Introducing Walk It Off: Men Don't Talk About Cancer
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.
My name is Matthew Zachary, a long time cancer survivor. Hell, I was diagnosed in the 90s. I was a college senior about to take on the world not get brain surgery. My world was hit by a tsunami, not to mention my man card.
My friends didn't know what to do with me, and the only support group was ran by 80-year-old grandmas, great women, but still, grandmas.
For a lot of men, sitting around with women or sitting around in a group counseling session like they just want to run away.
They can try running away, but they will not find the control they are so desperate for.
There's all kinds of guys like me who are suffering, who are struggling inside themselves, but because of the way they grew up, because of the way they're conditioned, because of the masculinity norms. They aren't accessing help. There are way too many taboos.
There are too many shameful moments and conversations, and guys aren't ready for this kind of mental and emotional havoc. Cancer has a guy problem, but I got you,
From the bottom of my Gen X heart. This is "Walk It Off: Men Don't Talk About Cancer", and I've got an issue with that.
Men, in terms of behavior, when they get a cancer diagnosis, there is, there is a difference, and there's a quantifiable difference in how they're reacting and how they're behaving. And a lot of it is that tendency toward isolation, that sort of rugged individualism of American culture. That's not necessarily an inherently bad thing in my mind, like there's some times when that's good to be tough and to solve problems independently, but in history, big problems have never been solved independently, and cancer is a is a big problem.
Nobody, nobody. I don't care how much you read how much you know, who you've seen go through it. Nobody is prepared for what chemo and radiation does to your body. Nobody goes through it the same, but the equal between all of us is that it will break you down. A lot of men react initially like, well, this is something like every other problem in my life that
I'm supposed to deal with on my own. I'm not supposed to burden others. I'm not supposed to ask for help. I'm not supposed to need help. I'm just supposed to be able to handle it. When I read into what radiation could do to your penis, I mean, I'm a macho Latino man. Hello. What do you mean you're gonna mess with my penis like no, but nobody was talking about the macho sexual side of it. That's not part of the conversation, because most doctors are just thinking, I'm gonna save your life from cancer. Put the penis aside for a while. We'll come back to that later, but it's part of who you are as a man.
Who you are as a man is pretty goddamn important, and we're gonna get into that in this series, is it possible for men to overcome the shame, fear and stigma that comes with a cancer diagnosis? Can a lone wolf learn to seek community?
"Walk It Off" Premieres, September 15. Follow us now wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss an episode.
I'm Matthew Zachary, and I'm so excited to bring you this long overdue, long overdue, groundbreaking content. Stay tuned.
"Walk It Off" is a production of Matthew Zachary Worldwide. This series was made possible in part with support from Merck Takeda and Archo Advocacy.
Host, Creator, Cancer Surviving Sh*t-Stirrer
Founder, Stupid Cancer. Creator, Out of Patients. Brain cancer survivor, class of ’96. Not a doctor, not a guru, not your life coach—but maybe the loudest voice in the room when it comes to calling out the bullshit in healthcare. Matthew built the original Young Adult Cancer Movement from scratch, then burned it down to rebuild what patients actually need: real talk, raw truth, and some damn respect. With Walk It Off, he’s dragging men’s cancer stories out from under the weight of silence—and daring them to say the quiet parts out loud.
Founder, Man Up to Cancer | Stage IV Colon Cancer Survivor | Chief Wolf
Trevor didn’t set out to become the leader of a movement—but cancer had other plans. Diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at 41, he was told to “be strong.” Instead, he chose to be vulnerable. And then he built a pack. Man Up to Cancer is more than a community—it’s a war cry for men who refuse to go it alone. Trevor is proof that connection beats isolation, that crying is manly as hell, and that sometimes surviving starts with just showing up. He’s the emotional core of Walk It Off, and his story might be the reason you stop pretending you’re fine.
Director, Cheeky Charity | Advocate | Survivor | Performer
Anal cancer. Latino. Gay. HIV+. Sober. Actor. Storyteller. Survivor. Daniel Garza is what happens when you stop hiding and start owning everything that makes you who you are. He’s lived through the kind of adversity that would bury most people—and turned it into fuel. As Director of Cheeky Charity, he’s destigmatizing anal cancer with humor, guts, and a whole lot of grace. He’s not here for your pity. He’s here to wake people up. On Walk It Off, Daniel brings the raw truth and a little sparkle—and if that makes you uncomfortable, good.
