Latest / The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison / Fitz for Fitzgerald: The Kid Who Got a Miracle Liver and Started Going Viral

Transcript

Fitz for Fitzgerald: The Kid Who Got a Miracle Liver and Started Going Viral · The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: They ran a few tests and then they found out that I had a very rare liver cancer that only one to three kids get per year.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: So it's basically a lightning strike.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Very rare.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: It was growing extremely fast and it was like a bomb.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: We couldn't just take a piece out.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: We had to take the whole liver out.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: Right as they were loading it onto the plane, my perfect match just came in.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: And so if the plane had took off, you can't call dibs on two livers.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think that is?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was a miracle.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Somebody wasn't getting out of bed, and then whenever they saw my video, they started walking.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's what makes life life.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: If it was all ups, then it wouldn't be fun.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: All downs be even less fun.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: So ups and downs really connect the puzzle pieces.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, gotcha.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I gotta get them a little worried, but not too much.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you're playing the game.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Playing the game.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I don't do that though.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I just post every day.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I think we're ready.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're good now.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ready, whenever we are.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited you're here with me.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I have got one of the most exciting guests I think I've ever had in the living room.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: I've known this kid.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know how long I've known you, by the way?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have any idea how long I've known you?
• 2:04
  unknown: No.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: You have no idea?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, think about when your mom found out that she's pregnant.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: I've known you since then.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Did you know that?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Since you were inside your mommy's tummy.
• 2:14
  unknown: Wow.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a long time.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: And how old are you now?
• 2:16
  unknown: Nine.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Nine.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And what is your name?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: Because I want you to say it.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: How do you say it in your videos?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: You say your name is Fitz for Fitzgerald.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I gotta ask you.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Why did you start saying my name is Fitz for Fitzgerald?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Where'd that come from?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um before I started making videos, people always pronounced my name wrong.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: What do they say?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um Vince.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: Vince?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: Fritz.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Fix.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Fix?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's hilarious.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know what though?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know my little girl, which she's not that little, right?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: She's 15.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: And her name is Kana.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: And when I went to tell the people in the hospital that I was naming her Kana, do you know what they wanted to write down on the birth certificate?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: What?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cans.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Could you imagine Kana if her name was Cans?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: That terrible.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: So we could have Fix and Cans.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: That would be fantastic.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So you say Fitz for Fitzgerald, but your real name is what?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: George.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: It is George.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: Do you ever go by that?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: Only sometimes in the hospital.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: In the hospital.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: So you go to the hospital a lot now.
• 3:24
  unknown: Yes.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like your second home.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Do you love it or do you hate it?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: Or is it an in-between thing?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you feel about the hospital?
• 3:33
  unknown: In between.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: In between.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: There's some things that you love, like some of the people.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, a lot of the people.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of the people.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: Why are you in the hospital?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of my some of my viewers uh follow you because I post about you on my socials all the time.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Because who am I in your life?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do you even know?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, am I?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: You're my best friend.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Aw.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Your mom is, yes.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Our families are best friends, aren't they?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: They're best friend friend families.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: And this past November, you guys were at Disney World and you were pretty sick, and I went out with your mom.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the next day after we went out, basically, she took you to the doctor to the hospital.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: And what happened, Fitz?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, where happened to your life?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: We went to the Woodlands, Texas Children's, and um we were in the ER and one of the guys, um miss um he didn't guess right on what my diagnosis was.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: He was saying pancreatitis.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um I can't believe you remember that.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: And then we and then they said, okay, Fitz, we're gonna book you an appointment at the Med Center at Texas Children's Downtown.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, whenever we went there, um they ran a few tests and then they found out that I had a very rare liver cancer that only one to three kids get per year.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: In America or in the world?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I don't know either.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Does it really matter?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, not really, it's rare.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you had um, they found you were you were sick, you were like throwing up all the time.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um at Disney World, we were at a like buffet.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um I can't I'm I usually eat a lot, so you do eat a lot.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: Because y'all come over to our house on Fridays, and what do we order?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: What do we get every Friday?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: Pizza.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: We eat pizza together.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you eat a lot.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: So whenever I went there, I got a few pancakes, some sausage, and some orange juice.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: Drank half of the orange juice, ate a bite of the sausage, threw up three times.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that was it, man.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then the characters were coming.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: My dad was like, oh, what do I do?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: My mom was like, do something.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Stop throwing up.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: Until he put a napkin over the plate and then just left it there.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: And then my mom was like, You can't just do that.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: The waiter's gonna pick it up and then she's gonna spill it.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: So he picked it up and he put it on the plate where all the plates switched out.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: He did not.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Your dad did that, that's hilarious.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: And then we left.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then you did you get any pictures with the characters?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we got you got a few, you got a few.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: And here's what's something interesting.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: My husband's name is what?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Nathan.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: And your dad's name is Nathan.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just we're supposed to be friends.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: It just we just lean into it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, okay, so you're at Disney, you're sick, and this is November of 2025.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: And you go into the ER and they start saying all this stuff, and then they send you down to Texas Children's Downtown.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: Because we live in Houston, we have a few Texas children's.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Woodlands, downtown, West Campus, which is like Katie.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and so this is still November, right?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: This is still November, and then they diagnose you with this rare this rare liver cancer that only one to three kids get a year.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so my cells basically copied the wrong thing, and so it's basically a lightning strike.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: Very rare.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Very rare.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: And you had a tumor inside of you, and that's what was making you sick at Disney.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was growing extremely fast, and it was like a bomb.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: We couldn't just take a piece out, we had to take the whole liver out.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: You had to take the whole liver out, so you had to have a whole liver transplant.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and then I think before we went to Disney, we were on our way to school.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_03: We usually get donuts a lot right before school.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: As you should.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: And whenever my dad was taking me, um, we were about to get there, so I was like eating fast.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then one of the teachers opened the door and they were like, Hi, come on, Fitz, it's time for school.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was just like, wait, wait, wait, so it started even before Disney.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: You were not feeling good.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: And then we had a park, and usually at my school, throw up once on campus, um, send me home, and my dad was just like, you'll be fine, fit.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was just suck it up, buttercup, let's go.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: And then I went to go get breakfast, and then I was going to my class, and then I threw up two more times, and then um I tried to call my dad, and then he was like, you'll be fine, Fitz.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then I had to spend the whole day at just like a dad, huh?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Just like you'll be fine, and you had to spend the whole day at school sick.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: And then later that day at lunch.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, jeez.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: I wait, no, I think a few days after that, at lunch, I was eating um some corn dogs.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's no.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: And then I was like, Oh no.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: I ate too fast.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: And then I um at the time I was like, I always throw up a lot.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: And my school has like white milk, strawberry milk, chocolate milk.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I wish they had rainbow milk.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: And so I got the closest thing to that, which was strawberry milk.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I ran to the bathroom, I threw up pink and brown because of the corn ducks.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you knew you were sick.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: So something was going on, and you probably just thought you had like a tummy bug.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's what kids get.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: And then they get tummy bugs all the time.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: And then whenever I went fishing with my friend, yeah.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: A couple weeks later, I already told you that I'm a big eater.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: So before we went fishing, we went to McDonald's.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: My friend's mom got like this whole big thing.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: Milk.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: And then so, um, if I didn't have the tumor, I would have ate it all.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: You could have eaten all of that.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but um whenever we were done with McDonald's, I have had only touched a few fries and like three chicken nuggets.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: So something was up.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then And your tummy was also poofy.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Your tummy was like distended.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: It was sticking out, yeah.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Which we didn't know at the time was the tumor.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it was growing fast because it went something from like six inches to like the size of an NFL football in like a week.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I was I was 92 pounds, and then in like a week or two, I had dropped to 68.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: You did not.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Whoa.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: And then whenever we went fishing with my friend, yeah, um I was barely fishing, barely playing with them.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then they brought a lot of snacks, barely ate.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then at the end, my friend's mom touched my stomach and she was like, whoa, fist, that's hard.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: And then she told my mom to go to the hospital.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: And um at Disney World, my dad felt my stomach, and he was like, Fitz, are you growing abs like this?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's as hard as a rock.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Wasn't abs, was it?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: Nope, dad thinks that's called my tumor.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: We have a lot of dark humor with your cancer, don't we?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we make a lot of jokes, but why what do you think about that?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: How do you feel about how we all kind of joke around with the cancer thing?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like it?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Do you not like it?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Does it help?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Does it not help?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: What do you really feel about that?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's fun.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: It makes it fun.
• 12:27
  unknown: Yes.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's like, well, you've got it anyway, right?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Might as well laugh.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: What is the other alternative?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: If you're not laughing, what are you gonna be doing?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: Crying?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, screaming, I don't know.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of that too, right, Fitz?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's not all smiles and rainbows having cancer.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you know that.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: And since my tissue and platelets have been low, I've been bruising very easily, tripping very easily, and so that's how I hurt my arm really bad.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm it kind of hurts right now.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: It does kind of hurt right now.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: We just went downstairs before we started this, and we had green donuts.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a little bit of a green tint on our mouth, which I think is the best kid thing ever.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're nine, you should have a green mouth.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: And we have we took some Tylenol and uh let's cheers, shall we?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: We have our Jesus and coffee cups.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: We're drinking.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: His parents don't know.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: What are you having?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Dr.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: Pepper.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: Are you allowed Dr.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Pepper in the morning?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: But you can with Aunt Live, right?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: We can do that.
• 13:39
  unknown: Yeah.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: We're allowed.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: We're allowed.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I want to talk about.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for telling your story, you know, kind of bringing everybody up to date as to what is going on with you.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, real quick to kind of put a little bow on it.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: You did get a transplant very quickly.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: So you were diagnosed late November, right?
• 13:59
  unknown: Oh.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then you got, yeah, uh, go ahead.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: You talk.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: You're the star.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: The family um were was going back and forth on whether they should do let me have a transplant.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, donate organs.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: All day.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: They were like, yes or no, yes or no.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: And so they f at the end of the day, they said yes, and so right as they were load loading the liver onto the plane plane, it had um like um a disease on it that was.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't the healthiest disease.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it wasn't the healthiest liver.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but they found a liver for you.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: But I was gonna run out of time, so they expanded the reach.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: So when we were looking for a liver for you, basically you had this bomb inside of you, this this tumor on your liver, and they were like, This kid has got to get this thing out, or goodbye fits, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: So we were looking for a liver, and and at some point they said, Look, we'll take any liver.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: They were like, right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: They were like, we gotta just get a liver in this kid.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: And they found one that wasn't quite super healthy.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: They were going to bring it to you, and then and so right as they were loading it onto the plane, my perfect match um just came in.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: And so if the plane had took off, you can't call dibs on two livers.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: So what do you think that is?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know that you have grown a lot in your faith, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you you were already a faithful kid.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: You had your own like relationship with Jesus, and he means a lot to you.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: It was a miracle.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was a miracle.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, do you see God taking care of you in these moments, even through this horrible cancer situation?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do you still feel like he's close to you, or do you feel like God let you go?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: He's close to me.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's close to you?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: I see your your face smiling.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: What do you do to stay close to God during this really crazy time?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is crazy.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: You're only nine years old, right?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you're already having a liver transplant and chemotherapy and all sorts of stuff.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Losing your hair.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's a lot to go through as a kid.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: And when we're filming this, which I don't like saying when we film because we want it to stay timeless, but this is just, let's see.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we're only what, two, three months out of your out of your transplant?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: Two months out.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: Two months out.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: We're a couple of weeks out, and then I'm already walking um 1.5 miles a day.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: Running.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: You're crushing.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that's a miracle?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: You do?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you think that's another way that God connects with you?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: How do you connect with God?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: Do you talk to him every day?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I pray to him.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: You do?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: You pray to him?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what do you normally what does that mean?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like, do you just talk to him like a bro or like do you talk to him like, hello, God?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like very you do both.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: So he can you can talk to him like a friend and you talk to him with a lot of res, you know, like respect.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's God, right?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: And because some um post-transplant patients can't even get out of bed whenever they're sent home.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm walking miles a day.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: Why do you think that is?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel chosen at all for this journey?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: No?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: You think it's just random?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: But what about your attitude?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because you have a pretty different attitude.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Where is that coming from, my friend?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, some people, if they were in my position, some people would be really scared, and so I just want to show them that it's not bad and it's not scary.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's not scary.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: So you started this whole thing called positive pickle.
• 18:00
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: Which looking back at it, do you wish you would have started something else like positive penguin or positive porcupine?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because now do you get a lot of pickles from people?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like at home, I have a really big um pickle squishmallow.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it's huge.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because you have a you have a P.O.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: box.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: People can send you letters and gifts and stuff because you decided you get this transplant and you kind of started, we're talking about well, I guess you kind of started your video journey kind of from the beginning that you got diagnosed with cancer.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: You kind of went straight to videos.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: As soon as I found out, I started making videos.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: You started making videos.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: And when did people catch on?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Was it pretty quickly or did it take a while for you to go viral?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: Very quickly.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: Very quickly?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Man, are you serious?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: Kind of both.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: It took like a day or two.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's pretty quick.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then I started um making more.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: Making more.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: And why did you decide to make these videos?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: What is it about?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: What is the purpose?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um besides telling people not to be scared.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a lot of people watching that don't have cancer, so what do they get from it?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I tell them how they can make their day brighter.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um I my goal is to spread a lot of positiveness.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And bring sunshine to other people no matter what's going on in their day.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Before you had cancer, were you this positive?
• 19:40
  unknown: Yes.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: This is just who you are.
• 19:42
  unknown: Yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: So the cancer hasn't taken away our fits.
• 19:46
  unknown: Yes.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: It can go take a hike.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're not letting them, we're not letting cancer win and take you out of it.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: So you were always this positive kid.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: You were close to God.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I remember when you were little and you would ask your parents to take you to church, right?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: Do you remember those like doing that?
• 20:04
  unknown: Yeah.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: And now you have this platform and you've decided to do something about it and to put out positivity.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: So tell me, how did the positive pickle start?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Where did that even come from?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um one of my teachers from my daycare um got me this positive um pickle jar.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so I thought I'd um make videos and um tell them what the positive pickle of the day was and spread, and I knew that would help me reach my goal faster and spread more positiveness.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love that that's what you're trying to do.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: What is one of the best stories that you've gotten from one of your viewers?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: Have you gotten to read a lot of letters or get a lot of stories back from people?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the really good stories that that you'd like to share of people that have come across your videos?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there was this guy who has um he was a cancer survivor for I think 20 years maybe.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: And he sent me this long letter and it was very sweet.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I also got this comment or letter saying um somebody wasn't getting out of bed, and then whenever they saw my video on how I was walking um 1.5 miles a day and reaching my goal for the day, they started walking.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: No way.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that story.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's so cool.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: How's that make you feel?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um very proud.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: You should be very proud.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: You have this opportunity and you're using it, you're changing lives, and you're just a kid.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: What are you gonna do when you're a grown-up?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna do you wanna keep changing lives?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Is this something that you want to continue to do?
• 22:13
  unknown: Yes.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: How do you want to continue?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: What do you want to do as you get older?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: And how are you gonna how are you gonna keep this up fits?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um what's your plan?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: I can keep giving them updates.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and keep doing positive pickles.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then um, if I run out of positive pickles, I always have um at my house positive tacos, positive potatoes.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, I love it.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: You got a whole food system.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I just want to always spread um positivity, and so I'll give them updates about me and and how I'm doing a year out, yeah, five years out, ten years.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: You think you'll go into video creation as a job?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: One job.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: One job?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: How many jobs are you gonna have?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what do you want to be when you grow up?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: What are your jobs that you want or that you that you like right now?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: Content creator.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Engineer.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, your dad's an engineer.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm still working on it, but that's what I have right now: engineer and content creator.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's great.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's fantastic.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: So, what is something positive today that you want to tell?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let's say that there's a kid right now, and they just found out that they have cancer.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: What do you want to say to them?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, don't be scared and just know that um you always got this and you can always push through.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: And what do you tell all the grandmas out there that are watching you?
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: Stay activated.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: What does stay activated mean?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: What are you telling them to do?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: Stay positive.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Stay positive.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: And do you ask people to pray for you?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: And do you pray for people?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Does that also kind of mean what stay activated means?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, keep praying for me.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Don't give up, because you're not done with your journey, are you?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: No, you're kind of in the middle of it.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you feel like you're at?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm still at the start of it.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: You think you're at the start of it?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, alright.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: How are you feeling?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: Good.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: You feeling good?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: You still feeling positive.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: And here's the other thing I wanna I want to talk about real quick before we wrap up.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: I want to ask you this.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is it okay to not be positive every day?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: Is it okay to not be okay?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Are you ever not okay?
• 24:47
  unknown: Sometimes.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's alright, right?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, life is up and down, isn't it?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's what makes life life.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's what makes life life.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: If it was all ups, then it wouldn't be fun.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: All downs be even less fun.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: So ups and downs really um connect the puzzle pieces.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because I want the kids out there, anybody who's listening who's sick today, whether it's cancer or not cancer, or if they're just having a bad day, or you know, they're listening and it's a Monday, and it's just the most Monday Monday ever, you know, or whatever it is.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: I want them to know it's okay.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to have a bad day.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to be down.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: But what's important is you can always um turn your day up.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: You can always turn your day up.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: You can always go and get positive.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: And instead of thinking about the bad things, think about what you can do.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: And what are some things that you can do?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: What are some things people can do?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: What are some tangible things that they can go home and do right now?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have any tips?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um They can sit outside with a coat on because it's very chilly out here.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um and look around and enjoy nature, take walks, um, listen to their favorite music, um, meditate.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And pray.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, right?
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: It makes you feel better.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: So before we leave, I want to ask you something.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: This is what I ask all my guests.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: I ask, how can we pray for you?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of people out there listening, and I know you've got a ton of people that love you, and that's gotta feel good.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: That you've got this whole support system, right?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Of strangers.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: It really helps me get through.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm sure it does.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and they adore you, Fitz.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they just love you to pieces.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: No, knowing that I'm helping people helps me get through.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: You are such a great example of that, and thank you for that.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: So, how can we support you?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: How can we pray for you?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: What's something we can pray for right now that you're going through or that you need?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: Pray for that my arm feels better and that my platelets get up, and hopefully, that my body doesn't notice that this is not my liver.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Ah, yes, let's trick the body and make it absorb and say, I love this liver.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: Make your body love the liver.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: That should be your new thing.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Love the liver.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I love hanging out with you.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: You're so awesome.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Will you have another another swig of Dr.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: Pepper with me before your mom finds out?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be fine.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: I promise, you won't get in trouble.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: I got this.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love you to pieces.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for being here.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: We're praying for you.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't he awesome?