ASSOCIATED PRESS / JAN. 28
Comedian Andy Bumatai, shown during an interview in Mililani, has what he says is a treatable form of cancer.
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Hawaii comedian Andy Bumatai took to social media Sunday to announce he has cancer while urging fans not to worry because it is a highly treatable form of the disease.
The 62-year-old Bumatai said in a video posted on YouTube that he was diagnosed with cancer at the base of his tongue and in lymph nodes on the side of his neck.
Of course, Bumatai couldn’t resist poking fun at all of it.
“Yeah, it’s the base of my tongue — how ironic is that?” he said. “It’s like the gods are telling me to shut up. And it’s in my lymph nodes here on the side of my neck. Lymph nodes. Doesn’t that sound like a band that would open for Coldplay?”
Bumatai said his prognosis is good because the cancer he has responds well to treatment and does not typically spread to other parts of the body.
But Bumatai, who does a daily pidgin video that he posts on YouTube, told fans that for the next four months he will be dealing with chemotherapy and radiation treatment that might interrupt his posting schedule. He asked that in lieu of sympathy, well-wishers help someone in need.
“Instead of typing a message on a social media site, actually help someone,” he said. “Buy a homeless guy a hamburger or help a kid tie his shoe or let someone have that parking space you both got to at the same time.”
Bumatai said he wants to spread “goodness.”
“The more goodness we can put out there, the more goodness we can all share,” he said. “And maybe I will pick up on a little of it.”