This med student was given last rites before finding a treatment that saved his life. AND he’s a Not Your Average Listener!
Meet Dr. David Fajgenbaum, who has been listening to Preston & Steve show for a few years now. This med student was given last rites before finding a treatment that saved his life. His method could help millions. And for some reason, he listens to our show! It’s his go-to show on the way to the hospital in the mornings. And his efforts to find a cure to his OWN disease made him a Not Your Average Listener!!! You decided (by a 100% vote to 0%) that he should win the $250, which he is graciously donating to the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network!
His submission:
One of David’s biggest things he’s learned while dying is to always find (and create) the silver lining. The thing he loves about P&S is the fact that in the world which can feel so heavy and dark, the show still tackles current events but does so in light hearted way. As a fan, he laughs, enjoys and it allows him to find a light. He’s still fighting to find a cure for the disease that is killing not only him but millions of others; the show is a nice light moment in the day. He loves WMMR’s music and the Bizarre Files!
Dr. David Fajgenbaum, local physician from UPenn, has a new memoir, Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope into Action. David’s story is a tale of learning to live, while dying. It’s a universally relatable story about getting up and fighting back after life knocks you down.
The student athlete turned medical student went from aspiring doctor to patient when he was diagnosed with Castleman Disease, an extremely rare and deadly condition which acts like a cross between cancer and an autoimmune disease. When Fajgenbaum realized the medical community was unlikely to make progress in time to save his life, he turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action; between hospitalizations, he studied his own charts and tested his own blood samples, looking for clues that could unlock as cure. After battling for NINE years and nearly dying FIVE times from the aggressive disease, Dr. Fajgenbaum is now in remission and helping others through his own story of hope.
Dr. David Fajgenbaum story is one of true perseverance, inspiration and over coming against all odds; he is literally fighting to find a cure for the deadly disease that is trying to kill him. His message is simple, it’s not just sitting by HOPING, it’s turning HOPE into ACTION. His story of battling this rare and deadly disease is really just a universal tale about getting up and fighting back after life knocks you down.
Learn more about the doctor on this article about him on PennMedicine.org.
The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) is a global organization dedicated to accelerating research and treatment for Castleman disease (CD), a disease at the intersection of cancer and autoimmunity. Learn more about it HERE!
Please join them for this year’s 5th Annual Quest for a Cure and support them by becoming a sponsor to support life-saving research:
Are you a Not Your Average Listener? Click here to apply.
Would you like to join the Not Your Average Listener Club? Visit this page to apply.
