Popular Social Media Star, 27, Making Millions Laugh Finding Humor in Cancer Battle Focusing on the Positive

"I thought I had an injury from work two years ago," Corrado said in a TikTok video describing the beginnings of his cancer journey.

Corrado believed his nagging pains near his groin area were from a hernia, which is “a gap in this muscular wall that allows the contents inside the abdomen to protrude outward,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

He went to the doctor for what he believed to be his ailment, but while undergoing hernia surgery his doctors found a cyst in his lymph node. Doctors tested the cyst, which turned out to be cancer.

He said he was "shocked" to learn he was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma this past May.

"The second day I was annoyed and a little bit angry, and by the third day I was ready to rock it," Corrado said.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the more common type of lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system. About 1 in 5 people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma have the diffuse large B-cell variety, making it the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States. This is a fast-growing cancer, but treatment success rates are high when caught early.

"We never claim a 100% success rate in oncology, because we don't have it, and nothing's 100% in this world other than taxes and death," Dr. Stephen Schuster, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.

"Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the early stage is a highly treatable disease," Dr. Schuster added.

Corrado said when he learned the prognosis for people battling this form of lymphoma when caught early, it fueled his positive mindset to beat the cancer.

"I'm going to do everything I can to strangle and suffocate, mangle, and murder every single cancer cell in my body," Corrado said in an impassioned and humorous way.

He said he started focusing more on his health by eating well and exercising more in preparation for chemotherapy.

"I'm pretty sure without a doubt, I'm going to lose my hair. It looks like my treatment is going to consist of six cycles of chemotherapy, so roughly five and a half months of treatment," Corrado explained in a video post.

In TikTok posts since his cancer treatment began, Corrado showed various stages of his progress. In June, he posted a video of himself getting his port, which is a device placed under the skin to draw blood or give treatments.

"They shave my Italian chest bare and they're going to place a port somewhere here. It makes me get my chemo easy," he explained in a video.

As his care team entered his hospital room, he danced robotically, seemingly jarring nurses assisting him.

"The ports all in my chest," Corrado sang as he recovered from a round of chemotherapy.

As Corrado’s video series continues, he met a new "cancer buddy" named Emily. She danced alongside Corrado as they prepared for another round of treatment.

Channeling popular reality TV shows such as MTV’s “Cribs,” which highlighted celebrity homes, Corrado gave TikTok viewers a virtual tour of his hospital room, showing off various parts of the room.

"This right here is where all the magic happens," he said while showing off the hospital bed.

Corrado makes regular references to chemo making him feel like he has to use the bathroom, which serves as a recurring comedic gag in the video series.

"If you think about it, every time I go pee, I'm actually peeing out the cancer cells, and then I'm flushing them down into the dirty, deep depths of the Chicago sewer system, where they belong," he joked in a video.

@toekneecorrado FIRST WEEK AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY IS ALL DONE AND I'M OUT HERE LIVING MY BEST LIFE!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR 💯💯💯💯💯💯 THANK GOODNESS FOR MODERN MEDICINE FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯 LYMPHOMA THOUGHT THE CHEMO WAS GONNA HAVE ME IN THE HOUSE FEELING ALL COOPED UP LIKE POST MALONE BUT MY BODY STRAIGHT UP TOLD MY LYMPHOMA THAT IT HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 GOOFY AHH LYMPHOMA REALLY THOUGHT IT KNEW SOMETHING!!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 WHEN THEY GAVE ME THE CHEMO THEY MUST HAVE ALSO GAVE ME A KEY TO THE CITY AND ABUNCH OF FILM REEL CAUSE WE WERE MAKING MOVIES ALL OVER TOWN FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶WAIT A SECOND!!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!?!??!?!? 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶 I GOT TOO BRAGGADOCIOS ABOUT HAVING A KEY TO THE CITY AND JUST TURNED INTO A BALL OF YARN?????????? 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶 THIS IS INSANE!!!!!!!!! WHAT DOES YARN HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS?!?!?!?!? HOW IS THAT EVEN MY PUNISHMENT????????? 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶WELL THIS IS JUST GREAT!!!!! I CANT MAKE MOVIES NOW BECAUSE I HAVE YARN FOR HANDS AND I ALSO LOST THE KEY TO THE CITY BECAUSE THIS BALL OF YARN DOESN'T HAVE ANY POCKETS!!!!!!!!!!!🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶 I DON'T KNOW IF I WILL EVER MAKE IT OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT, BUT IF I DO, YOU CAN BEST BELIEVE I WONT BE BRAGGING ABOUT MAKING MOVIES OR HAVING THE KEY TO THE CITY!!!!!!!!!FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶 #fyp ♬ original sound – Toeknee

The energetic, dancing, and fun-loving TikToker's latest video shows him celebrating the completion of his first week of chemotherapy.

"First week after chemotherapy is all done and I'm out here living my best life," Corrado said joyously.

Focusing on the Positive Amid Cancer

Anthony Corrado's infectious positive attitude even while battling cancer is something hard to ignore. His videos are full of energetic dancing, cracking jokes, and endearment. Even though he's still in the early stages of his journey, he's managed to keep an upbeat mindset.

This is something Dr. Zuri Murrell of Cedars-Sinai says helps a cancer patient's prognosis.

"A positive attitude is really important," Dr. Murrell previously told.

WATCH: Staying positive matters.

"My patients who thrive, even with stage 4 cancer, from the time that they, about a month after they're diagnosed, I kind of am pretty good at seeing who is going to be OK. Now doesn't that mean I'm good at saying that the cancer won't grow," Dr. Murrell says.

Focusing on the positive is part of positive psychology. According to Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist, positive psychology means focusing on encouraging feelings and finding what brings you a sense of vitality, as opposed to focusing on the illness.

Noelle Kouris was only 34 years old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Similar to Corrado, she kept a positive attitude during cancer treatment and turned to humor to keep herself going.

She says that even before surgery, she tried to have a really positive attitude toward her diagnosis.

WATCH: "F*ck You, Cancer But I Say It With A Smile" Ovarian Cancer Survivor Noelle Kouris Shares Her Story

"I just tried to smile every day that I walked into the center," Kouris told SurvivorNet.

"The nurses used to tell me that I had this light about me. And I would try to crack jokes all the time at chemo. I would just smile, and offer somebody a smile because some people were there by themselves and had nobody by their side. So, if I offered them a smile, hopefully, it brought some positivity to their day," she continued.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you're facing a cancer diagnosis and are inspired to be more like Anthony Corrado and Noelle Kouris but need guidance, consider these questions for your care team.

• How can I go about improving my outlook/mental health?
• Are there any activities I can do to encourage positive feelings?
• When should I seek other interventions if I'm still struggling?
• How can seeking these connections help me in my day-to-day life?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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