“When my doctor was giving me the diagnosis he also told me a story
of a patient he had with the same type of cancer and that this person was doing well. This helped me a lot and also brought me on the idea to start the storytelling platform mysurvivalstory.org”
Name: Martin Inderbitzin
Age: 36
City: Zurich, Switzerland.
What was your diagnosis? Acinar Cell Carcinoma aka Pancreatic Cancer
What year & age at the time: 2012, I was 32 years old
Current medical status? It is a chronic up and down, but we somehow manage to keep it at bay.
WHAT WAS YOUR LIFE LIKE BEFORE YOUR DIAGNOSIS?
I was a happy, healthy young man living in Barcelona doing my Ph.D. in Neuroscience and enjoying life. Ironically I was investigating stress and emotions, but I never imagined that I would go through something so stressful like cancer.
Cancer is mainly a mental illness unfortunately many people do not see that.
WHAT WAS YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO YOUR DIAGNOSIS?
I was in shock of course. But very fast I decided to blog about it and share my experience. When my doctor was giving me the diagnose he also told me a story of a patient he had with the same type of cancer and that this person was doing well. This helped me a lot and also brought me on the idea to start the storytelling platform mysurvivalstory.org where we share inspiring cancer survival stories to spread some hope.
HOW WAS YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM WHILE YOU WERE FIGHTING?
Very (good) as my family and close friends helped me a lot with cooking and shopping and all kind of stuff.
HOW DID YOU KEEP YOURSELF OCCUPIED AND POSITIVE DURING TREATMENT?
I was watching and reading a lot about other survivors and how they managed. That helped me a lot.
HOW IS YOUR HEALTH NOW?
I’M CURRENTLY CANCER FREE! Yay. This is after 4 surgeries, 3 chemos and 1 radiation therapy in the last 5 years. But that my last scan from September (2017) shows that I am cancer free.
HOW IS LIFE DIFFERENT FOR YOU NOW POST DIAGNOSIS?
Today I am doing very well and learned to live with my illness. I am mentally much stronger and more at peace with life and death. Accepting death was very tricky for me, but once I did I felt released. Cancer is mainly a mental illness unfortunately many people do not see that. The treatment is once over, but the mental struggle continues for many. Especially with the controls.
DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE IN A BETTER PLACE NOW THAN YOU WERE BEFORE BEING DIAGNOSED?
Yes, I am in a much better place, as I learned to live before I die.
My passion is to tell stories which I do on our platform mysurvivalstory.org. I love filming other survivors and listening and learning from them.
WHAT ARE THE TOUGHEST ITEM(S) YOU HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH AFTER CANCER?
Handling my fear of a relapse. Pancreatic cancer can be very chronic and so you have to get in a good mental shape to handle that.
WHAT IS ONE MESSAGE YOU WOULD LIKE TO GIVE TO OTHER SURVIVORS?
Accept that one day you are going to die and you will learn to live. At least this was the case for me. Today I lose less energy than I did not accepting (death) and spend more energy focusing on how I want to live my life.
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU ARE TRULY PASSIONATE ABOUT RIGHT NOW
My passion is to tell stories which I do on our platform (mysurvivalstory.org). I love filming other survivors and listening and learning from them.
HOW CAN OTHERS GET INVOLVED & SUPPORT MYSURVIVALSTORY.ORG
There are many ways how you can get involved. The easiest is by sharing your story over Instagram using the hashtag #mysurvivalstory. This way your story will directly be displayed on our website.
The second best way is to spread the word to people who need some inspiring stories. That helps a lot.
Lastly, you can also become a Pateron on our Patreon page. By doing so you can support every video or podcast we produce with a small donation. This helps keep us rolling. My Survival Story is mainly financed through a lot of volunteering work and support so every donation helps.
WE SEE YOU HAVE LAUNCHED A PODCAST. CAN WE EXPECT MORE IN THE FUTURE?
Oh yes! We are now working on the first season which we plan to release soon It is very exciting as we feel that the stories we have are so amazing.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE?
Mentality shapes reality.
Make sure to follow MY SURVIVAL STORY:
- Instagram: @mysurvivalstory
- Facebook: /mysurvivalstory
- YouTube: My Survival Story
Or sign up for their newsletter at mysurvivalstory.com
2 Comments
My husbands name is Diego and he has multiple myeloma. He was diagnosed in April of 2016. inknew something was wrong when I saw 4 doctors just observing my husband on that hospital bed. Not cancer not my husband no this can’t be. We are learning Day by day to live with it.
Thank you so much for sharing Mariela. There are some great resources available to you depending on where you are located through your local Leukemia & Lymphoma society or chapter. We hope both you and your husband find some inspiration to remain strong here with Project 5ive. Our recent TOP 10 list may also help. We have many more posts coming in this category as well. Please keep up updated on your husband. We are in this together.