Episode Description
We talk with Phil Nozaki about growing up in a faith-centered home, serving his community, and facing a hereditary kidney cancer diagnosis that turns daily life into a long fight. He shares what it’s like to navigate surgery, monitoring, an NIH clinical trial, and the question of legacy while still showing up as a dad.
• Getting Phil’s last name right and why names carry stories
• Phil’s Japanese American family background and World War II internment
• Parents’ work ethic and church as the moral bedrock
• School years, early adulthood, and taking the long road through college
• Learning skilled trades through church connections and mentors
• Volunteering on a CCTV security camera install for a Christian school
• The first warning sign of kidney cancer and the near-canceled ultrasound
• Second opinions and why genetic testing matters with family history
• HLRCC hereditary kidney cancer and what “clear margins” really means
• Recurrence risk, ongoing CT scans, and later growth in the lungs
• Joining an NIH clinical trial and the realities of a 21-day treatment cycle
• Immunotherapy basics and how it is explained to patients
• Support systems through prayer, friends, and faith in Christ
• Parenting through uncertainty and the message he wants his kids to carry
• Choosing forgiveness, avoiding grudges, and valuing time over stuff
• Why talking openly about illness can be therapeutic and rally real support
I hope that anyone else listening to this out there help us out with the prayers.
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