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