Helix Studios Star Shane Cook Reveals Cancer Diagnosis On Twitter

Saying that he is “tired of being embarrassed,” 22-year-old gay porn performer Shane Cook took to his Twitter account on Tuesday to reveal some unfortunate news: the young up-and-coming model who works for San Diego, California-based Helix Studios has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects lymph tissue, according to the American Cancer Society, which includes not only the lymph nodes, but the spleen, bone marrow, parts of the digestive tract and numerous other areas of the body that contain lymph tissue. “Hello everyone I’m posting this picture because I’m tired of being embarrassed about something I have no control over," Cook wrote. “So about 3 or 4 months ago I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer and in Short am handling it very well!” Cook went on to reassure fans that his career as a porn performer is far from over as far as he’s concerned, tweeting, “I’ve had some hair loss and I’ve lost muscle but I haven’t lost anything that I won’t be able to get back and some so I’m going to keep doing what I need to do for myself and look forward to filming later on!” He also explained that a lump clearly visible on his upper right chest is, in fact, “a port,” going on to say, “it’s what they use for injections so your arms don’t get scared [sic] from IV.” Cook has appeared in several Helix videos since last year, according to his Internet Adult Film Database page, including Cook’s Cock, Afterparty Pound, and Alone At Last. Cook did not explain why he was “embarrassed” by his diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that is estimated to strike about 8,500 Americans this year alone—about 4,840 men and boys, with 3,660 cases in women and girls, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer is most commonly diagnosed in young adults of about Cook’s age, the early 20s. The overall five-year survival rate for patients with Stage Two Hodgkin’s lymphoma is now 90 percent, according to ACS statistics. Many of those patients will live much longer than five years after the diagnosis. The 90 percent figure refers to people who live at least five years after being diagnosed with the cancer. Photo via Shane Cook Twitter