Join the Team

I’ve always been a “team player.” I enjoy team sports, group activities and interacting with people rather than going it on my own. If you’ve ever taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I’m a classic "E" for extrovert. Not just because I like to talk (which I do!), but I get my energy from being around and interacting with people.

Struggling through my cancer diagnosis and treatment, I was fortunate to have a great team around me. My wife and kids (the best possible motivation to fight for every single day), family, friends, medical team, work community, etc. It really was the thing that got me through my time in the hospital, the long days of chemo and radiation, and on to my current state of recovery.

Even though I literally couldn’t have asked for a better team, I longed to reach out for folks who were going through the same thing I was: fighting through the pain, fear, anxiety, bizarre side effects of life with half or no stomach, etc. When I met my first “fellow gastric cancer patient” I felt like we were long lost brothers. Just to know someone else was out there going through the same thing made this crazy disease a bit more bearable.

That is one of the primary reasons I started this foundation, to connect with folks out there going through this battle. Because cancer is never simple, there are always differences (age, stage, treatment, etc), but we’re all in the gastric cancer boat together. And it’s not just those with the disease. The first thing my wife asks if I meet a fellow survivor, “oh, can I talk to their wife/husband?” Survivors aren’t the only ones that need help and want to connect.

I shared in my first post how excited I am that we are getting lots of traffic on the website, and it’s great. But even more important to me are the individual emails and phone calls I get from folks, making that personal connection. If it’s someone that is a long time survivor, it gives me hope that I can live a long and productive life. If it’s someone that is struggling either physically or emotionally, it inspires me to continue raising funds or building the registry so that we can help get more information and research done to fight the disease. And if it’s a family member that has lost a loved one, I want to make sure that this is an organization that will always remember those courageous people and make sure their deaths were not in vain.

So, I’m thanking you all for becoming part of the team and helping me personally and this organization fight this disease.

Be well,

JP