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

Daniel Garza had momentum. Acting roles, directing gigs, national tours lined up. Then anal cancer stopped everything. Radiation wrecked his body, stripped him of control, and left him in diapers, staring down despair. His partner, Christian Ramirez, carried him through the darkest nights, changed his wounds, fought hospitals, and paid the price with his own health. Christian still lives with permanent damage from caregiving, but he stayed anyway.

Together they talk with me about masculinity, sex, shame, friendship, and survival. They describe the friendships that vanished, the laughter that kept them alive, and the brutal reality of caregiving no one prepares you for. We get into survivor guilt, PTSD, and why even rocks need rocks. Daniel is now an actor, director, and comedian living with HIV. Christian continues to tell the unfiltered truth about what it takes to be a caregiver and stay whole. This episode gives voice to both sides of the cancer experience, the survivor and the one who stands guard.

RELATED LINKS

• Daniel Garza IMDb
• Daniel Garza on Instagram
• Daniel Garza on Facebook
• Christian Ramirez on LinkedIn
• Lilmesican Productions Inc (Daniel & Christian)
• 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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