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Like when I first got there.
Don't overthink it, right, justgive me the facts.
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Like I was devastated .
Of course, when I got mydiagnosis I was at Disney World,
but that fear and everything Imean, I cried like a little baby
.
Once after I've been to thesurgeon, he told me what's going
to happen and you know, I cried, thinking I'm not going to make
it to Christmas, because it wasin September when I was
diagnosed and then after that Iwas fine, I'm like God's got
(10:53):
this and I went on like it wasjust, you know, a cold sore or
something like that, which Iknew was a lot more serious than
that.
But there's something aboutyour mindset that really helps
and I never I didn't think thathad anything to do with it until
that point ecosystem is reallyimportant.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And positivity, joy, laughter yeah, it ignites a
different chemistry in your bodythan stress.
I mean, you think about stress,anxiety, unhappiness, anger you
know all the hostility, youknow all those things can change
, you know, create an acidicenvironment in your ecosystem
that allows for really badthings to happen.
(11:31):
So, um, yeah, I don't mind justsort of tricking myself into
being okay, you know, and that'sokay, that's fine.
I don't want to be superirresponsible or stupid about
anything, but at the same time,I've lived through enough to
have something to compare it to,to compare this moment to, and
right now, this moment is a lotbetter than sitting for eight
(11:52):
hours with a chemo bag attachedto my arm.
Yeah, it's a lot better thanthat and I can compare.
Getting stuck in traffic thismorning was way better than a 38
staple surgery down my abdomen.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Probably.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Way better than that, right, but the fear thing is
legit.
I mean the fear thing.
I always say fear is a liar,because what does fear know?
That you don't right?
That's just it.
You don't know.
So you go into fear.
And you know, when I went in formy surgery it was going to be
from my sternum all the way downto my groin like straight shot,
(12:26):
open it all up and look for anyremaining cancer.
You know, yeah, and I wasscared out of my mind and the
doctor said what is your problem?
Like what is going on with you?
I go well, have you ever donethis before?
And they go seven this monthand I was like, oh okay, I'm
good, we're good to go now,let's go have at it.
(12:47):
But you know, with each of thosechallenges, those adventures,
you know it's like chemo is anadventure and the surgery was an
adventure, and brain radiationwas an adventure, and brain
surgery is an adventure andshoulder surgery is an adventure
, and getting my ankle rebuiltis an adventure, and all surgery
is an adventure, and shouldersurgery is an adventure and
getting my ankle rebuilt as anadventure, and all the medical
(13:08):
intervention stuff, they're allyou can be looking.
You can look upon them as these, these devastating, terrible
periods of your life.
Or you can look at them as I'mnow getting repaired so I don't
have to worry about that anymoreor, um, you know, things are
going to be better once I getthrough this, this period of of
challenge and struggle yeah, you, you had like I said that ted
(13:30):
talks that you had you got twoof them, I think right yeah, I
did one on proton therapy.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I'm the dumbest guy to ever talk about splitting
atoms easily and we're sittingat a proton therapy center,
which is really ironic but Ithought I didn't know this part
about how you would get intocompetition with skating and you
would like come in last or-.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh yeah, I was last place guy for a long time.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, most people give up at that point.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Nah, well, they can.
It was really funny though Ijoke now because I embellish a
little bit just to make it morefun, but I did bit just to make
it more fun, but I did, I mean,my first competition.
I fell so many times that I Iwent from I think I was fifth in
figures and I came in ninthoverall and last, last, last,
right, and and you know, whenyou, when you do that, I mean I
(14:15):
think based on results you youtend to put your yourself in a
category, yeah, and so I kind ofI was last place guy.
I was like, well, here I am,and the next year I went back
and I didn't fall as many timesbut I came in ninth again, but
out of 10, right, well, maybethe guy that was 10th shouldn't
have been there, but yeah, whoknows.
(14:36):
But you know, it got to thatpoint where I felt like if I
beat anybody, it must have beenreally humiliating for them
because I'm last place guy.
It's like I beat two guys myfirst year in juniors.
I was seventh out of nine and Ican just hear the locker room
talk Wait, hamilton beat youReally.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to quit.
(14:56):
I mean, obviously you shouldn'tbe in this sport.
And then, you know, I ended upthe next year.
I kind of saw some things thatwoke me up.
We were going out for apractice and there was this guy
that was supposed to win theyear that I came in seventh.
There was a guy that wassupposed to win and he told
everybody it's mine, you know,you guys are all competing for
(15:18):
second place and basically itwas that.
You know, it was kind, we'regoing out for a practice and the
guy goes, you're all competingfor second place.
And I heard a guy like this guyI knew and he goes, we'll see
about that.
And I'm like you're not justgoing to take that as face value
.
Of course he's going to win.
He was like second or third lastyear.
He's going to win this year.
He goes, we'll see.
(15:38):
And sure enough, the guy thatsaid we'll see won, wow.
And the other guys on thepodium looking at him going what
just happened, this was mine,this was my moment, not his
Right, and I go.
So nothing's out of reach.
And the next year, like I wasthe, we'll see about that guy.
Like I ended up winning juniornationals the next year, wow,
(15:59):
and I don't know if I wouldn'thave witnessed that moment, if I
would have thought it waspossible.
But from there I go up insenior level and I don't do well
at all.
My mom was diagnosed withmetastatic melanoma breast
cancer and we're talking 1975.
And they threw everything inthe kitchen sink at her,
(16:22):
everything they could, to try toslow the cancer down.
But it went into every organand she had her left breast
removed.
It went chemo, it took all ofher hair and she fought it
valiantly but she never had achance and so in that on the
(16:49):
morning I lost her.
I just decided that it was timeto put some big boy pants on and
just try to be the person thatshe thought I could be and the
person that she sacrificedeverything for me to be.
And I started taking my life alittle more seriously and the
results changed immediately.
You know, the last competitionshe saw me skate in, I came in
ninth in the senior level.
My first year.
I went from junior champion toninth on the senior level, and
it was because I was distracted,I was too young, I was immature
, I I wasn't training properly.
(17:10):
I was just interested ineverything else but what I
should have been doing.
And then I was awakened.
We were in her room till aboutthree in the morning.
My brother and I and then mybrother-in-law at the time woke
me up and just said your motheris gone.
And all I could think to say isI know.
And it was really a weirdresponse.
But then I went for a walk inour backyard and I just in that
(17:38):
walk decided that it's time forme to grow up and just try to
honor her and be the person thatshe always dreamed I could be.
And so the next year I wasranked third in the United
States, I was on the podium onthe championship men's level and
11th in the world.
And then the next year I had ahorrible ankle injury that put
me behind.
I ended up fourth at nationals,so I didn't go to the worlds.
And then the year after that Ireally put my head down and
(17:59):
worked harder than I've everworked and I ended up third
again at the nationals and thatput me on the Olympic team and
than I've ever worked and Iended up third again at the
Nationals and that put me on theOlympic team.
And so I was in Lake Placid forthe Olympics as a tourist, a
third guy on a three-man team,and then you know the top three
guys I came in fifth, the topthree guys retired.
So the next year I went into theseason ranked second in the
(18:19):
world.
You know which is kind of likehuh, wow, that was quick.
You know in the world, you knowwhich is kind of like huh, wow,
that was quick.
You know I go from ninth tolike.
Now I'm ranked second in theworld, ninth in the united
states to second in the world,and um, and from october of 1980
until march of 1984 I wentundefeated wow, I don't, I don't
know that feeling no, you know,neither did I.
(18:41):
It was kind like.
But once you get on that train,it's like the first year I won
Worlds.
I thought I'm not worthy, likethe sport is at its lowest place
in history of last place.
Guys on the podium at WorldsLike this is not good.
This is bad for the sport.
I'm killing my sport becauseI'm its champion, right.
And then I went and my coachgot me through that that year
(19:02):
and the next year I went backand I won again.
And now I'm looking around goingwait a minute, I'm not
competing against the history ofthe sport or every sentient
being on the planet.
I'm competing againstknuckleheads just like me.
These guys.
All they want to do is the bestthey can.
My job is to try to stay aheadof them for the next two years
(19:23):
through the Olympics, and if Ican do that, maybe I can win an
Olympic gold medal.
And so that turned into mystrategy.
I was just going to try to stayahead of those guys as best I
could strategically, becausethere were some of the young
guys doing things that I knew Iwould never be able to do and I
just had to find a way to stayahead of them and I did.
And then I got through the nexttwo seasons really well and then
(19:46):
, after March of 84, I decidedthat it was time for me to turn
pro.
But all that time from losingmy mom until then, I was raising
money anywhere I could forcancer research because I
figured if I could find atreatment for my mom's cancer,
I'll know.
I was why I was born in thefirst place, because when you're
an adopted kid you don't knowwhy you were born.
A lot of people aren't right,right.
(20:07):
And then 20 years I had thislike from the Olympics.
I created a professional careerthat just kept going and going
and going and I'm thinking, man,I'm fooling a lot of people
here.
If I get a job next year, I'mreally fooling a lot of people.
And it next year I'm reallyfooling a lot of people.
And it just took off.
It just became this giganticcareer.
It was amazing.
It was just sportsentertainment and it's skating
(20:29):
was hotter than ever and we'vejust rode the wave in a really
cool way.
And then on the I was 50 citiesinto a 60 city stars on ice
tour, where I just got so tiredof the abdominal pain that I
went into an emergency room toget like whatever they get
people with ulcers.
And it was there that they saidwe found a mass and I was like
(20:51):
really.
That's kind of funny.
And they go what's so funnyabout that?
I go well, I mean, I'm reallylike not a tall person.
So here the word mass is kindof like well, it's kind of like
sounds big, right.
And then they're like no, youneed to take this thing
seriously.
And they said it's eitherbenign, malignant or something
(21:12):
else.
And he didn't know what it was.
So I did the show that nightand then I got on a bus and I
went to the Cleveland Clinic andthey biopsied it and told me I
had stage 3 testicular cancer.
And here's the 80% to 90%survival rate due to research.
Two guys in Indiana figured itout.
So I went through threedifferent chemotherapy drugs.
(21:34):
They were eight-hour infusionswe would do five days in a row
and then 16 days off.
Five days in a row and 16 daysoff, I mean four rounds of that.
By the time I got done with thethird round, I wanted to quit
because my life had changed frombeing in front of 17,000 people
screaming and hollering andapplauding to being in a very
quiet space, suffering fromnausea and just looking at
(21:59):
myself in the mirror and notrecognizing me at all.
And I went into.
You know, I went into thatfull-blown pity party that is
easy to get into, right, right.
And then, um, after the thirdround, I had one five day period
left and uh, a dear friend ofmine looked at me.
He started laughing.
I go, what he goes.
You want to quit?
I go, yeah, he goes.
How many rounds got left?
(22:20):
And I said one, he goes, comeon.
I go, yeah, I can get to thelast round and so I did and um,
and then it was the big 38staple surgery and you know, my
man, my size, that's most of megot opened up and, um, the fear
was unbelievable.
And and the doctor was he goes,what's your problem?
I go, I'm scared.
(22:40):
And he goes why?
And I go, have you ever donethis before?
And they go, yes, seven thismonth.
And I go okay, I'll be fine.
And then life became like I gotto live my life again and this
time I was very intentional ondoing it differently.
I was given a second chancewhere my mom wasn't, and so I
(23:00):
just stepped away as best Icould.
I wanted to keep my careergoing because I realized that I
had now an encouragementministry where, if I could get
back on the ice for the nexttour, that might inspire some
people in an infusion room tounderstand that their life isn't
over, that there's a nextchapter.
And so I got back on tour thenext year and did that for a few
(23:25):
more years and I met my wifeand we got married and I had a
child and it was like okay, whatam I doing here?
I want to see my son's firststeps and hear his first words.
Why am I still wearing spandex,running around with knives
strapped to my feet?
It's crazy, and so I steppedaway.
And it was soon after that thebrain tumor started.
(23:46):
But it was all part of.
Like you know, I always jokethat if you live long enough,
all questions will be answered,and, having been born with that
brain tumor, it was justremarkable that okay check.
Now I know why.
I went through all of that as akid and it was.
There was a lot of suffering, alot of humiliation, a lot of
(24:08):
just weird things that happenedaround that period of time that
were difficult.
But once you get through adifficult period of time you
have a better understanding ofhow strong you are and how
resilient you can be, and inthat it just sort of strengthens
you.
I read something in I think itwas David versus Goliath, the
Malcolm Gladwell book, whereHitler thought that he could
(24:31):
intimidate England intosurrender by just bombing them
like crazy.
What he didn't understand wasmore people were surviving than
getting killed, and as theysurvived they got bolder.
So he made them stronger bydoing the bombing instead of
weaker.
As long as he was a threat theywere scared, but as long as
they survived his attacks theywere emboldened.
(24:52):
And it just went the other way.
And I think I related to thatin so many ways because I've had
enough medical intervention tokind of compare life.
Well, life and sick life I cancompare them both and having
been through it, it's like Icould do this, like you know,
brain tumor was like.
First one was like, you know,wow, that was really ignited my
(25:17):
faith in a really cool way andit brought my marriage really
tight.
And then, six years later, itcomes back and it was like
getting kicked in the stomach.
I was like what's going on,Like, why is this going?
Why am I doing, why am I goingthrough this again?
And my assistant, you know,started.
She looked at me and shestarted to laugh a little bit
and I go wait, what's so funny?
(25:38):
And she goes I can't wait tosee where this one takes you.
Because she understoodsurvivors.
She understood that I survivedenough and each time I survived
something wonderful.
I survived cancer and now Ibecome a husband and father.
I survived this brain tumor andnow I'm stronger in my faith
than I've ever been.
(26:02):
And the second brain tumor comesand I realize, like I packed my
own suitcase and um walked outof neuro icu three times and
it's like you do that enough,and it's kind of like okay, I
think there's more in the tankthan I ever thought there was.
I think I'm stronger than Iever anticipated I could ever be
.
And now the fear part of it,especially because I'm rooted in
(26:29):
faith now and not so much onwhat today brings.
But I realize that every moment, every day, is just an
opportunity to do more andthat's why I founded my Cancer
Foundation and now we're onlycuring the promise of
(26:51):
immunotherapy and not the ideaof it but the promise of it, and
we really feel like you cantreat the cancer and spare the
patient harm by igniting theirown immune system to recognize
and destroy the cancer, whileyou know not going with the
status quo of collateral damage.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah yeah.
You're like the perfect exampleof mindset, like I had no idea
that had anything to do with it.
You've been through so manythings you know from birth on
that you, your mindset justchanges as you, that you come
against a challenge and somepeople, uh, just give up and
they have the pity party andthey never really pull out of it
(27:30):
and and that that can be.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I mean, we're all.
We all kind of come out.
You know um the way we are.
You know, and I and I think youknow, when I see people that
you get a diagnosis and they'reparalyzed with fear or they're
just, they're just like frozenin an attitude of no, uh, I'm
(27:56):
not going to do that I.
When I started CARES, we cameacross an Oncology Nursing
Society survey where of newlydiagnosed patients, 30% feared
death.
That was their greatest fear.
42% feared treatment.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
People would rather die than get treated for cancer.
Yeah, and it's like it's it.
And once you've kind of beenthere, done that, because I
didn't know what chemotherapywas.
I saw my mom go through it andso I I had a lot of fear and
trepidation.
But once I go, I go so are yougoing to take me in a room and
replace all my bodily fluids ofthe machine?
And they go no, we're justgoing to hang an iv bag with
(28:39):
stuff in it and it's going tokill your cancer.
And it's like that's it.
And they go yeah, that's prettymuch it.
And I go let's go, let's go, Ican do this.
And my carrot, my wholeinspiration, my daily thought
pattern was I'm going to getthrough this so I can be back on
tour next year.
Because I not only have to dothis because I want my life back
(29:04):
, but I also really feel a senseof responsibility that if I can
do this this quickly, thenmaybe it'll serve somebody.
They'll say, wow, wow, he wentthrough four months chemotherapy
and he's back.
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
That again is a mindset of looking beyond your
cancer, not like, oh, here's theend, yeah or what's my today
like?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It's like, no, I'm still looking ahead.
Okay, so the surgery's going tohappen on June 23rd?
Okay, yeah, so six weeks, thenI can start getting back on the
ice a little bit.
And then I have to worry aboutthe incision because it's an
abdominal thing and I got to becareful of that.
So I have to let that knit andheal, Got that.
So that's going to be another.
So I think I can make it torehearsal in time to be able to
(29:54):
get in shape, like get purelydone for the show.
So we like get purely done forthe show.
So we did choreography withmarking, all the athletic stuff,
and we did all that.
We got prepared, I did all thatkind of off-ice stuff to
prepare for the year.
And then, october 29th, I wasdiagnosed march um, 16th, um,
and then october 29th, I Iskated again.
(30:15):
Wow, and it was um, it was, itwas dumb, it was really dumb.
I'm looking at it back now it'slike why did I just take a year
to heal?
No, because I felt an urgency,that I had to get back on the
ice.
And in that it's like we allcan listen to our spirit, or we
(30:36):
can all listen to the enemywhispering in our ear all the
time, and our spirit is muchstronger than the whispering,
right?
And all the whispering said no,get on your horse, get back on
the horse and get back out there, because this is important, not
for you, this is important toother people, right?
And so I got back and made itback on the ice and it was
(30:59):
amazing and it was a great yearand it was hard and I made some
real big life changes and thatwas hard.
But you know, I just listenedto my spirit and I just said
here's what you need to do andjust don't listen.
Yeah, listen and okay, and beobedient okay all right.
(31:21):
And then all that, all thatlistening, obedience to my inner
voice.
Um, when I meet my wife, whenwe start to date, she goes where
are you in your faith?
And I said what any smart guywould say I said where do you
want me to be?
You know, yeah, but in that youknow I it.
It answered.
It connected all the dots.
It answered all the questions.
It's like ah, that's why.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Okay, cancer was the greatest thing that ever
happened to me.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
The greatest thing that ever happened to me, it is
yeah.
And it's also the worst thingthat ever happened to me, but
it's ultimately the best thingthat ever happened to me.
So you know, I heard a girl saythat, as this young student
athlete lost her leg cancer, shesaid cancer is worse than it
ever happened to me.
And I was at a cancer survivorcelebration, you know, on the
other end and she said but I'mhere to tell you that cancer is
(32:10):
the best thing that everhappened to me.
And I was like wait, what?
And I'm up next to speak, right, it's like OK, that's a
computer virus, right there.
It's like now, what am I goingto say?
Because she was right, yeah, Iwouldn't have the children, the
family, the opportunities that Ihave right now, probably
without cancer.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
We're going to end part one right there of Scott
Hamilton's interview, but beforeI go I want to recognize a
partner of Healing Strong.
Rgcc is globally recognized asthe leading laboratory in the
field of personalized cancertesting.
Rgcc partners with patients andpractitioners throughout the
(32:55):
cancer journey with powerfultesting tools that provide
actionable information allowingfor the creation of personalized
treatment protocols.
To learn more, head tomyrgcccom forward slash healing
dash strong.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
You've been listening to the I Am Healing Strong
podcast.
A part of the Healing Strongorganization.
We hope you found encouragementin this episode, as well as the
confidence to take control ofyour healing journey, knowing
that God will guide you on thispath.
Healing Strong is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
(33:21):
connect, support and educateindividuals facing cancer and
other diseases throughstrategies that help to rebuild
the body, renew the soul andrefresh the spirit.
It costs nothing to be a part ofa local or online group.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(33:43):
finding a group near you or anonline group, or start your own,
your choice.
While you're there, take a lookaround at all the free
resources.
Though the resources and groupsare free, we encourage you to
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
(34:07):
encouragement, and that alsocomes with some extra perks as
well.
So check it out.
If you enjoyed this podcast,please give us a five-star
rating, leave an encouragingcomment and help us spread the
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on I Am Healing
(34:29):
Strong podcast.
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