Happy 17th anniversary to a wonderful, humble guyHappy 17th anniversary to a wonderful, humble guy
LOL Sober
Nelson celebrates his 17th sober anniversary while sharing how a stage four cancer diagnosis reshaped his life and his view of certainty. He talks about finding humour, support and spiritual progress in learning to live one day at a time amid ongoing uncertainty.
7:33•14 Nov 2025
Seventeen Sober Years, Stage Four Cancer and Learning to Live with Uncertainty
Episode Overview
- Sobriety can feel like "walking up a down escalator" where standing still means going backwards.
- A stage four cancer diagnosis led to complete upheaval of plans and a focus on hospital treatment.
- Medical outcomes often remain unclear, forcing acceptance that certainty is an illusion.
- Living one day at a time, supported by sober friends, helps reduce fear and obsessive worrying about the future.
- Accepting uncertainty shifts attention to what truly matters, rather than arguments and unproductive negative thinking.
“Recovery, it's like walking up a down escalator. If you stand still, you're actually going backwards.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this LOL Sober episode, Nelson marks his 17-year sober anniversary with a mix of dark humour, candour and reflection that’ll resonate with anyone who’s trying to stay clean and keep laughing. Nelson, an alcoholic addict who writes under a pen name, talks about thinking "the party would end if I got sober" and realising instead that "the party just began".
He describes sobriety as "17 of the best years of my life" and uses that milestone as a chance to check in on his progress, asking himself whether he’s moved forward or quietly slipped backwards on that "down escalator" of recovery. The big headline in his latest sober year? Cancer. After routine tests, he was hit with stage four rectal and liver cancer, which he jokingly frames as "basically, my ass was falling off".
You’ll hear how his life suddenly revolved around the hospital, surgeries, chemo and tough conversations about wills, life insurance and what might happen if he didn’t pull through. Yet the heart of this episode isn’t just about illness; it’s about learning to live with uncertainty. Nelson explains that cancer has forced him to accept that "the only certainty" is that there is no certainty.
From test results that are never truly final to everyday worries about jobs, money, health and even football arguments, he challenges the idea that we’re ever really in control. Grounded by a strong sober community, he shares how friends who live "one day at a time" help him avoid "living in the wreckage of the future" and stay out of unproductive negative thinking.
There’s plenty of gallows humour, but also a calm acceptance that even if "my ass starts to fall off again", he can face it sober and surrounded by people who get it. If you’ve ever struggled with fear about the future, you might find yourself nodding along and questioning what actually matters today.
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