SPL HEALTH
A Conversation With Bill C. Potts
5-Time Cancer Survivor, IRONMAN Athlete, Author
BY MARCIA BIGGS
The Cancer Club. Most of us are members, whether we have had cancer or not. You’re in the Club if you’ve ever been diagnosed with any type of cancer. Do you have a loved one or close friend affected by the disease? Then you’re in the Cancer Club, too. Dealing with a diagnosis of cancer can be traumatic once, but for St. Pete resident Bill Potts it’s been a recurring nightmare. Five diagnoses over the past 20 years, with subsequent treatments and recoveries, have shaped his life. He is currently battling diagnosis No. 6 for lymphoma, a blood cancer, after only 11 months in remission, and prostate cancer. The last two decades have given Potts a unique insight into the cancer fight, its physical and emotional aspects, what to expect during treatment and recovery, and how to go about being your own best advocate. His recently released book “Up for the Fight – How to Advocate for Yourself as You Battle Cancer From a Five-Time Survivor” ($16.95, Page Two Books, Inc.) is his gift to those who are entering the journey that he has come to know so well. Potts, 62, has three grown children and lives in Old Northeast with wife Kim, who has been at his side as a rock of support. He was an avid runner and Ironman triathlete, taken by surprise in 2002 at age 41 when he found a lump behind his right ear. His life changed forever. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, that was followed in 2003 (incorrectly, a return of thyroid cancer), 2008 (lymphoma), 2014 (lymphoma), 2019 (lymphoma) and 2020 (lymphoma and prostate).
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StPeteLifeMag.com
September/October 2022
A successful marketing executive, Potts was working at Clearwater Marine Aquarium until 2020 when he co-founded his own marketing agency, Remedy 365. Coincidentally, he was about to endure another round of cancer treatment. Potts spent the last two years writing this practical guide that aims to help navigate every step of the cancer experience, whether you’re the one diagnosed or supporting a loved one with cancer. It was often a struggle, he admits, going through 14 treatments of chemo and immunotherapy, and multiple surgeries. “The timing was perfect to write the book,” he said. “Since it was COVID, I was staying home or driving to Jacksonville (Mayo Clinic) for treatment. … There were days and even weeks when I was too sick to write.” But he persisted, with lots of encouragement from his editors. His publisher is working to get the book into bookstores at various medical centers across the country, and he’s doing podcast interviews from as far away as New Zealand. Cancer impacts everyone in a unique way, there is no right or wrong way of dealing with it, Potts says, which is why he highly recommends a support group or therapist. These days, he only occasionally leaves the house due to his compromised immune system. “I have to be very careful where I go,” he says. “I have to be outdoors, so I go for shorts runs or to Boyd Hill (Nature Park) or someplace with outdoor seating.”