Mark Hoppus is at least feeling well enough to pick up his bass again

Since late-June, Blink-182's Mark Hoppus has been openly chronicling his battle with cancer online, explaining earlier this month that his specific diagnosis is stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and that the cancer had spread from his blood to other parts of his body. Despite saying “my blood’s trying to kill me” and tweeting about usually feeling “like hot garbage” though, Hoppus has been making a point to remain optimistic about his chances by popping up on Twitch livestreams and saying stuff like, “we’re beating this cancer, it’s just a matter of time.”

It was on one of his recent livestreams that Hoppus showed the clearest sign yet that he’s feeling marginally better, with Rolling Stone reporting that he pulled out his bass and played along to Blink-182's “Not Now” earlier this week. Hoppus said in the video that it was the first time he had tried to play Blink-182 songs in “well over a year,” and it was also the first time he had felt well enough to even pick up his bass—let alone play it—in months. Blink-182's last show, sans former guitarist Tom DeLonge, was in January of last year. Rolling Stone notes that all three original members of the band have been hypothetically open to a reunion, so hopefully that’s on the table at some point someday.

As for Hoppus’ chemotherapy, his most recent update was on July 19, when he said that his latest scans had indicated that it was working. He said this was “the best possible news,” even though it would still mean “months of treatment ahead,” and that “the poison the doctors pump into me and the kind thoughts and wishes from people are me are destroying this cancer.” You can see a clip from Hoppus’ stream, with him playing bass and talking about his cancer battle a little bit, at this link.