Michael Kramer was 19 when cancer ambushed his life. He went from surfing Florida beaches to chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant that left him alive but carrying a chronic disease. He had necrosis in his knees and elbows, lost his ability to surf for years, and found himself stuck in hospitals instead of the ocean. Yet he adapted. Michael picked up a guitar, built Lego sets, led support groups, and started sharing his story on Instagram and TikTok.

We talk about masculinity, identity, and what happens when the thing that defines you gets stripped away. He opens up about dating in Miami, freezing sperm at a children’s hospital, awkward Uber-for-sperm moments with his brother, and how meditation became survival. Michael lost his father to cancer when he was a teen, and that grief shaped how he lives and advocates today. He is funny, grounded, and honest about the realities of survivorship in your twenties. This episode shows what resilience looks like when you refuse to walk it off and choose to speak it out loud instead.

RELATED LINKS

• Michael Kramer on Instagram
• Michael Kramer on TikTok
• Michael and Mom Inspire on YouTube
• Ashlee Cramer's Book
• University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Stupid Cancer

FEEDBACK

Like this episode? Rate and review Walk It Off on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship inquiries, email podcast@matthewzachary.com

Trevor Maxwell lived the archetype of masculinity in rural Maine. Big, strong, splitting wood, raising kids, and carrying the load. Then cancer ripped that script apart. In 2018 he was bedridden, emasculated, ashamed, and convinced his family would be better off without him. His wife refused to let him disappear. That moment forced Trevor to face his depression, get help, and rebuild himself. Out of that came Man Up To Cancer, now the largest community for men with cancer, a place where men stop pretending they are bulletproof and start being honest with each other.

Eric Charsky joins the conversation. A veteran with five cancers, forty-nine surgeries, and the scars to prove it, Eric lays out what happens when the military’s invincible mindset collides with mortality. Together, we talk masculinity, vulnerability, sex, shame, and survival. This episode is blunt, raw, and overdue.

RELATED LINKS

• Man Up To Cancer
• Trevor Maxwell on LinkedIn
• Dempsey Center
• Eric Charsky on LinkedIn
• Stupid Cancer

FEEDBACK

Like this episode? Rate and review Walk It Off on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship inquiries, email podcast@matthewzachary.com

Men don’t talk about cancer. And that’s not okay.

Welcome to Walk It Off — a no-BS audio series for men living with, through, and beyond cancer.

This isn’t about inspiration. It’s not about pink ribbons. It’s about what it actually feels like to be a guy with cancer when the world still expects you to shut up, suck it up, and go it alone.

Whether you see yourself as a patient, a survivor, or you're just trying to make sense of what the hell happened to your body and your life — this space is for you.

The silence ends now.

Series premiere drops September 15. Subscribe and get ready.

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