Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus continues to be cancer-free!
The rock band’s bassist-vocalist, 50, announced the positive news on his Instagram Story on Wednesday by sharing a photo of a recent blood draw. “Very grateful today,” the musician wrote. “My scan came back clean and I’m cancer-free.”
He continued, “Thankful for everyday I get to be here. Love you all.”
Hoppus was diagnosed with lymphoma in April 2021 and has been open with fans about his cancer journey.
RELATED: Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus Shares His Cancer Journey in His Own Words
Mark Hoppus/Instagram
In an August issue of PEOPLE this year, Hoppus talked openly about his battle with the disease and the struggles he’s faced with depression along the way.
“I was in our living room crying and telling my wife, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ ” Hoppus recalled to PEOPLE. He is married to Skye, his wife of 22 years. “She was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do, kill yourself?’ And that’s exactly what I was thinking. It was pretty dark.”
The cancer diagnosis had thrown Hoppus into a deep depression, and he struggled with suicidal thoughts before Skye’s wake-up call.
RELATED: Mark Hoppus Reveals How He Overcame a Deep Depression During Chemo: ‘I Have a Second Shot at Life’
“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 did just that, while also depending on Skye — with whom he shares 20-year-old son Jack — throughout the ordeal.
“She researched all the best foods, like, ‘This helps with the nausea, and this helps with the dehydration, and this helps with the recovery,’ ” Hoppus said. “My wife was awesome from day one.”
Shayan Ashgarnia Mark and Skye Hoppus
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Hoppus first sensed something was wrong when he felt a lump on his shoulder.
“I texted my doctor, ‘Hey, weird lump on my shoulder. It’s either a pulled muscle or a deadly lymphoma,’ ” he said. “I was trying to make a joke out of it.”
But his quip turned out to be prescient when doctors found lime-size tumors in his shoulder and stomach, a grape-size tumor in his neck and more in his abdomen; they told him he had stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which is generally curable if caught early.
One of the first calls Hoppus made was to his mom, Kerry Wernz, who received successful treatment for the same cancer diagnosis in 2019.
“She knew exactly what I was feeling,” he says of Wernz. “I leaned on her so much.”
Shayan Ashgarnia Jack, Mark and Skye Hoppus
Hoppus wasn’t planning to share his cancer journey publicly. But in June 2021 he accidentally posted a photo from his chemo chair to Instagram rather than DMing it to friends.
“I thought that once people found out, it would just be like, ‘Haha, f— you. You’re going to die’ — just the s—ty side of the Internet. Instead, everyone was like, ‘You’re going to get through this,’ ” Hoppus said, tearing up. “It was this rad outpouring of support from strangers. It gave me so much strength and so much hope.”
RELATED: Mark Hoppus ‘Open to Whatever the Next Phase’ of Blink-182 Is After Reconnecting with Tom DeLonge
The rocker focused on that positivity as he underwent treatment.
“The chemotherapy was brutal. I had no energy and ended up being on the couch just trying to get through the day,” he said. “I had the worst brain fog. We were sitting at dinner with friends that we’ve known for years, and I’m looking at the husband across the table, thinking to myself, ‘I can’t remember your first name.’ And it was like that all the time. I still feel it once every couple days — I’ll forget a word — but it’s much better.”
And on Sept. 29, 2021 — five months to the day he was diagnosed — doctors declared Hoppus cancer-free.
“Today I’m doing good. The recovery is taking a lot longer than I had hoped, but I am in a much better place,” says Hoppus. “I feel like I have a second shot at life.”
Since doctors gave him the all-clear, Hoppus has been getting back to work. He’s writing a book, launched the record company Verswire and is hosting his radio show on Apple Music.
RELATED VIDEO: Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus ‘Very Grateful’ to Be Back in a Music ‘Mindset’ After Cancer Battle
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Hoppus is also facing the future with gratitude.
“I still feel like I’m in my 20s, skateboarding and being an idiot,” he says. “In reality, I’m 50 years old and glad to be alive.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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