Project Purple Podcast Project Purple Podcast

Meet Eric Lugo from Houston, Texas. Eric is a veteran whose journey with pancreatic cancer can be traced back to when he had a case of pancreatitis during his basic training in 2005. A stent was put in to treat his pancreatitis, and he went back to his usual military routine without much concern from the doctors.

After years of discomfort in his upper abdomen and his health declining over years of service, he started losing weight and found himself feeling very ill. It got to a point where he was visiting the VA office very often to try and pinpoint the reason why he felt so awful. Despite undergoing a long series of tests and scans, nothing was revealed. He was later referred out of the VA system to a colorectal surgeon who was able to finally find the mass on his pancreas through an endoscopic test and later a biopsy.

At 36 years old, he was finally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and found himself at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he began a very aggressive treatment of 5-FU. Eric talks about how he felt while undergoing the many rounds of 5-FU and describes some of the supplements and other things he has done to combat the side effects and toll on his body.

Eric also talks about his wedding, which was a month after his diagnosis. As he started treatment, his wife stuck with him and continues to be his support system along with both of their families. Eric also highlights the importance of faith and prayer in his journey with pancreatic cancer and remains optimistic about his outcome.

Currently, Eric is detoxing from chemotherapy for a clinical trial he may begin soon.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

You can follow Eric’s pancreatic cancer journey on Instagram at instagram.com/leftyvato/

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Meet Bill Nugent from Northern New Jersey. Bill has been a loyal supporter and friend of the Project Purple running community for a long time. He recently achieved his 6-Star status at the 2024 Boston Marathon, which means he has participated in all six world major marathons: NYC, Chicago, Berlin, London, Tokyo, and now Boston.

In this episode, Bill talks about what inspired him to become part of the Project Purple run team. It all started with his mother who battled stage 4 pancreatic cancer. While he lost his mother to the disease, he turned his grief into something incredibly powerful, becoming our first-ever 6-Star runner to complete all of his 6-stars entirely with Project Purple.

Bill also shares his experience running for Project Purple in previous marathons and the tremendous support and sense of support he has felt from the running community.

Join us for this truly inspiring episode of the Project Purple Podcast to learn more about Bill's journey to becoming our very first 6-Star Runner.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

If you’d like to follow Bill on his running and inspiring connection to pancreatic cancer, you can do so on his Instagram: instagram.com/wfnugent/

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Nick Black is the CEO and co-founder of Good United, a non-profit organization that empowers and strengthens non-profits of all causes through social media fundraising. Nick is a veteran himself and co-founded the non-profit Stop Veteran Suicide with his peers to eliminate soldier suicide.

As a non-profit leader, he realized the potential of social media fundraising to streamline donations from his non-profit's supporters and was instrumental in developing the first social media fundraising software. Good United has helped raise billions of dollars in fundraising for many non-profits nationwide, including Project Purple.

To learn more about Nick and his contribution to the non-profit community, you can watch this week's episode of the Project Purple Podcast.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

To learn more about Stop Soldier Suicide, or donate visit https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/donate

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Meet Jewelz and her husband and caretaker, Matt, of Northern California. The couple have four children together and were both feeling optimistic about their future as they entered their 50s. However, they could never have been prepared for Jewelz’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2022. Her stomach pain began in the 90s when she was just a high schooler, persisting into adulthood, but she always convinced herself she was being a hypochondriac about the pain.

Nevertheless, the severity of the pain sometimes made it hard to dismiss. Consulting a friend who noticed signs of jaundice prompted her to finally visit the emergency room in 2022. Upon admission, blood work and ultrasounds revealed stage 3 pancreatic cancer. As a mother of four, just barely in her 50s, this news came as a huge shock to her and her family.

She recalls having to tell her four children over a Facetime call that she had cancer, and their emotions have stuck with her. Her husband, Matt, joined her on this episode to share his perspective as her caretaker through all of this and how he stepped up with many of the parental duties while Jewelz battled pancreatic cancer. He had to leave a career he had been with for decades and change his routine to help her through this battle, but the pair emerged even stronger and closer as a family.

Join us for this heartwarming episode of the Project Purple podcast to learn more about Jewelz and Matt’s pancreatic cancer story.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

If you’d like to see the art Jewelz creates, her Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/tuckini_art/

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Meet Dr. Ezra Cohen, a medical oncologist and cancer researcher based in San Diego. He is organizing clinical and research studies on various cancers at Tempus. In this episode of the Project Purple Podcast, Ezra explains the scientific reasoning behind different cancers and tumors, and how they respond to treatment methods such as immunotherapy, radiation, and chemotherapy.

Additionally, Ezra talks about his groundbreaking artificial intelligence work at Tempus, which aims to make clinical trials more accessible and easier to navigate for patients undergoing cancer treatment. He also discusses how this technology has contributed to researching other cancers like pediatric leukemia and how it is used to study pancreatic cancer.

Join us for this informative and insightful episode of the Project Purple Podcast to learn more about the clinical trial matching system Tempus offers, and how it can benefit patients seeking cancer treatment.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

If you would like to stay up to date with the latest strides that Tempus has made in the cancer space, or to see the clinical trial available to you, visit:
https://www.tempus.com/

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links:
https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Meet Dr. Helene Andrews-Polynemis, a scientist and tenured professor at Texas A&M University. Helene's journey in the medical and biology fields took an unexpected turn when she faced a personal battle with pancreatic cancer.

In this episode, Helene shares her experience navigating diagnostic tests, revealing a tumor, followed by smaller tumors and abscesses on her pancreas and surrounding organs in late 2019.

Amid aggressive chemotherapy cycles, Helene discusses the additional hurdles posed by the pandemic, including her husband waiting in the car during treatments. Tragically, her father received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis shortly after hers, and due to pandemic restrictions, she had to say goodbye without being there for him in person due to travel restrictions and their conditions with pancreatic cancer.

Despite these hardships, Helene's determination centered on witnessing her two children graduate high school and college. Helene delves into the scientific aspects of cancer, discussing genetic mutations, biological responses to chemotherapy, and the intricate world of clinical trials.

Join us for a thoughtful conversation with Helene Andrews, a remarkable pancreatic cancer survivor, on this week's episode of the Project Purple Podcast.

If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.

Connect with Helene on X:
https://twitter.com/HPolymenis

To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links:
https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple
https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/
https://twitter.com/Run4Purple
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ