Trekking Toward Hope w/Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, John Billingsley, Kitty Swink, & Juan Carlos Coto

[00:00:07] Coconut!

[00:00:37] Get ready to laugh, cry, hope, and donate. It's Trekking Towards Hope, a Purple Stride special, and it's right now, live on Thursday Night Geeks.

[00:01:25] Good Thursday evening, everybody. Welcome into Thursday Night Geeks. Bill Smith alongside Dan Davidson over there. And this is, quite frankly, the best Thursday Night livestream that has both of us. So we are so excited. Good to see you, man. Good to see you, too, buddy. How you been? I'm doing great. We got fun lined up for tonight, I gotta tell you that, for a great cause. And chances are we're not gonna really be saying much.

[00:01:52] Which is probably best for the viewers. You know, it's amazing. We've managed to find five people who've made serious career mistakes that wound them up on this livestream. But we're gonna try to do a little good and have some fun. And luckily, I mean, Frakes has rescinded the restraining order, so he's actually willing to come back, which is good. And that took some negotiation. Our legal was in touch with his legal and, well, you have to leave at a particular time because he's done with you, quite frankly.

[00:02:21] It's a story of my life, man. That's all I gotta say. Story of my life. Well, as normally we are want to do at this hour, Dan, I ask you what you're drinking because that usually factors into how well you do tonight. Well, I hope I should do pretty well then because I got quite the concoction right here. You can see it. I got my special Star Trek podcasting glass. What in the hell? Anybody on social media has checked out the Tipsy Bartender. This is one of his concoctions.

[00:02:46] Basically, this is caramel wrapped on the inside of the glass. And the mixture of drink is Crown Royal Green Apple, Green Apple, the Cupers, I think you call it, the sour apple. Okay. Um, apple juice and that, um, powdered stuff that you put in water to make flavors of green apple. So this is like the greenest apple alcoholic beverage that you can have. And I'm digging it. So it's acid reflux in a glass is what you're telling me.

[00:03:16] Absolutely. I'll tell you what, if you like caramel apples and during like the fall season, it is like, whoa, it's just like it. Is it called the Wilford Brimley? Because I imagine you're going to get the beat us after this. Quite possibly. I actually forget what it's called. I usually am good with remember the names of the drinks that I create. Yeah, I'm just going to go and call this one the green apple smash because that's what's going to happen when I'm done. You're going to be smashed. Smashed. Yes.

[00:03:43] Well, everybody, when we get to the next segment, you're going to see this QR code on the screen. It's going to take you to trek against pancreatic cancer.com. If you were able to, you know, and, and, you know, you've certainly feel compelled to, we'd love to see you, you know, make a donation to this incredible cause. Otherwise, if you want to help share and promote this cause that is just as useful. The more people that we have finding out about, you know, the trek against pancreatic cancer, the better.

[00:04:07] Um, uh, or as you can see on the crawl on the bottom of the screen, if you go to trek against pancreatic cancer.com, you can get there the same way. Uh, you'll see a donate button. You'll see a join this team button even, and, um, find out more about the local purple strides in your particular area. Um, I'm sure there's one here in Raleigh where I'm near Dan, and I'm sure that there's probably one in Boston close to you. Um, yeah.

[00:04:33] So, um, well enough about us cause we're the least interesting people that are going to be on this live stream tonight. Uh, we're going to be right back after this brief video transition. So Garcia can set the room for us and, uh, stay tuned for a bunch of people more important than we are.

[00:04:48] I like that. What have you all done to wind up here?

[00:05:14] That is the most grotesque cocktail I have ever heard of in my life. Nobody over the age of seven should be drinking. I was talking about drinking a bad name. All right. All right. So that intro that at the beginning of this show, I've done a lot of these podcasts over the years. That was the finest intro I have ever seen. It was fine. It was fine. And I, and I will say it until my dying day. That is all Bill.

[00:05:44] Bill did a phenomenal job putting together the graphics and everything for this, for this live stream. So yeah, that's the only good thing I'm going to say nice about him. Was the introductory music, the theme song of Beretta? No, that's keep your eye on the starro. Actually. I am old enough to know that. Actually, the tune is called Monday Night Football, believe it or not. And the inspiration for the entire opening package was the Monday Night Football intro of the nineties and the early two thousands.

[00:06:14] All right. Um, at least graphically. So, um, once I found that it just sort of made sense that, you know, we've been doing this for a long time and we didn't want to seem like. 10 years. 10 years. Thank you so much. Thank you. We didn't want to seem like everybody else's live stream. So we decided to make this more, um, more egotistical. If it's possible. You got the right guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, I, I represent egotistical.

[00:06:45] We'd never, we'd never know that from you, Jonathan. No, never. Uh, you're so calm and, and, and withdrawn at times. Yeah. I'm like, when do you get up behind that sour apple concoction? Yeah. You're going to be a mess. You should see how he drinks. I actually, one of my hobbies, Jonathan is to actually come up with new drinks. And this was one that came off of social media, but I tried one the other night.

[00:07:11] And if you like sour, if you like Granny Smith apples, this is, I'm actually surprised at how much it tastes like an apple. So. I thought you were going to say it was. My father. My father had. That's my question. Why not? Why don't I just pour Johnny Walker all over an apple and then eat it? I knew the people that were going to be on the live stream tonight and I needed alcohol in my glass. I remember when my father was introduced to the concept of apple martinis. I've never seen a grown man get so mad.

[00:07:41] Apple martinis. Here's a martini. Flat out. A martini. Vodka martini he allowed, but an apple martini. He would not. Like gin. It was against gin. No, gin or a vodka. Espresso. A martini. Espresso. No, that was not. That's a good one. You know, I would be drinking to balance Dan. Normally I would have a glass of bourbon, but I'm actually drinking water because I just started taking a GLP one a few weeks ago. So I'm kind of on the wagon. Medically. No, you know, W.

[00:08:13] What was that, Armin? You know what W. C. Fields said about water, don't you? No. What's that? W. C. Fields said, I don't drink water. Fish is fucking it. He actually said never drink water. Yeah. Good advice, quite frankly. But I'm left my own devices with a giant favorite phrases. Welcome, everybody.

[00:08:41] We're so excited that you made time to be here, despite the fact that Dan is also in attendance. Jonathan, we're keeping him at a distance from you on screen so we don't start any trouble. There were straining orders offered for tonight. Tonight, yeah. Tonight? Oh, damn. And one, Carlos, you're new to this craziness that has tricked us. So we apologize in advance for anything this does to your career. You couldn't have known. They could have warned you, quite frankly.

[00:09:12] Yeah. Nobody told me anything, man. Yeah. Come aboard. Raise some money. Have some biscuits. Nobody said anything. I mean, I was warned about Billingsley not wearing pants. But other than that, nobody, you know. Nothing. Billingsley, are you wearing pants tonight? I need to clarify this for the viewers, because last time you had Batman underoos on during Trek Talks. I am. I am. I'm wearing pants. How about that? Even a stop clock is right twice a day. Wow. That was pretty shocking.

[00:09:38] Right at the beginning of Trek Talks a couple weeks ago, I was actually at a car dealership when it started. So I pulled it up on my phone so I could see what was going on. And just as I pulled it up on my phone and with the guy I was buying the car from, I'm looking and there's Billingsley backing up in his chair and standing up with no pants on. And I just, I could not. Because it's a convention without pants. You see, that's the whole hook.

[00:10:04] The idea that you get to come to a convention, you don't even have to wear pants. So, Topaliel. I'm going to have to keep that up. But we're here to talk about an entirely different charitable organization. Wow, that's a real pro segue. Dan, take it away. You know, somebody's got to run these podcasts, Bill, Dan. And I'm not unwilling to take the lead. No. We don't mind. We don't mind.

[00:10:32] In six cities around our great country, people will be marching, striding, raising money. Cheering. Cheering. Yeah. Sharing. And sharing. So, if you'd like to help us, if you'd like to join us, purplestride.org. Backslash. Backslash. Team. Trek. Yeah. It's not the last time you're here.

[00:11:01] That works just as well as TrekAgainstPancreaticCancer.com. And it's fewer letters, I think. Very. We have been on your show before, but it was a year or so ago. So, I feel like we should re-familiarize your audience with the story of the group and who we are, and not who we are as actors, but who we are as a team of people. Absolutely. Raising funding awareness for the fight against pancreatic cancer. And it starts with Kitty. Okay. Here I go. 21 years and a month and a half.

[00:11:30] I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I had a Whipple surgery. And unusually, I am a survivor. At that point, there was a 3% to 4% chance I would survive five years. And here I am. And I'm sorry I sound like Brenda Vaccaro today. It's because I have a respiratory infection. And so I can't drink either because I'm on antibiotics. Bummer. All right.

[00:11:58] So, a few years, five years ago, Pan Can came to me and said, would you be an ambassador for us? And I said, I think I have a better idea. Armin and I would like to do it together and bring in the Trek universe. And the first person we called, of course, we didn't actually call. We saw him at Marina Sirtis' going away party, was Jonathan because we knew Daniel, his brother, had passed.

[00:12:22] So, I said, standing in the backyard of Marina's house, would you do this? And he instantly said, yes, I will. And I'm going to hand it to Jonathan now. It was one of the best decisions I've made. I look forward to this time of year because of these multiple screens and because of the biscuits that Kitty makes at her home when we go to the time. Or a publicity tour, if you will. So, my story goes like this.

[00:12:52] My wonderful brother, who actually considers a cute one of the Freakses, was turning yellow. We took him to a hospital in Philly. We took him down to Penn. He was not well. He had lost a bunch of weight. The doctor opened him with the Whipple, which is what they call the beginning of the pancreatic cancer surgery where they go through your organs to get to see what's going on with your pancreas. And they opened him, examined him, closed him and said, we're sorry.

[00:13:22] Your brother has maybe six months to live. And it was, as you can imagine, it was devastating to our entire family. I told this story earlier today. My father really never quite recovered. I guess there's nothing worse. I can't imagine anything worse than losing one of your children. My mother and I mourned Daniel's death quite actively and presently. And it was game changing.

[00:13:48] So to be asked by Kitty, who I've adored for years, and Armin, who actually, he and I go back further than anybody on the screen here to the Impossible Ragtime Theater on 28th Street. 1977. Wow. So it was a joy. And it has turned out that now this is, we're in our fifth year together, raising money for this Purple Stride event. And I'll pass it upstairs here to Mr. Billingsley.

[00:14:18] Yes. And Kitty and Armin approached me a few years back. I don't really quite know how you knew my mom had passed away from pancreatic. You told us. You told us, John. Oh, there you go. She died in 1990 at the age of 70. She was in great shape, great health, but she started complaining of back and stomach pains. My mother hated going to the doctor, was always prepared. If an anvil fell on her head, it would be, oh, it's just a flesh wound. It'll be fine.

[00:14:48] So finally, way too late, which is one of the things that Pan Can has been doing a great job about, raising awareness of what symptoms are so you don't do what my mother did. Way too late, she went to the doctor. And at that time, not a lot of doctors, I think, really connected the symptoms she had with the possibility that it might be pancreatic cancer. So a test come back in two weeks, a test come back in two weeks, a test come back in two weeks. By the time they finally figured out what was going on, there was no whipple. It was, you're done.

[00:15:17] And I remember my father called me that night because we were beginning to worry. My mother wasn't getting better and he was in tears and he said, well, let's kiss your ass goodbye to mom, which was sort of like, ah. And we were a close family, but we weren't that communicative, oddly. As I said this morning, you wouldn't know that to know me, but we didn't really share a lot of our feelings.

[00:15:43] And one of the things that I'm also really so happy to represent this organization for is because they are all about providing a table at which relatives, loved ones, people who are afflicted, people who've survived, people who are going to survive, can meet, gather, talk, share and become part of a community. That was not available to my father or to me or to my brother. We just kind of had our own separate morning experiences. And I'm so in love with this organization because they offer the opposite of that.

[00:16:13] And then we got to know JC. Yeah. My brother, Manny, as many of you know, was the exact producer and showrunner of Star Trek Enterprise in its final season. And he was a lifelong Trek fan. And in 2022, he was suddenly very thirsty. He was at my house. We were just having a cookout and stuff and hanging out. My mom was visiting from Florida. Couldn't quench his thirst. It was really strange. His wife mentioned that it might be a symptom of diabetes.

[00:16:41] He went and got checked and it was in fact diabetes. He also got jaundiced. But the doctor sort of had the presence of mind to look further because we didn't, we don't really have diabetes in our family. We don't. And it was sudden. So they examined him and they did a bunch of scans and they found a tumor on the duct of his pancreas that was blocking the injury. And he was diagnosed with insulin and keeping him from regulating his blood sugar. So that's really where it began. And he was diagnosed on his birthday, actually of 2022, June 10th.

[00:17:13] And, and fought it for a year for 13 months. He did two rounds of chemo and a round of radiation. It was going to do a Whipple in May of 23, but it was too late. It had gone into his bones. So they did not perform the surgery and he passed away on July 9th, 2023. And after that, and just before I sort of started to discover that there was this Star Trek community that had been touched by pancreatic cancer.

[00:17:43] And that was fighting against it. And Pan Can helped us tremendously towards the end and then after providing that sort of that, that hope and that warmth for us and for Manny's widow. So Manny left four kids behind. He was my big brother, but he had his kids later. So he's got a son, little Manny who's 16, a daughter, 13 and two twin daughters who are 12. And they walked last year and they'll be walking this year.

[00:18:12] And you know, Pan Can, I always say it, these guys are hired me always bring it up, but I'm always fascinated by the word action. You know, it's the pancreatic cancer action network. And this organization really is all about action. They take action, whether you're a patient or a loved one, they take action. They bring somebody to your table to help you.

[00:18:34] If you've been diagnosed, they'll connect you to a doctor who knows more or can give you a second opinion if you've been told by your doctor that it doesn't look good. And they can help you with every step of the way. And that's what I, what I love about the organization. And so I was sort of thrilled to jump on and help. And I'm, I'm, I'm doing my best to try and help. I was lucky enough to win last year. And as Jonathan likes to point out, and we're, and we're, we're continuing.

[00:19:05] And we're continuing to just, just push forward. You know, it's a team effort and it is a horrible disease. And, but, but the last thing I'll say is that the walk is really sort of unexpectedly a joyous event. There are a lot of survivors. There are a lot of family members. There are people who are battling it, but they're battling it together. There's actually a great story that Armin and Kitty can tell about last year's walk that that's very moving.

[00:19:31] And, and it's one of the reasons we'd love for y'all to join us on the 26th. Take it home, Armin. Okay. So I'm going to sort of tie together three of the stories here. John's story, Jonathan's story, and Juan Carlos's story. All about their relatives being diagnosed. And I would call it late stage. The problem with this disease or the tragedy of this disease is the symptoms show up at the end.

[00:19:59] We, you don't see the jaundice. You don't see the, the onset of diabetes. You, you don't see the back pains until the disease has really taken over the pancreas. What pan can is doing among the many things that it does is trying to find a marker that will tell a doctor early on. That's what saved Kitty's life early on that, that pancreatic cancer is a possibility here and they'll treat it.

[00:20:27] But if you're treated early, like any disease, if you're treated early, the chances of survival are exponentially larger. I think I can't say much more than that because these guys are incredibly well spoken and, and have told you a lot about it. So that's it for me.

[00:20:44] What about, what about the fact that one of the great things that we've all alluded to that, that the organization that pan can provides is not only the money for research and the money for health, but the, the care for the caregiver. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:06] Like, like, like with any disease, the patient of course is going through the trauma of facing their own mortality, but the caregiver usually that, and it's not just one, it's a whole community of people. They're all trying their best to make the patient feel better, more comfortable to take care of the extra duties that the patient can no longer take care of.

[00:21:27] So there's a lot of onus is put on the, on the shoulders of the caretaker and, and pan can not only deals with the patient, but deals with the, with the caregivers as well. When you go into doctor's office, you really do need a support and pan can will provide that support. They'll send someone to go with you to the doctor's office to ask the right questions, to hear what has to be said and communicate back to you what perhaps you missed while you were sitting in that office.

[00:21:57] And if you go to a doctor's office who tells you that there's no hope that you're going to die. Go to another doctor. They will give you an oncologist who knows more about pancreatic cancer than the doctor you've seen. Yeah. Or, or it, and, and Jonathan's absolutely right. Kitty had the experience that she went to see a very famous oncologist in Los Angeles. Who specialized in pancreatic cancer. Specialized in pancreatic cancer who told her, madam, you'll be dead in six months.

[00:22:27] Uh, and during the course of that interview, uh, Kitty turned to me and said, we're leaving now. And we got up and left. Uh, and, and indeed we, we, we went to another doctor. Actually, this is our first doctor. And, um, and, and there's, you know, not even the specialists don't know everything. And, and what pancan does, it gathers all the information from all the doctors around the country, perhaps around the world.

[00:22:54] And, and uses that information, not only to inform the patients and the caregivers, but also to inform doctors so that they're better educated as to what to do about this disease. And this is unfortunate. I'll finish in a second. This disease is becoming the second most, uh, lethal cancer, uh, to, to be fair. This doctor who told me I was going to die set up because I had not gone to his practice first.

[00:23:21] I hadn't had one of his surgeons do my surgery. And so he just, his ego said, you're not going to make it. And my doctor was the guy who said, you're not a statistic. You're an individual. Let's take care of you. So there you go. Usually when somebody says to be fair, they're going to say something nicer about the person, but you actually dug his hole deeper, which I appreciate. Yes. Come on. Yeah.

[00:23:50] There was one other thing that I wanted to say, which is, you know, a fist raised this administration and this current political culture. We are seeing cuts and slashes to everything. And that includes cancer research. The idea that the national health budget across the board for everything is being reduced to tatters. It is. It's in critical condition to put it, to put it another way. Right? Yes.

[00:24:42] Yes. You see 8% of everything you donate goes to act and goes to things that they're doing. Right. How do you donate? You know, they see. Oh, it's a purple stride.org backslash team track or correct against pancreatic cancer.com or QR code. Pull your phone out right now. And pretty little QR. Right there. In a sweet way. In a sweet way. Join us. Yeah. If you go to the, if you go to the, if you go to the, if you go to the, if you go to the, there it is. Hey, we're up a little.

[00:25:12] Good luck today. Hey. Hey. If you look at our, if you look at our team, one, you may see that some friends and loved ones have donated to us and you can go, Oh, well, if Charlie's donating, I got to donate or you may say, Hey, maybe I will become a sub team leader on this team and get some of my pals to donate. Uh, team in my local town. Yeah. Do we have any challenges for anybody? I keep meaning to ask this.

[00:25:40] Anybody who donates like an exceptional amount that Jonathan Frakes will give them a piggyback ride around the Santa Monica pier, which is here, but it, someone took me up on it last year. It was just push. And it was, it was somebody I could carry. Yeah. I don't, I didn't remember you doing it, but okay. I, I, I, I remember we talked about it, but, um, if you're a big, if you're a big donor and you come to the Santa Monica pier, those of us who will be there will shower you with affection.

[00:26:09] And free strawberries, which are provided every year by Harry's strawberries. It's the best damn strawberry in America. Whether you go to Santa Monica or any other of the 59 cities, you will have an incredibly good time. Yeah. You'll have an incredibly good time, but maybe fly to Los Angeles. Maybe you're putting off a trip to LA and then you can come to Santa Monica pier and you can have the strawberries. And some of us are over. Come on down. Come on. There's bagels in our tent. Bagels. They're purple.

[00:26:38] Jonathan and Armin will not be there because they are, they're, they're touring the south, the south, the west to southeast with, you know, in a fashion to, where are you going, Jonathan? I'd just like to hear you say it. I'm going to Allen, Texas to the Texas Comic-Con for my sins. Southeast Texas Comic-Con. I, I've always been, I don't know what the word to describe it is, is humbled, surprised,

[00:27:04] saddened that something is, something as awful as this can bring so many people together. So, and I guess in that aspect, it's a very good thing. I have, I have a similar story. My father-in-law had a stroke several years ago and during his recovery, his recovery was coming along really well. And then he couldn't eat anything. Nothing was feeling right. And it turns out that he did get checked and he had, had gotten pancreatic cancer and it

[00:27:33] had developed to a stage that it was blocking his, the top of his, the bottom of his esophagus and his stomach so he couldn't eat. Um, so they did fix that blockage, but, um, uh, based on where things were, he decided he was not going to have his family and caregivers go through, um, already more with everything that had happened with the stroke. And, and it was, it was weeks, um, from the time of the diagnosis until the time that he

[00:28:03] had, that he passed away from it. Um, but it's amazing that that's something like this bind so many people together. Uh, from all over the world. And Dan, I'm sad that your, your father-in-law's doctors didn't have a way of checking for pancreatic cancer before they, uh, thought it was something else. So, uh, that's what we're trying. That's why we're raising awareness is for not only for people to donate, which is of course enormously important, but to educate doctors.

[00:28:31] If there's doctors listening, train yourself, educate yourself into what the symptoms are for, and look for it, especially for people who have pancreatic cancer in their family. If you've got pancreatic cancer in your family, you need to be pre-screened, pre-checked to, to catch it early. As I said, catching it early is the key. How is that development of finding those markers that could indicate that there's a problem?

[00:28:57] Has it in the 21 years, Kitty, since you went through your process, how far is that? Has that evolved that you guys are aware of? That, that is probably the thing that we have not succeeded in the most. Treatment is getting better. Um, what is getting better in terms of patient care in that regard is that they're training doctors to look for symptoms. They're, they're talking to, you know, most doctors go, oh yeah, like John said, lose weight,

[00:29:27] back pain, uh, or Manny said, uh, uh, or Manny in Manny's case, um, early, just sudden onset diabetes in somebody over 50. Those are all three really, um, common symptoms of pancreatic cancer, but doctors don't recognize it. I had lower back pain. I just thought I, I just thought I'm such a jock. I just thought I'd done something bad to myself at the gym and I kept losing weight.

[00:29:55] But you know, when I'm under stress, I lose weight because I'm one of those people who tends towards skinny. I was just born that way. Um, but my doctor was smart enough when I went in to go, you know, it's probably acid reflux, but let's just check. Now, now we have more doctors that are just checking because pan can brings it home all the

[00:30:19] time, not just to oncologists, but to family care doctors and, um, people who are on the front lines of diagnosing people with everything. So they know, oh, those are things that we need to look, look at pancreatic cancer as a possibility for, particularly if it's in your family. And Kitty, if you can, can you tell everyone about the K R A S treatment, the crash treatment?

[00:30:43] Yeah, there's a 90% of people with pancreatic cancer have a, um, uh, okay. I'm so brain dead from, from being on massive, um, anti, yeah. So I'm on drugs for my disease, for my infection antibiotics.

[00:31:07] So, um, so when people have this mutation, the crash mutation, um, 90% of them, there's, uh, they, they all share this thing. So there's a new, um, drug, there's new, um, ways to look at this and target it. There's actually a piece on pancans website right now you can look at and, and then they can target your very specific version of, of this mutation.

[00:31:35] And that that's going to make a huge difference. And that's so I put a link in the chat. I put a link in the chat to, if maybe you're calling up that other page, it's the impact report from last year. And in there is this thing that he's talking about. If you scroll down and you get to this page, it says big advancements in precision medicine. And it takes you through all the advancements. And basically in 2014, they started this thing called know your tumor, which was this idea

[00:32:02] that you could, you sort of find they provide marker testing. So you can know the kind of tumor that you have. And then over the years, they've approved more and more targeted therapies in 2024, two were approved and 2022 three were approved and, um, by the FDA. So they've over the years in the last 11 years have really, I think moved the needle, you know, and there's more as of this year. So it's yeah. Dan, that's the answer to your marker question. Yes. Finding markers.

[00:32:31] This is a JC and Kitty were just telling you about one of them. When I'm on a general marker test yet. Right. There's not a general. Yeah. Like there's not like a PSA for what you have for, for positive cancer, but that's what they're working toward. There is a, there is a test that I used to take every six weeks when I was first diagnosed and then every, it went to a year at one point, but it was probably five years before I was taking it less than every three months.

[00:32:58] And that's a, that that's a general marker that might tell you if you have pancreatic cancer, but it's very weak. It's not a particularly good marker, but this, but this is a much different thing. And the other thing is when I, when I had the disease, there was no, let's treat your version of pancreatic cancer this week way. And your version that way, there was one way to treat it. And it was with a sledgehammer.

[00:33:22] I had the surgery and then I had this massive chemo bath that made me. Well, even. Even. Yeah. I weighed 90 pounds. I was five foot 10. So yeah. Wow. Yeah. I went and it took me probably five years to get back to my regular weight. I just, yeah. So what is it that, that keeps doctors from checking about this more often?

[00:33:51] Is it the cost of the test? Is it a lack of knowledge? Is it the insurance companies? Is it lack of knowledge? Yeah. I think, I think JC's right. It's lack of knowledge. It's all that doesn't occur to them because it's also the insurance companies. Why are you testing for this? Why are you testing for this? And we do need to test for this. But having said that, I think it's important to emphasize that there is a survival rate now of 13 to 14%, whereas there was a survival rate of 2 to 3% back in the day, which is indicative

[00:34:20] of the fact that the organization has had a lot of success raising the awareness. So we talk about the worst case scenarios now, whereas we were talking about what was more normative back in 1990. Right. And if they can catch it at stage one, it's 25%. It's a much different thing. I had stage 2B.

[00:34:40] I'm really unusual that they caught me where I had metastasized to my, to my lymph nodes, only two and two were questionable. And I think it's also true that, you know, for patients, for the relationship that patients have with doctors, there is a squeaky wheel, you know, reality. If my mother was truly, I don't think I heard my mother complain in her entire life. If she went to the doctor and the doctor said we're going to do this, my mother would just go, okay.

[00:35:10] Then she would leave and then she would come back. The knowledge that you have as a patient is also going to guide a doctor to take it more seriously to, you know, la, la, la, la, la. That was, that was going to be something that I was going to bring up guys is, is a lot of it is the doctor knowledge is, as, as you guys pointed out and Kitty mentioned, but how much of it is us as patients, a being stupid and like, I'm not going to get that test.

[00:35:35] I'm fine. I don't want to have to pay for that. And, and then worrying about whether the insurance company is going to cover it and, and how are, what are ways that we can get through that block roadblock? So that people do have a better understanding of the importance of getting this kind of thing checked out. Well, first and foremost, if you have pancreatic cancer in your family, you know, screw the money, screw, screw what the doctors are saying, get, get a test, get a test.

[00:36:04] Uh, that's really important. As I said before, it has been said before, before me is that these symptoms show up rather late. So you're not, you know, you're not aware that you're sick until long after you're into stage three or stage four. So it, so if you have pancreatic cancer in your family, it behooves you tomorrow to go and have this check, catch it early. If you can.

[00:36:29] If you have a, if you have a brother or a sister or a parent who's had pancreatic cancer, your insurance company, at least until the new administration was obligated to pay for you to have a genetic test. Okay. Now. So what the strength of this organization is, or one of its many strengths, and it's something I want to keep highlighting because we are here to try and raise money and awareness. And I like to emphasize the money and why you should donate and why you should support this organization.

[00:36:58] If you have concerns or doubts, or you want to get your family together and say, Hey, what if it's a pancreatic cancer diagnosis? What do you think that's going to mean? Call pan can. Yeah. That's why they exist. And I think sometimes it is the extent to which we can go to knowledgeable people to inform ourselves prior to going into a doctor or leaving a doctor and coming back the next time with questions that you didn't know to ask because you've talked to pan can. And may I add to what John is saying?

[00:37:27] All of that is free. All of that is free. They will provide the information and the case manager and most importantly, perhaps the hope, which is what Kitty represents to all of us. And to many people who, in a perfect world, is part of our blood test. When we go in for our annual checkup and get our blood test, which has a thousand things that they read, like the PSA, pancreatic cancer will be on there. And you'll be able to be told four days after they take your blood.

[00:37:56] And that's the ideal right now. Is that kind of that simple of marker. Or having a mammogram. Some version of having a mammogram. Not to be hokey, but because we all love Star Trek in our own ways. I think it's also important to say that, and you alluded to this earlier, Dan, that, you know, the nature of what Federation building is, a coalition building for the Hollywood Food Coalition, the nature of what Pan Can does, is it casts a wide net of caring and information.

[00:38:24] And it's what I love about it, and somebody alluded to this earlier, is that so many people, after they became knowledgeable and after they began to volunteer with Pan Can, have become ambassadors. And have moved the ball forward for other people. The great not-for-profits in the world, they exist to embrace volunteers and to animate them and to activate them. Yeah. Action. Action, as JC said. Action.

[00:38:54] We all have talked about the experiences that we've all had over the years. None of us knew about Pan Can at the time of all of the different things that happened with different members of the family. Can anybody here give me any stories that you've heard at these walks or during any type of meetings of people that have been able to take advantage of the help that this organization provides?

[00:39:20] And how it helped the patient, the caregiver, the family, anybody involved with somebody who's been diagnosed? Well, we'll start. Kitty and I will start, and we'll take it from Jonathan, who prompted this story. So last year when we were walking... JC prompted it, I think, yeah. That's all fine. That's all fine. Last year when we were walking... I know I'm a writer, but I don't always create credit. It's one of the Johns. Right. It's one of the Johns. Carmen and I are the weirdos in this group.

[00:39:49] We're not named John. But I'm changing my name to John tomorrow just to make it easier. John Shimmerman. That sounds good to me. Ooh, that's good. That's a healthy name. We were on the walk, and as is our wont, W-O-N-T, as is our wont, we were talking to people on the walk, and there were hundreds, if not thousands of people on the walk that day. Yeah.

[00:40:17] And one lady, we said, you know, how did you join this? And she said, well, I was diagnosed. No, I was treated a year before, and I went through it all by myself, and it was very scary. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to come on this walk today. But I have found a community. I, all of a sudden, don't feel alone anymore. I feel as though I'm part of a group.

[00:40:43] And that means so much to me because I'm no longer frightened that I'm the only one. And seeing the thousands there on the Santa Monica Beach and hearing the speeches and hearing the stories, that's one individual whose hope, as John likes to point out, Jonathan likes to point out, was exponentially increased.

[00:41:05] Now, there are other things that will pancannies help people, but that lady's story lives with us, and we're just so glad that we met her. Yeah. My high school pal, Ted, whose last name I won't mention, and the off chance he values his anonymity, but he reached out and he donated a couple years back, maybe last year, I can't remember, a couple years back.

[00:41:27] And then we started chatting, falling out of touch with him, and he said his sister had pancreatic cancer, and he hadn't realized that Pancan provided the array of resources. So he and his sister and their families all reached out to Pancan, and they entered into a relationship. And, you know, I've not heard what the end result was, but I know he was very, very happy to have a place to go to with his family to talk and to learn. Yeah. I talked to you.

[00:41:57] Can you talk about Joe? Joe had the same experience. Dynas, Joe. Yeah. So my BFF's brother had a prophylactic. I know two people who've had prophylactic whipples. They had doctors that were really on it. They found the tumor at the head of the pancreas that had not become cancerous yet. And they had a whipple procedure so that it would never become. Pancancreasic cancer.

[00:42:26] Yeah. So in the case of Joe, he has become a devotee of Pancan. He's flown down from San Francisco twice. He's used their services repeatedly. He's introduced other people to it. He had a hell of a year. The first year of the pandemic, he was in the hospital in a bed in a coma upside down with COVID for about two months and survived that.

[00:42:56] And then five months later, he had a prophylactic whipple. And Pancan made an enormous difference for his life. It was a huge difference to his life. It's incredible. And this was a man who didn't want to talk about the fact that he had symptoms of pancreatic cancer. And then having recognized the society and the community, he began to be an ambassador. Yep. Yep. He's raised his money and raised his money and donates every year. And yeah.

[00:43:25] But there's lots of people. And I talk to somebody. Somebody calls me every week probably and says, so-and-so has pancreatic cancer. Will you talk to them? And I say, yes, please. I'm happy to talk to them. And I introduce them to Pancan. And it always comes back to me that Pancan has done a wonderful thing.

[00:43:42] So many actors that Armin and I have worked with over the years, many have passed away, but all of them called Pancan, except one that I know of who didn't tell anybody she had pancreatic cancer. And then I went to her memorial four weeks ago because she didn't want people to know. I wish I could have helped her.

[00:44:02] But everybody else, they embrace the organization because the organization not only embraces them, but gives them really applicable information that they can use and their family can use and their friends can use, their kids can use. And unlike most organizations, they are really nice. They are really nice. Yeah. They really want to help you. Yeah. Yeah. I'm lucky.

[00:44:31] The Food Coalition is really nice, too. Yes, they are. It's true. It's true. Outside of Purple Strives, you know, obviously, there are going to be people who either aren't near one or perhaps can't get to one for whatever reason, you know, work, you know, medical situations. What is the best way that somebody can get involved and help outside of this amazing event, which you all will be taking place on on the 26th, I think it is.

[00:45:01] 26th, it is. I think it's not enough this week that people who are not close to a city where there will be a stride can form their own team and march on the 26th as part of our event. I didn't know that was that thing. Wherever they are, yeah. Yeah, wherever they are. PanCan.org can register you as a team and you can march to whatever village or whatever lake you want to swim. It's a...

[00:45:25] I would also say that I think somebody right now, everybody, should be calling their representatives and saying how dast you even consider making cuts in the, you know... Follow PanCan online because if you follow them on any of the social media sites, they give you actionable things to do every week. This week, we're calling a...

[00:45:46] If you sign up, they'll send you a script and you'll put in your zip code and they will put you through to your representative or your senator and you can leave a message. John is absolutely right. Kitty's absolutely right. It doesn't have to just be pancreatic cancer. This idea to cancel funding for cancer research, no matter what the cancer, is wrong. It's wrong. It's wrong. Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:46:12] And you need to get in touch with your representatives to let them know that's wrong. It's pretty much all wrong. And yes, so... Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have the great QR code so people can go and donate tonight and we always want people to donate for such a great cause like this. In the years that you guys have had this group together and we saw a little while ago that you were at like 130 or something like that. A lot of this.

[00:46:39] I was going to say, how much has this specific awesome group right here raised over the course of the last few years for PanCan? Any idea? Kitty, the team captain. But the rainmaker is Juan Carlos. Well, last year I had a good first year. But there you go. So last year we did $200,000, our team. And right now we're at 130 about, I think. And I'm sure we'll pass 150, which is our goal easily. We might go higher.

[00:47:09] We have a couple of things coming in. We still have money coming from the crews. We have an auction that's going to happen soon through the Star Trek family, which we have been signing swag like there's no tomorrow. Yeah, I have a signed pilot of, sorry, finale of Picard season three signed by Terry Madalus. He mailed it to me from London. He's in London doing Vision now. Yep, and we're going to get John to sign it.

[00:47:40] And Professor Shinn, look at you. Professor Shinn, I presume. And, you know, people will continue to give money. And if I may take the opportunity, we've been asking for money, and that's important, very important. But I also want to say thank you to the people who have given us money all these years. Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you. And they come back and give it year after year, which is fantastic. Yes, thank you.

[00:48:10] And they want to spread the word. You've spread the word. And you guys, I mean, you know, we've been making the rounds of podcasts these days. And it's always wonderful how many people in the Star Trek community are here to help tell the story. Yeah, yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. It's really a community like no other. I mean, you know, our desire to give back actually started with Frakes five years ago, and he'd never met us.

[00:48:37] He decided, yeah, let's do a live stream to help feed some people during the pandemic. And that's kind of what got us started. And since then, you know, we worked on Trek Talks with you, JB. And now we've – it was an easy decision to host you all tonight because, one, we love you all. Even you, JC, who we only met tonight. You seem like a nice guy. I mean, I like the cut of your jib. Yeah. Thank you.

[00:49:00] But in looking at the PanCan website, it looks like you guys are also the top money-raising team. We're close. We were last year, right? Yeah. We were naturally last year, but this year there's this crazy team in New York that's at like almost a half a million dollars. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. And Juan Carlos was the biggest fundraiser in all of the teams. He was the biggest fundraiser. It wasn't just our team.

[00:49:28] I was standing next to him when they announced that. The look on your face was like, what? What? What? I think we did a million two in LA at the Stride last year. Say again? Didn't we do a million two at Purple Stride? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And Purple Stride, 16.7 nationwide? Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. How's the apple drink? How's the apple drink? I'm just joking on that. He's flipping into a coma.

[00:49:57] I've got about a quarter left. I'm doing really good. We've given you a lot of time to drink that. You don't have to talk while we're in. You don't have to keep drinking it. Oh, yeah, I do. Hey, it takes a while to ferment. Yeah. That's right. Nice. You know, I think that this fandom shows up. One, because of the closeness and the tie that we feel partly to all of you.

[00:50:22] I mean, you know, Armin and John and Jonathan and Kitty, you've all been in our lives now for decades. And, you know, rightly or wrongly, we feel this attachment to you as part of our Star Trek family. And I think it's an easy decision for us because I think that this fandom is wired that way.

[00:50:41] So, you know, as minor representatives of this fandom, Dan and I, you know, it's our privilege and our honor to be able to host events like this and to help you all out. Because you all have been helping us through some shit for years, whether you know it or not. You know, whether it's personal crises or pandemics or life-altering events.

[00:51:04] Whether you guys realized it in the moment or not, you've all been there when we've needed a distraction or to laugh or to feel something different about something else. And it's the least we can do to show up for all of you, quite frankly. Thank you. I have to say, it's a two-way street. You guys give as much as we do. It really is lovely. It's a community.

[00:51:31] As my grandmother used to say, one hand versus the other. It was really, and it was really, what's interesting is for Manny, it was really the first community and slash cultural obsession for him, right? You know, we were Cuban-American kids. You know, my parents, for some reason, he tells the story. My parents, for some reason, had it on every Friday. He doesn't know if they really understood it or liked it. But they were watching it. And then he kind of was half watching it.

[00:52:00] Because it was, you know, he was, I think at that point, he was like four or five years old. But then it came into reruns. And it was his first thing, you know. It was the first thing we both obsessed over. And, you know, there were local conventions in Orlando. And then we're talking, you know, 70s. But it's interesting because it really was the first community beyond his own community that he became a part of. But what was his favorite episode, Juan Carlos? What was his favorite episode? Oh, Doomsday Machine.

[00:52:29] We talked about this the other day, right? Doomsday Machine and City on the Edge of Forever, obviously. But Doomsday Machine was, you know, there was a whole run of, like, Humon Sradonis. And I can't remember the order. But, you know, because back then it was on. You had to find it in the newspaper. They would tell you what episode was coming out. So once you kind of knew the run that was coming, we were kind of prepped for that week, you know. And be ready on Channel 35, you know. Channel 56 here when I was in New Hampshire.

[00:52:59] And they'd show it in any order. One night I saw, you know, the Corvo might maneuver. And the next night I saw the Cloudminders. So they just didn't care. They were willing. Oh, yeah. They did it correctly in Orlando, which was great. And so, you know, we kind of knew the seasons. And it was wild. It was wild. So let's see if we can end Jonathan's career tonight. Jonathan, any spoilers?

[00:53:28] My spoiler from last year was that I mentioned in an interview that I had just directed perhaps the best hour of TV I'd ever done. And that it was a Hollywood murder mystery on Strange New Worlds. They have had no choice but to promote the fact or admit to the fact that starting in August when the show drops, there will be, in fact, a Hollywood murder mystery. I resent, I regret it, sort of, but I actually ended up leading.

[00:53:54] What I really got in trouble for was when I mentioned on stage at a Star Trek convention, someone raised their hands and said, well, why was Next Gen never in the alternate universe? And I said, well, I don't know. But actually, I'm just finishing up an episode of Discovery in which all of the characters turn out to be in the alternate universe. And when I was there that night, I got a call from CBS. I got a call from the head of publicity. I got a call from the vice president. I got a call from the director.

[00:54:24] And we have ruined Star Trek. You have ruined everything we set up. And I said, look, you have ruined Star Trek. Wow. But they keep hiring you anyway because you're a phenomenal director. That's really it. Wow. That's hilarious. It's funny. Who would have thought that growing up and as Bill had mentioned, it was a great escape for me. Star Trek literally saved my life.

[00:54:53] You people all have contributed to this universe in so many ways. And Bill has said for many years, and I don't think I can say it better than him. I'm going to try to say it in a good way that when we started the podcast, we finally, you know, with Star Trek, it's a little different than other podcasts, whether it's political or Star Wars or whatever. With Star Trek, Bill says that we kind of have a responsibility to do good, to promote the vision of Star Trek and the future of Star Trek.

[00:55:21] And this here is a perfect example. I don't care if anybody knows my name, my voice, whatever, but us being able to pull all these kind of people together, whether it's here or whether it's Trek talks or whatever. That's something that I'm going to keep with my heart for the rest of my life is doing the good that all humans should have a want to do. And we've been very blessed to be able to do it and have people like you come on and spread the word and help raise money.

[00:55:50] And more important, help raise awareness of what's going on with this disease and the hopes that it can get, you know, tackled and make greater strides. It makes me so happy to be a Star Trek fan and be involved in stuff like this when we have nights like tonight. Thank you. We're grateful for you guys. We are grateful for you guys. You say that now. Where do you go to go now, JC? I think it's purplestride.org backslash team track.

[00:56:19] Or scan the QR code or track against pancreaticcancer.com. But the best one is purplestride.org backslash team track. I got to say this because I'm an IT engineer by trade and so is Dan. That's a forward slash kids. I knew there was something wrong. For some reason. Is it forward slash not backslash?

[00:56:49] It's a forward slash. Oh my God. We've got to redo the video. It's easier if you just say slash. Not only that, but pancan approves the video. What a technical fail. So that thing behind the sink, you're not telling me that's a forward splash, is it? And John, thanks for being here. Guys, we're just talent. We'll be here all week. Enjoy the buffet.

[00:57:17] We're just the meat. The 10 o'clock show completely different from the 8 o'clock show. Please remember. It is our sincere hope that you'll all come back collectively and individually to chat with Dan and I. It would be our greatest honor. Obviously, we've talked to many of you before and we hope to do so again, largely because of the love we have in our hearts for you.

[00:57:44] And largely because you made JB actually kind of reign it in. For that, we owe you a sincere debt of gratitude. Yeah, I know. I know. Well, if you want to let these guys go, the three of us could talk about my penis for a while. And there it is. There it is. It'll be the first thing that comes to mind. Oh, we've got 59 minutes through. 59 minutes, dude. You know, I could go on. You're not providing the context in which the conversation took place the last time. It's better that way, actually, for the audience.

[00:58:13] But, you know, we do think of them first. But and JC, we hope we love to have you. For some reason. I don't know what that's all about. Right. JC, we'd love to have you come to Trek Geeks, too. And talk about, you know, your fandom and your brother's fandom. And even even 9-1-1, too. I mean, we're not. Yeah, sure. We're TV junkies. I'd love to. So I'd love to. And I know the restraining order goes back into effect tonight. So, Dan, enjoy this while you can. Get a good last look at it. Come on, man. I'm sorry. You've ruined Star Trek.

[00:58:42] You've ruined Star Trek, Frank. You are meddling with the forces of the country, Mr. Beal. With that. I just keep seeing Ned Beatty at the end of the conference table yelling at you about Trek. And you're just like. So we've managed to raise a little bit tonight. We hope that anybody who watches this feels compelled to donate. Please, please scan the QR or go to trekagainstpancreaticcancer.com.

[00:59:10] And more importantly, please tell your friends about Pan Can Purple Tracks coming up on the 26th in 60 cities across this great nation of ours, this once great nation of ours. And then and maybe we'll we'll do it all. We'll set a date for next year and we'll help you all out again. Thank you. We'll be here. Thank you, guys. For the collective here on screen. This has been Thursday Night Geeks. We'll see you all next week. We hope you all live long and prosper. Take it away, Garcia.

[00:59:40] Thank you.