How Cancer Forced A Complete Life Reset With Edward Miskie from The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show

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How Cancer Forced A Complete Life Reset With Edward Miskie

35 minutes Posted Mar 12, 2026 at 5:30 am.

.23)Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self Mastery Show. I'm your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show we have Edward Miske. Edward, how are doing today?

.107)How are you?

.376)I'm good, I'm good. I know we've had just a little bit of technical issues getting things started, but here we are. I'm excited to talk to somebody who's from the Northeast. I know when I was describing how the show would be, I was like, here's kind of a Northeast can of how it's gonna be. But we're gonna talk about a pretty fucking heavy topic that sadly a lot of people either experience or know somebody that is going through it or has gone through it.

.36)Sure, okay, so I pay my bills working in corporate America, but outside of that, I'm a writer and I consider myself to be a producer in either live or TV film world. It's been a long journey. I used to do musical theater and some TV and film, and here we are. Here we have landed in this kind of iteration of that life.

.718)I don't think that's mild and actually man, that's spot on with my own life. I think there are a lot of us that think, we have to do this sort of thing. Like we have to go out. Like people work in a corporate office, let's say every Thursday night, everybody goes out to this one specific bar for happy hour. And they all talk about the one person who's an idiot in their job or whatever else. And they all just do those things. And there are people that are like, well, I want to be part of that crowd. So I'm going to do that. I think that should even ties back to when we were kids.

.654)No, it-

.992)yeah. Little column A, little column B. But yeah, is especially like having, like I said, in theater for so long. Being in New York City, it's very hard to be introverted in New York City. I remember reading something recently that was like, I'm actually an extroverted introvert in the sense that like, I am pretty comfortable in a social setting. I am very comfortable doing stuff like this.

.957)Yeah.

.102)But if you throw me in a social setting where I don't know anyone, I immediately clam up and disappear. it, that's what the alcohol was for. You know, and then, and then COVID hit and that just spiraled out of control and then, you know, here we are. So, you know, that I think that is probably the weird thing about me that people might not guess if they know me.

.022)Yeah, yeah, lube you up.

.504)Well, how long have you been sober now?

.632)it'll be two years end of March. So like year and a half.

.822)Cool, nice. That's not a thing that most people kind of just bring up, you know, unless you're like, I don't know, being grossly boisterous about it. Like, hey, I stopped drinking a year and a half ago. The fuck, we're not even talking about that. Yeah, like, well, okay. Or CrossFitters. Yeah, or Vegan CrossFitters, watch out.

.99)Look at me! Right, it's like vegans. I'm vegan.

.534)Sure, yeah. That was the fun times. Yeah, that's funny. I'm sure there are more people than not that listen to this that have like, at some point thought maybe I have a little bit of a problem. And maybe that was the end of it. You know, like, I realized at one point, I'm drinking a lot. And this isn't helping me. It's actually stopping me from doing things. Like I remember one time telling myself, I'm gonna go to the gym today. It's like, no, you're not.

.984)Right, miss those days.

.402)It's 11 o'clock and you've already had two drinks. I was like, I'm not going to the gym today. And the next day being like, that sucks, man. That's gross. And I hate it or whatever. And I was like, I don't even want to go outside because I'm making these choices to do this. So, but if you get to that door, you can then make a choice through that. Like we'd even said, kind of offline, like you had to get to a door to be able to be where you're at today with all this. But let's break down the alcoholism in a sense, going out and being around with people.

.277)Oof.

.094)Excuse me, being in the industry, being in the conversations, all that sort of stuff can be weird for people if they don't have a drink. And going out after the fact when you're no longer drinking, it's like, you just don't want to stand here with this thing?

.027)Yeah, it's like it that that part I'm fine with. And like up into a certain point, like when people start getting shitty, then I'm that's my cue to leave. That's usually the barometer I go by. I'm not like triggered being in a bar. I'm like, cool to be around it. It's not a big deal. I just don't like it just makes me feel gross. And I just don't want to do it. It's it's when I'm around people who are getting a little unruly and on the drunk scale that I'm kind of like, okay, well, that's my cue to go because we're no longer on the same plane.

.686)Good.

.726)Sure.

.302)Yeah.

.442)Yeah, Irish exit your way on out....

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Show notes

“Cancer didn’t just change my life; in a lot of ways, it saved it.”

In this episode, Nick speaks with writer and cancer survivor Edward Miskie about identity, resilience, and rebuilding life after cancer. Edward shares his journey through alcoholism, a rare and aggressive cancer diagnosis at 25, and the emotional fallout of survival. He opens up about losing who he was, shedding old identities, learning to create a new version of himself, and the power found in asking yourself what you truly want.

What to listen for:

Cancer stripped away his sense of identity and derailed every plan he had for his life.

Coping took many unhealthy forms, such as alcohol, casual sex, and escapism, etc. All attempts to feel “normal.”

Humor, community, and intentionally creating fun moments helped him survive emotionally.

After treatment ends, survivors lose their daily medical support system and feel like they’re free-falling.

“The question that changed everything for me was simply: What do you want?”

Asking what we want puts us back in charge of our lives

Whether you’re in tune with your intuition or not, asking what you want will most often bring up an answer, even if it’s surface-level; it’s a start

Taking charge of your life doens’t always mean taking action first; it often starts with a simple question

“Humor and fun helped me survive the darkest moments, even when it felt impossible.”

Escaping or bypassing is never the answer to healing; however, a subtle mental shift can be just what is needed to keep moving

Finding “fun” and humor in life often leads to quicker resiliency

Life sucks at times. Why not have fun as best we can in every situation, no matter how dark or dire?

About Edward Miskie

Edward is currently celebrating 13 years as a sole survivor of a rare Non_Hodgkin's Lymphoma with the publishing of his book Cancer, Musical Theatre, & Other Chronic Illnesses, available at Barnes & Nobel, Apple Books, Walmart, Amazon, and others.

For the last 20 years, Edward has spent his life in NYC writing, producing, and performing.

https://www.edwardmiskie.com/

https://www.remissionfilmfest.com/

https://instagram.com/edwardmiskie

https://www.tiktok.com/@edwardmiskie

Resources:

Check out other episodes about life change from cancer

Cancer Doesn't Define Your Life, You Do, Embrace The Suck

Unpacking A Five-Time Cancer Survivor’s Journey With Shariann Tom

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Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

And I fucking hate cancer and I know you do as well. So man, I'm glad that you're here. Why don't you get us started? Tell us what you do for a living and what's one thing most people don't know about you that's maybe a little odd or bizarre.

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

thing about me that is kind of weird, bizarre. actually like, and this might be a little bit mild for you, but like, I consider myself more recently than not to be an introvert. And I always thought that I was an extrovert, but that was actually just because I was drinking enough to become an extrovert to kind of like, settle the introverted, introverted want to go home. And I felt kind of

obligated to fight that and stay out and be around people and do all the social things. there is a point to which I really did like that. But it just turned me into an alcoholic. And so I stopped drinking and embraced the fact that I'm more of an introvert than anything.

Nick McGowan (

Like there are certain people that didn't experience drinking in high school, others that were like, everybody fucking come with me. I got it. We're going to the woods, you know?

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

or vegan, God, the worst. Yeah, no, I mean, it's, I think I said to you offline, like, I literally wrote a book about my life that is not does not put me in a good light. And so I just have a very low threshold for things that like, I'm sensitive about talking about. So like being a full raging alcoholic, that's nothing.

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

Edward Miskie (he/him) (

Nick McGowan (

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