YouTuber Technoblade, 22, Announces He Has Cancer and Has Started Chemotherapy: ‘My Energy Levels Hit Zero’

"In the last two days of July, I noticed that my right arm was starting to hurt a decent amount. My best guess was that it was some kind of repetitive stress injury because I'd been playing video games since the age of five pretty much non-stop," Technoblade said. However, a few days of rest did not alleviate the pain, and he noticed a large amount of swelling in his right shoulder.

In early August he went to the doctor to get scans and was diagnosed with cancer. "That really couldn't have gone worse," he said.

Technoblade described waiting for the official diagnosis as a nerve-wracking process: "I want to see people sprinting, I want to see some urgency. There's this tumor on my arm, if you guys could just get rid of it right now… do what you got to do."

Now, Technoblade is receiving chemotherapy. "The first couple days were actually pretty chill, and then it kicked in and my energy levels hit zero," he says. He notes that sitting upright for an hour a few days after his first round of chemotherapy was extremely draining.

"What is this, the Olympics bro? I'm going back to bed," he joked.

Related: What Are The Side Effects of Chemotherapy?

And yet he maintained his love and passion for making Minecraft YouTube videos by continuing to upload and keep a positive attitude.

"I used to have a channel meme… whenever I'd get super motivated, I'd start uploading like crazy and also do things like get a haircut,” he said. “So, I joked that the less hair I had the more I'd upload because the hair was holding me back. If that's still true, I got to say chemotherapy that's got to be daily uploads or something."

He also asked his viewers for a “favor.”

"If you guys could all do one small favor for Technoblade… I'm kind of immunocompromised right now… so if a virus touches me I will explode. Get the vaccine,” he says.  "I'm going to go ahead and speak for all cancer patients and say that it is incredibly annoying when the hospitals are getting overworked by people dying of preventable diseases."

How Cancer Patients Can Protect Themselves from COVID-19

As Technoblade says, immunocompromised people like cancer patients, are at higher risk of being infected with COVID. Here’s how cancer patients can help protect themselves.

1. Recently, the FDA approved a booster shot for immunocompromised Americans, including cancer patients, to protect them from COVID-19 and the Delta variant. No prescriptions or IDs are needed to get the booster shot. The shot should be administered 28 days or more after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) panel recommends consulting your doctor before getting a booster shot.
2. Continue to wear masks and social distance as much as possible.
3. Commonly wash your hands or use hand sanitizer to minimize the possibility of transmitting or spreading the disease, especially after sneezing, coughing, or being in a public place.
4. Avoid high-touch surfaces in public places, i.e. elevator buttons, handshakes, or door handles.
5. Routinely clean and disinfect your home including frequently touched surfaces or objects, i.e. keys, light switches, phones, and faucets.
6. Avoid crowds and all non-essential travel.

See more: Coronavirus Guide for Cancer Patients

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