Brain Cancer Survivor Defies the Odds After 11 Brain Surgeries and a Stroke

Scott Cook was preparing for a bodybuilding competition when his life changed without warning. In 2009, he collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found a plum-sized tumor at the base of his brain that was blocking drainage and causing dangerous pressure.

What followed was a long and painful road through brain cancer, 11 brain surgeries, shunts, a stroke, time in a wheelchair, and the slow work of learning how to move, speak, and trust his body again. Scott was told he may never walk again. He was also told he may never have children.

But Scott kept going.

In this episode of Overcome with Travis White, Scott shares how bodybuilding, discipline, nutrition, fatherhood, faith in the human spirit, and a refusal to give up helped him rebuild his life one step at a time. His story is not about pretending recovery was easy. It is about choosing to keep showing up when life becomes heavier than you ever imagined.

Scott's message is simple and deeply human: when life gets terrible, we are often stronger than we realize.

What We Discussed

• How Scott discovered a brain tumor while preparing for a bodybuilding competition
• The emergency surgeries that began his fight for survival
• Living through 11 brain surgeries, shunts, and brain cancer recovery
• How a stroke left Scott in a wheelchair and forced him to rebuild again
• The emotional weight of being told he may never walk or have children
• Why bodybuilding became more than fitness for Scott
• How discipline, nutrition, and small daily actions helped him recover
• The role of fatherhood, purpose, and family in his resilience
• Relearning speech and navigating invisible challenges after brain injury
• Why Scott believes every small victory matters
• The difference between giving up and learning how to keep going
• How sharing his story can help others believe they can overcome hard things

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Transcript

0:01

Sometimes the most powerful stories aren't about avoiding hardship. They're about refusing to stay down. Today's guest, Scott Cook, has survived a brain tumor, 11 major brain surgeries, a stroke, and countless setbacks. Yet through it all, he kept moving forward. This is a conversation about resilience, purpose, and what happens when you decide not to quit. Okay, sounds great. So back in 2009, I was actually getting ready for competing a bodybuilding competition. I thought I was gonna be a pro bodybuilder and s so I was getting ready to compete. And one day it just it was actually in April. I clapped in my house and couldn't move. So my wife rushed me to the Y. Army crawled in the car and then uh got in the car and she rushed me to the hospital. And after I liked the exam with the ER doctor, I was sent for a CAS can and the CAS can reveal the problem. There's a plum size mask that was they grew over the base of my brain and clogged drainage, so there's no drainage ran in my brain. which is water in the brain and it fr froze me up and I couldn't move. And then why this was found that had this. I was shipped up to Hamilton, which is a city outside of where I live. I was operated on that night. The first operation was just kinda tip I was exploratory. Didn't it would didn't get much of the tumor and so then went back in to to get more and they I guess because the world was the tum was located that blow my brain away to get up on it of the tumor and I didn't like I said solve any dodge they couldn't attack the tumor so I I they only got thirty percent of it and they closing back up and I was mangled from the two operations and so I It told me the only way I could go home was if I climbed the flood stairs outside of my room and somehow I climbed the flood stairs and went home and w and they shouldn't have let me go home because when I went home my shun slowly got clogged with brain fluid and blood and stuff and then I got suffers again and to get rushed back down to the hospital again and go through all over again getting I shouldn't revise and the attack more of the tumor and everything kinda settled down after that and they told me that I'll run never have kids and never walk again and slowly I just Didn't give up. I'd researched the right foods to eat and what to do and I just slowly went to back to the gym and rode the bike. And slowly by riding the bike, I got confidence enough to start lifting weights again. And so I like I said, I was right into nutrition and finding out the best things to do as far as recovering. And I was able to start weight training again and weight training For some reason I think it just gave me the confidence and the strength to be able to live through anything, you know, just battle and that's one what my whole story is about, brother, is that we're all stronger than life gets terrible. Life can get really, really terrible, but we are really, really strong, you know? It's not believing God, it's believing ourselves. We're incredible. We we can overcome anything if we just Try, you know? All it's easier to give up. It's easier to give in. But what you give is what you get. So if you don't give up, if you don't give in, then you're able to get really anything. I because that I was I was also told that I'd never have kids. They because of everything I went through in my body would never recover enough to have children. I get two kids, brother, two. A fourteen year old son Yeah, and a twelve year old daughter. I'm like so lucky And then I'll become a fat a dad and raise them, teach them and and really inspire them to know that they're incredible and they have strength and power over anything that can happen in life, you know? So that's what my story is about, is just bo we can all overcome any obstacle if we believe we can. That's what it's not believing. It's believing ourselves, believing our talents, our abilities. Our skills and our ability to overcome any obstacle. Because if you believe it, you will achieve it, you know? Why? I feel felt I felt kind of like dead man walking. That's why I felt like all the Doctors and all the nurses and all the everyone was like good luck son, best luck to you. And then when I went in the ambulance to Hamilton, a chaplain came with me. I would imagine to give me my last rights 'cause I didn't think I was gonna survive the trip to Hamilton. And I made it through and I got through and now I'm here so I'm telling you that this human spirit is stronger than things in terrible And we can overcome any obstacle if we don't give up. That's the that's my truth anyways. Well I would say I for my last shunt operations was when everything was so much harder'cause I had the stroke and the stroke like left me in a wheelchair and I had to come to the wheelchair and now I'm the walker so like Just getting out of the wheelchair and going back to the gym was so difficult. But we have it in us. If we don't allow ourselves to feel oh I'm this is too much, I can't handle this. If you go out to your dream and you dream big, you can achieve anything. I'm telling you, brother. Yeah. You know what? I can't say I always had the ambitions and those kind of pulled me through the h hard times when I told myself I when I wanted to give up. You know, I just kept on keeping on and I was able to stride and and because I was able to I reached for it, I was able to grab it and that kept me going. So no, I didn't really have any time where I doubted myself. I just knew that this is an obstacle that I had to overcome and how do I overcome it, you know? Yeah. Well that No, it that's what we are all created to be, man. It's survivors, you know. I'm not the only one. We're all survivors, we just gotta choose to be strong and not give up. Not do what's easy, you know? It's easier to give up, it's easier to give in, it's easier to like I said, dude, I can't do it. But you gotta remember you're strong enough, you're good enough, and you can overcome any obstacle. You know what I'm talking about. For sure. Hundred percent. What they said, what you give is what you get. I just didn't believe it. I believed that I would overcome it. And I've been able to overcome it all, you know. So just don't believe that you can't do it. You believe what you achieved, like I said. So you gotta believe that you can do it and you will do it. You gotta put in what it takes to make it happen. And I was willing to do that and that's why I think I overcame everything. Not that I'm better than everyone. I just didn't give up. Like I said, what you gives is what you get. So Uh I would say for me every night when I will go to sleep my shun have a bunch of shunts in my head. They drained food off of my head and my stomach and stuff. So I used to throw up every morning because the shunts would drain my stomach and make me throw up. Just getting up and throwing up and continuing the day. You know, it was the hardest part. But like I said, I had was an amazing I had an amazing sport group and I had family, so I didn't have any excuse to Be for me, you know. I had to I had something I had to do, so I had to accomplish it, or I didn't didn't get done, you know. So I'm lucky that I had a family and had purpose. Because without purpose, people perish. See me purpose to overcome stuff, you know? And I had the reason to overcome, so I the the purpose gave me the strength to endure it all the poop they had to go through, you know? Well it's it's funny because in high school I was always a little small little kid and my mom's cousin was is James Cameron, the director, producer of Terminator, so I was a new boy Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was always really into bodybuilding, trying to look at the kid, you know. So that's what got me into working out and then I just got really good progress and End up saving my life from brain cancer, you know? It's crazy. Cool. That's one uniforming. That's why it survived, brothers to share, you know. Sure. For sure. Well, like I said, if I can share my serve strength to help other people be strong to overcome what they have to deal with, then my journey was worth it, you know? Except what you give is what you get, you know? It's fun give inspiration that I can inspire to overcome even worse stuff that's gonna happen, you know? That's called life. Life sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. Sometimes things go real well and sometimes I don't, you know? So you gotta just go with it. Go with the wave in a sense, you know? Yeah, for sure. it during your darkest moments, you know, like what maybe you were recovering from surgery, maybe it was when you were diagnosed. Like what did what did fear look like to you? Was there any fear that like entered your mind and Just really just the fear of death, brother. The fear of that I wouldn't be able to do have a family like I wanted and live my dreams in bodybuilding like I wanted. But because like I said they didn't give up, I was given a second chance, you know? And I can and I'm not gonna let the second chance go. Mm-hmm. Oh I would say honestly it it maybe just made me have a bad memory and be like kind of slower, but it has made me stronger and if I wouldn't have gone through what I went through, I wouldn't be the man I am today and the father I am today. So it's was worth going through the pain to see the game, you know. Yeah, it's not truth at all. This is the the testing ground and how much can you handle. That's what it is. Make it through with a positive attitude, you make it through. But if you don't, then you won't, you know? That's my opinion. I would say my kids. I've m motivation my kids. Just helping them do better than I did. Be more prepared than I am. You know? It's what I was I went through poop to tell them how to avoid it. You know, that's w they need to I'm here to help them realize they're strong, then things are terrible and don't Dwell on things but devote yourself to being the best you can, you know? You have a choice. You choose to do the best you can or you choose easy. Easy come, easy go. There's no easy way, bruh. Yeah, brother. So you know exactly what I'm talking about. That's great. Cool. Imagine, yeah. Wow. Yeah. So beyond your survivor a survivor of eleven major brain surgeries, a stroke and the mass on your brain. So who who else is what's who else is there? Like he's is what do you enjoy like in life? Like what what do you what does Scott do when he's not telling the survivor story or body? Well, I love to hang with my kids. I love to eat food that I shouldn't eat it. Yeah, yeah. I like to hang up with animals and listen music and be normal, you know, like I'm I'm an everyday person. I just didn't give up, didn't give in to all the horrible stuff that happened to me. I'm not special, I'm not important, I'm just me, you know? Like all of us. Rather every victory, even going to washroom by myself, because when I first got out of treatment I had the catheter and I was just horrible. So everything was a victory for me. And then when I started going back to the gym just riding the bike, I felt like a billion dollars. And then when I started weight training and then I d when start the best thing for me, my opinion is when I way training And I get to tell some of my story and inspire them to go harder, you know. I I don't have any hard times or bad tim I don't wanna complain. I can't complain. I'm the luckiest guy on the planet, you know? Yeah. That that's I I really do. I've said this a million times, I know, but I love I love your attitude. Do you remember a time though, was there Was there ever a time where you Yeah, go ahead. I didn't mean to cut you off. No, it's just saying thank you. I I that's who I am, is that's who we all are, man. We all can be this if we choose it, you know. We are all stronger than the things are terrible. We just don't believe in ourselves. It all comes down to us our belief in God. It's a belief in ourselves, believe that we can make it. And then faith is just doing things we gotta do to make it happen. I get up on time every day. I need spinach and whole wheat grains and lots of protein to accomplish what I would have done. So that's why I did it. Because I did what I had to do. You know, was it easy? No. Was it challenging? Yes. But I did it, you know? So we can all do it. I just want to be inspiration to people that they can realize that they're strong and think it terrible. That's all I I don't wanna say no, but I don't recall think that way. I just recall thinking of how it can be better, you know, like how it can jump past a turtle. I don't remember everything was me. I don't That's a good attitude to have. I I need to I need to follow your your footsteps there. But think This I am an example. You don't have to. I'm just an example, you know. That we did for ourselves. So I can knew. Hello? Okay. Okay. What was the question? Did you my answer? Yes. Yeah, we did it to ourselves. There were that somehow it was our fault that it happened. You know, were the two inch drinkers or drugs or whatever you want to say that it happened because of that. It's just a genetic thing that was a whoops and it was a bad all the things that built up to it was promoting it, you know, and then uh boom it happened. Yeah. I would say just doing it. Just keep like just make it happen and overcoming the the negative doubts in your mind. You know the the the devil telling you you're not good enough or you can't make it or you can't overcome and just push it out and believe in yourself. You know, yes I can overcome, yes I have the ability, yes have the skills. Mm. just it's about following Yeah, it's about following the faith to make it happen. So I had to get up on time every day. I had to eat the foods I need every day. I had to go to the gym and train hard every day. That's what I had to do and I did it. And then now look where I am, you know? My kids.'Cause I was told I wouldn't have kids. And I got myself back up and got myself in shape enough and was able to give my testosterone going again and had kids, man, so it proved everything wrong, you know. Proved the doctors wrong, it proved everyone wrong. Not that I'm better, but that we can overcome anything, man. That's what it's about, you know. Never give up. Like I said, what you give is what you get, so don't give up. Give it your all and learn how to overcome. That's all you can do is learn. You just listen and learn and try to find examples of what you want to accomplish. You know, like find people that survived it, find people that beat it, go to meetings, go to different places and And figure out that, whoa, people have done this. I can do it too, you know? Uh I would say the longest to learn would be my speech back. I like yeah, used to struggle a lot with finding w the proper words to say and now I feel like it's a flowing a lot better. So I would say that's the hardest thing that's come back. Yeah, I could see that being a challenge. It's I I've had seizures since two thousand nine. So it's like I I there's times after a seizure where it's like I can't think of the right word to say and I'm just super confused. And that's always really hard to like You wouldn't please. Well we all relate to each other, you know, we just have to want to relate to each other. So yeah. Like said, man, we're stronger than things are terrible. You know that. You're doing a whole podcast about it, you know? Like you interview people all the time that have overcome craziness. So if you've interviewed lots of people, that's the way it is. We can all be that way. It's not just the PB interview, they're special. We're all special. We gotta realize that we're all stronger than things are terrible, like you say, you know? That's what it is. Honestly, I don't want to even say at the a low point because I don't even remember a low point, brother. I just remember overcoming obstacles, overcoming obstacles and stepping forward all the time, being hit back and punched back and overcoming again, overcoming and dissolved. That's uh what life is all about is overcoming, you know? That's my opinion. like I said, I I once again I remo admire your your willpower just to keep pushing through everything. Yeah 'cause I dur during some of my hard times I was not like that at all. No problem. No problem. It didn't really change my perspective, it submitted my perspective, you know, like it made me totally realize that it's the truth. And if just go that path, I can accomplish anything, you know. But like I said, we're all so strong, we just don't believe we are. I overcame crazy obstacles. And still was able to give and become my dreams. So we all can. We just don't we just can't believe in pain, believe in failure, believe in excuses. We gotta not give excuses, not like I said, believe in pain, not give up when it gets hard, you know? I say But it gives what gets so don't give up, don't give in 'cause you never you can't predict the future. You can make the future, but you can't predict it. So just don't tell yourself I'm not gonna be able to make it. Try. That's that's my opinion. But taught me to be tough. You taught me to be disciplined. Taught me everything. Like get ready for a show. You have to be so disciplined with your food and when you get up and when you train and how you train and everything. So it's it's like bodybuilding and training and everything prepared me to be able to overcome what I had to go through because it gave me discipline. It taught me all the things it need to know to be able to respond like it did and like to overcome all the obstacles that I've had to overcome, you know? The we were the best it's crazy that I got into it because I got into it and the and advised, like I told you, 'cause the arms and and it was saving my life, man. Give me a family and like you know, like against the odds, you know. Sure. I'm the luckiest man on the planet, dude. That's why I give so much, because I'm so lucky that I I got what I have, you know. Well I think people misunderstand 'cause well for myself is I look this way that I do that they don't believe that I have obstacles still with bounce and speech and all the things that I still have challenges with. They would blame other things like my when I think I remember when I used to go to the bar when I was younger. I would get kicked out or they wouldn't let me in because I said I was drunk. I just don't be I couldn't walk very well because of my brain tumor, you know? But they wouldn't let me in because it would be that's what would they say and it was just a brain tumor, so I guess that's a negative for sure. Um I'm not. I'm uh just trying to get into social media. I that's what we want to do is be a mode, based on a speaker and talk to people, and encourage people to not give up when things get terrible and to believe in the strength. That that's all I don't know where to go or how to platform myself to it, I've no nothing. I'm certain off at the very basic bottom. Uh you were one of the first pr people that responded to me. I said un plus I did I don't know if you just watched the RX Muscle interview you did with Dave Palumbo. The he responded me too so I did an interview with him. But you're the only other guy this responded me so that's amazing. I thank you for giving me this opportunity. Allow me to explain and hopefully help people. No no. I just want to remind people that like I said they are stronger than things are terrible and that when poop hits a fan or when they trip on the sidewalk of life, look back and don't focus on the crack that tripped you. Focus on the daisy growing out of the crack that tripped you. That's all I can say. Thank you, Travis. I'm just a human being like everyone else, you know. I just believe that's the only difference. You know I'm talking about with not being up and not giving in. It's all it is, you know. And thank you to all the listeners out there. Please follow us or give us a review. It would help us out a lot. Thanks again. Until next time.