Blink-182 bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus said he had suicidal thoughts after being diagnosed with cancer.
Hoppus shared more about his reaction to his diagnosis in a recent conversation (Aug. 17) with PEOPLE.
“I was in our living room crying and telling my wife [Skye], ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’” Hoppus said of learning about his diagnosis. “She was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do, kill yourself?’ And that’s exactly what I was thinking. It was pretty dark,” he admitted.
Despite the deep depression that took form as a result of his diagnosis, Hoppus shared that his wife’s words helped him snap out of it.
“It was a total snap-out-of-it moment,” he said. “I was like, ‘What a s—ty thing to say.’ But also, what a kind thing to say, like, ‘Snap out of it, you f—ing baby. You have a beatable form of cancer. It’s going to suck to get there, but get there.’ I had to do the work.”
Hoppus was diagnosed with stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in April 2021, according to People. Hoppus’ doctors discovered various tumors throughout his body, including on his shoulder and neck, the outlet indicated.
In addition to his wife Skye’s support, Hoppus also credits his mom Kerry Wernz as playing a key role in his treatment. Wernz underwent treatment for the exact same cancer in 2019.
“[My mom] knew exactly what I was feeling,” Hoppus explained. “I leaned on her so much.”
With the support of his wife, mom, 20-year-old son Jack, and various strangers on the Internet who accidentally learned of his diagnosis when he posted a photo from the chemo chair to his Instagram feed, Hoppus leaned into positivity to help get him through treatment.
Despite the “brutal” chemotherapy and subsequent physical symptoms of no energy and brain fog, Hoppus was declared cancer-free in September 2021, the outlet reported. Hoppus says he’s now “doing good.”
“Today I’m doing good. The recovery is taking a lot longer than I had hoped, but I am in a much better place,” he shared. “I feel like I have a second shot at life.”
“I still feel like I’m in my 20s, skateboarding and being an idiot,” he continued. “In reality, I’m 50 years old and glad to be alive.”
Now that he’s cancer-free, Hoppus is staying busy. He’s writing a book, launching his own record company, and hosting a radio show on Apple Music.
