Joining the Project Purple Podcast from Evans, GA, triathlete Don Belisle guides listeners through his “ticking time bomb” health journey with host Dino Verrelli. After repeated assurances by doctors that his pancreatitis was nothing to worry about, Don decides to go with his gut and drive across the country to seek a second opinion. That decision ultimately led to a life-saving surgery and changed the course of his life.
Although doctors initially told Don not to worry about cancer, he trusted his instincts, did his own research, and sought out a second opinion at MD Anderson. There, they found a pre-cancerous cyst. Thanks to finding a second opinion, Don received an urgent 8 ½ hour total pancreatectomy, where doctors removed his pancreas, spleen, and gallbladder, which most likely saved his life. Throughout the episode, Don circles back and highlights the importance of urgency, trusting your gut, and getting a second opinion for anyone else in a similar situation.
Now, Don’s turned his experience into a mission, helping to inform and reassure others going through the same battle and procedures as he did. He is also back to training for an upcoming Iron Man, but stresses that any step forward, whether that be a walk around the block or taking out the trash, is a positive step. Don also has an upcoming book I Was Next, which chronicles his pancreatic health journey.
You can connect with Don and follow his journey through his Facebook and other social media accounts.
Subscribe to the Project Purple Podcast for more stories from the pancreatic cancer community.
To learn more or donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, visit www.projectpurple.org.
