Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month With Dan "Dry Dock" Shockley

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month With Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley – About IBD Podcast Episode 149

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Diagnosed with attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis (AFAP), retired Navy veteran Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley shares his remarkable journey of service, diagnosis, and advocacy. Following his diagnosis, Shockley became a passionate advocate for early detection and reducing the stigma associated with living with an ostomy. He emphasizes the importance of proactive medical care and maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Through his advocacy work and personal journey, Shockley serves as an inspiration, demonstrating resilience, determination, and a commitment to making a difference for others.

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[Music: IBD Dance Party]

Amber Tresca 0:05
I’m Amber Tresca and this is About IBD. I’m a medical writer and patient educator who lives with a j-pouch due to ulcerative colitis. It’s my mission to educate people living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis about their disease and to bring awareness to the patient journey.

Amber Tresca 0:20
Welcome to Episode 149.

Amber Tresca 0:22
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. People with IBD and anyone over the age of 45 need to have regular screening to detect and prevent colon and rectal cancer. There are also several other types of conditions that can put people at higher risk for colorectal cancers. That can mean having screenings earlier or more frequently.

Amber Tresca 0:43
My guest is Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley. Dan lives with a permanent ostomy due to attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis, or AFAP. This is a genetic condition that causes the growth of polyps which can become cancerous. These polyps grow in the colon, but they can also appear in other organs in the body as well.

I’ve followed Dan for years, watching how he raises awareness of colorectal cancer, ostomies, and genetic cancers. Dan tells me about his diagnosis, how he went about preparing for ostomy surgery, and some of his activism wins. Plus he lets me know what inspires him to always forge ahead with a purpose.

Amber Tresca 1:25
Dan, thank you so much for coming on about IBD

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 1:27
Amber, thank you very much honored for the opportunity to share my journey on your podcast.

Amber Tresca 1:33
Oh, it’s my pleasure. You’ve as I told you before you’ve been on my shortlist for a long time now that I’ve wanted to speak to you. So I’m glad that we could make this work. And I wonder first, if you would begin by introducing yourself a little bit so that the listeners understand who you are and where you’re coming from.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 1:51
Thank you very much, I’d be honored. My name is Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley. I’m a retired Navy veteran of Operation Desert Storm operations and during an Iraqi Freedom. And 12 years ago, I was diagnosed with a hereditary colon cancer syndrome known as attenuated FAAP, which is a autosomal dominant germline mutation. I know that’s a lot to digest, but I can explain later.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 2:19
And as a result of my diagnosis, I underwent successful ostomy surgery. So I have a permanent ileostomy. And Ambassador internationally for the importance of early detection and hoping to help silence the stigma often associated with not just getting a colonoscopy. But with being an ostomate.

Amber Tresca 2:46
Dan, I love that. And of course, those are all of the reasons why we’re talking today. But I want to start first with your time in the Navy, because I’m sure you have so many stories to tell from your time in the Navy. But start off with letting me know where you enlisted, when you enlisted. And then where you served.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 3:07
Absolutely, I enlisted in Chicago, December of 81. I reported to boot camp in San Diego. And I started my journey and I was out there for nine months and then went to my first ship which was stationed on Charleston, South Carolina, served on board the USS Petro was a submarine rescue ship. And we spent a lot of time down in the Caribbean. Lots of neat port visits down there lots of operational things, operational missions, we had a It was amazing.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 3:44
My first tour, I learned so much. And that actually started my journey of overcoming adversity. I ended up serving on active duty for 22 years, I was assigned during my career to seven different ships, different ports, I’m sorry, different home ports. And three of those ships with been deployed to the Persian Gulf while I’ve been on board. I ended my career on a little island off the coast of Saudi Arabia, indirect support when we kicked off operation and during an Operation Iraqi Freedom. So I was in on the ground in Bahrain, September 23 2001, to September 4 2003. And just had an amazing career. Lots of experience.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 4:29
I learned a lot from my comrades, Marines, especially their mantras, adapt, improvise and overcome and I took that to heart once I was diagnosed with my mutation, you know, plan for the worst hope for the best. There’s been a lot of nights when I was in the Persian Gulf on those ships that you’d sleep with one eye open because you just don’t know.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 4:51
And so, once again, that little bit of experience really helped me with my mindset once I was diagnosed With this mutation to plan for the worst hope for the best, you know, my mindset is, I tend not to think about things I’m unable to control such as medical issues. What I can control is my positive attitude. And after this long on God’s green earth, my positive attitude has brought me this far Why change now?

Amber Tresca 5:18
Thank you for all of that. And that’s, you know, one of the reasons that I wanted to talk to you as well as to understand how you overcame not overcame, I don’t want to say overcome, because you but you adapted to learn to live with your diagnosis. And so but I wonder if you would first explain a little bit about this, because it is a rare condition attenuated F AP. But I’m wondering if you would explain a little bit about FAP, and when and how you were diagnosed?

Speaker 1 5:53
Absolutely. Now, it’s important to note, I’m not a medical professional, I’m just a very attentive patient. And I had my first colonoscopy, 51 years old, I was in Hawaii at the time, that’s where I resided in the VA Health Care System over there took care of me, and leading up until the colonoscopy. I was I felt fine is symptomatic. Once again, no family history. So I had the colonoscopy. When I woke up my doctor who was standing there, and he had photographs ready to have the colonoscopy.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 6:31
He said he found 100 polyps embedded throughout my colon, rectum and anus. And one of those polyps was creating an 80% blockage in my ascending colon. Now, I was like, well, Doc, I don’t understand what this is all about, because I feel fine. And at the time, I had two full time jobs. And I said, Well, I’m going about my daily activities. I don’t understand what this is all about because well, I’m gonna have to send you over to a certified genetic counselor at Tripler Army Medical Center, the VA Medical Center is on the same campus as Tripler is a huge, it’s a flagship for the military department of defense in the Pacific Theater. This is the hospital that all these troops in sailors get sent to from Japan, Singapore, Okinawa, Guam, they all if they need anything, they’re going to come to Tripler because that’s how good this hospital is.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 7:26
So I had an appointment a couple of days later to see the certified genetic counselor. She sat me down said, Well, we think you have AFAP take the mutation is familial adenomatous polyposis, FAP is a mutation. Okay, it’s in the 22nd chromosome. Now FAP would be an earlier onset below 49. Attenuated FAP has a later onset 50 to 55.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 7:54
Now it’s important to know, attenuated FAP was discovered by the late Dr. Henry T. Lynch. So for those are familiar with Lynch syndrome. Well, Dr. Henry T. Lynch, this Lynch syndrome was named after him. Okay. Well, he is also credited with the discovery of attenuated FAP, and his research between 1984 and 1992. Now, I had to go through germline DNA testing, other results had to be sent, I’m sorry, the samples had to be sent to a molecular oncology lab in Pasadena, California. That’s the closest lab to Tripler that would facilitate this particular test.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 8:35
And it took six weeks to get the results back because they had a look. They had to do so many tests on my sample. So in the meantime, I was sitting down with my genetic counselor, I had an open door with her. Now I had the audience of the chief colorectal surgeon, as well as the Chief of Surgery at Tripler. So I had open communication with all three of these as well as my GI doctor, to communicate with them any questions I had. So I had lots of questions. And they had information for me to read about the mutation. So I had six weeks to mentally prepare myself now, my military experience, I went into battle mode, but battle mode in a positive way, because I’m ready to take this head on.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 9:19
So I broke down the reading into three phases. I wanted to learn about the mutation as much as I could before the results came back and I want to also learn about the particular surgery where they’d have to remove my colon, rectum and anus and be outfitted with a permanent ileostomy. Then I wanted to read about what it’s like to be allowed to me for the rest of my life. Now, theory is one thing, practical application is another thing.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 9:46
So I’m on the other side of the table, my medical team and I’m taking all this in and the results came in and I got called into the see the genetic counselor McColl, rectal surgeon. They said, well, Daniel, the results came in and you actually had the APC mutation. So therefore, you’ve been diagnosed with attenuated FAP, because you’re 51 years old, and you’re right in that window. And as said, okay, and because well, of those 100, polyps, there’s 100% chance that any of those polyps can turn into hereditary colon cancer. So it’s in your best interest and best practice of medicine to have your colon rectum and anus removed. You don’t have to have it, but you need it because the older you are the longer you wait, the you’re setting yourself up for some hard times.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 10:35
I looked at my doctor and I said, Doc, I’ve already read about this. I’m ready. I want the surgery. He goes, Daniel, that’s what I thought you’d say. I’ve already scheduled your surgery. It’s two weeks from today. And, and I had the surgery, I mentally I was preparing myself when I woke up in the recovery room after this six hour surgery. And the first thing I said was the doc Gagliano, find everything he was looking for. And then he came in and talked to me. And he says, Well, I feel confident that we have everything. However, we’re going to have the biopsy, from the colon in eight days. And so I was in the hospital for total 12 days. The results came in from the pathology and one of the that one polyp that was causing an 80% blockage in your ascending colon was an eight centimeter tumor listed his high grade dysplasia now, in my book that’s as close to stage zero, as you can get.

Amber Tresca 11:36
Yeah.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 11:37
Fortunately, my colorectal surgeon was able to get all the associated lymph nodes. And that’s what we’re at.

Amber Tresca 11:45
Did they ever think that it could also be something else? Or were you always operating? Because it seems to me you had a hunt more than 100 polyps? No matter what it was, you’re probably going to have to have the colectomy Is that accurate?

Speaker 1 11:59
Yeah, Well, the mutation, it’s a germline mutation. So once I did the DNA test, they confirmed that I had the mutation, APC. That was it. That’s That’s my ticket now. And I just go, I’m selling that course now. Because now keep in mind about Dr. Lynch. Well, my genetic counselor and colorectal surgeon were colleagues of Dr. Lynch. At that time, he was 86 years old.

Speaker 1 12:26
He was, among other things, the director of Preventative Medicine at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. So Little did I know that my genetic counselor and colorectal surgeon have been communicated with Dr. Lynch. So the interesting part is seven months after my surgery, guess who shows up in Hawaii to do academic lectures, Dr. Lynch, so I got to, I got invited by my genetic counselor to attend one of his lectures at the University of white Cancer Center. And my genetic counselor introduced me to Dr. Lynch before one of his lectures.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 12:57
And then after the lecture, we sat had lunch, and there was a group of six of us from Tripler. And then we sat down for an hour and 50 minutes and I got to talk to Dr. Lynch, I had my genetic DNA test results with me my my discharge summary from the hospital. And then he went on to say that during this conversation that I had a unique case of AFAP. And he considered me a colleague, we stayed in touch through the years now, when you have the APC mutation, it’s important that the individual goes through a routine endoscopic procedure.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 13:32
So I was having an endoscopic procedures every year, up until two years ago. Now, what the mutation will do, it will, it will and has manifested in other organs. So it’s already the polyps in my stomach are too numerous to count. I’m asymptomatic. I just continue to go through my endoscopic procedures now. And now the reason I ended up in California, is because one of those endoscopic procedures is called a single or a double balloon enteroscopy where that scope actually has to get into your small intestine.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 14:09
Well, there is no facility in Hawaii that’s accredited to have that procedure that particular scope performed. So I was being flown to San Jose to go to Palo Alto VA Hospital, which is the and the director of the GI clinic was performing the scopes, they actually exhausted all their scopes. I think I went through for the first time I was out there in 2014. I ended up going through four different scopes. So he said okay, we’ll come back in two years now, I was still having a G the EGD and decide to scope performed in Hawaii. However, whenever I needed the single double balloon that will be done at the Palo Alto, and I decided to go ahead and move to California to be closer to Palo Alto, because I knew from the communication I had with Dr. links the older I get the higher percentage that this mutation could reach my pancreas.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 15:06
So, three years ago, three and a half years ago, I was a three centimeter adenoma discovered in my jejunum, the very beginning of the small intestine. And based on that, my GI doctor there, the director of the clinic at Palo Alto, he, he recommended that consider surgery. Now I was thinking he was a Whipple procedure. Well in the last 25 years is a newer technology called the pancreas. sparen dwad ectomy resection, and that’s a lot to digest it basically you’re going to take out about 60 centimeters at the beginning of the small intestine, redo the bile ducts to your pancreas, and then remove your gallbladder.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 15:43
So I was referred to the one of the leading pancreatic cancer surgeons at Stanford now, I didn’t have pancreatic cancer. However, if I would have left that adenoma, continue to manifest that’s the road I’d be down right now. So I got referred to Stanford and we had the surgery and smooth sailing ever since. And I, I go back now every two years, for an EGD and the single blind endoscopy, we don’t have to do the side view scopes anymore because I don’t have the judgmental middle director the GI clinic was was faculty at Stanford, he’s on loan to the VA. So my doctor, the surgeon, he reckoned he referred me to their their colleagues or faculty at Stanford. So no pun intended. No, no, they don’t be inside and out.

Amber Tresca 16:35
Yeah, 100%.

Amber Tresca 16:41
After the break, how Dan prepared while waiting for his biopsy results.

Amber Tresca 17:01
I want to go back to your initial diagnosis, and you broke it down as to how you thought about it. And you kind of went about it in a sort of methodical way to learn about what might happen to you, and so that you could prepare, but I want to understand how that affected you. Maybe more emotionally, this diagnosis, and then understanding what the treatment was, I’m assuming that you’ve been pretty healthy. Aside from I know, we talked about, you’d had an appendectomy, some years prior. But you know, what did that feel like? And then what would be your advice? For anyone that comes up against this a diagnosis like this, that that literally comes out of the blue?

Speaker 1 17:42
Yeah, came out of the blue. Absolutely. Well, the important thing is everybody is going to be different based on their life experiences up to that point, you know, when they get a diagnosis of any type, I’m open minded, I asked a lot of questions. And I like to do a lot of my own research from credible sources. So I can better prepare myself. It’s all about the mental part, my mental preparation. Just like when we went when I got deployed to the Persian Gulf, we have no idea what it’s like until you get there, you can read all you want about and be prepared.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 18:15
You know, I would rather you know, like I said, plan for the worst and hope for the best. So that’s my approach because of my military experience. everywhere that I went, I was always, what’s the phrase we use ever vigilant. Okay. So that’s part of the reason that I embraced this diagnosis from the onset, because I wanted to learn as much as I could about it. And the more that I read, the more I realized that this is there’s not that much information about it. And keep in mind, attenuated FAP is listed as a rare disease. It’s a sub variant of FAP.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 18:52
So Dr. Lynch has shared with me that this mutation, attenuated FAP, is estimated to impact less than .03% of the global population. There’s no statistics on you’ll hear about FAP, a lot more than you’ll hear about attenuated FAP will impact approximately 1% of the global population. That’s what the communication I had with Dr. Moniz. Now keep in mind, he passed away June 2, 2019. On I believe it was either national or World Cancer Day.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 19:26
Okay. Dr. Lynch is the founding father of hereditary cancer research, okay, he’s a world renowned leader. He passes away in 91 and a half years old on World Cancer Day. So my purpose is to share my journey on the importance of early detection to carry the torch for Dr. Lynch and in hopes of saving lives. You know, I try to be a source of inspiration and encouragement for those who hear about me or read about my journey. And I also want to educate the medical students because rare diseases is now part of the curriculum for medical students.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 20:03
So I’ve been I’ve had the opportunity to be a live case presentation, many times virtually and then a lot of times in person, for medical students, gi students, genetic counselors, and this is my way of giving back to the medical students, medical professionals and like I said, be a source of inspiration for the masses. You know, they hear about my journey, right.

Amber Tresca 20:28
And as you said, AFAP is still not well known. And there’s so much misinformation and stigma around ostomies. And so you’ve taken it on to help try to help the general public as well as medical professionals better understand these conditions. And you’ve brought so much to your activism in terms of colorectal cancer awareness and ostomy awareness. And so I want to hear about some of the highlights of this journey and some of the things that you because you have spearheaded some initiatives, can you tell me about some of those things?

Speaker 1 21:07
Oh wow. Yes, thank you. Yeah, when I when I cannot do when I was in Hawaii, I had the audience of the governor at the time, David Egee, for ostomy Awareness Day, which is the first Saturday of every October, and then the month of March being colon cancer awareness month. So I have the audience of the governor, on behalf of the United Ostomy associations of America, I had requested he present a request, sponsor my proclamation request, as well as on behalf of the fight CRC organization for March being colon cancer awareness month. So I had the audience with him several times before I left in 2016.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 21:53
And then since I’ve been in California, I have my mayor. They present proclamations to me for each campaign. And last summer, I reached out to the senator Roger Nilo, I reside in his district, and I’d asked him if he’d be interested in sponsoring a commemorative message about my ostomy Awareness Day campaign here in California. He said, I will not only sponsor this, I’m going to author a Senate concurrent resolution, designating last year, October 7 as Ostomy Awareness Day in the State of California. And that request was submitted on the 14th of August, I was invited to the state capitol when I set up in the gallery, he introduced the Senate concurrent resolution on the Senate floor up for vote, and it passed 37 to zero.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 22:52
Then, I was informed that this is the first measure of its kind in the state of California. So two weeks later, I was invited to his office, and he presented the framed resolution to me and my wife. And I figured, well, you know, I’m testing the waters. So I reached out to his staff a couple of weeks later, and I asked him, would you be interested in sponsoring a Senate concurrent resolution designated March as CRC Awareness Month in the State of California. And they said, Sure, reach out to us after the new year. So it did. And week ago, Monday, I was invited to the state capitol set up in the gallery again, with some colleagues from the area. And he read, he introduced the measure, and it passed unanimously, 34 to zero.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 23:46
And then we went down to the second floor of the Capitol and got to meet senator in yellow, with my colleagues with us when we had photos taken. And I’ll be waiting, be about another week or so I’ll be called to go to his office to get that frame resolution. While I was talking to him after the after the event. I reminded him that we’re going to be Sir, I’m going to be circling back about ostomy Awareness Day said every third year is World Ostomy Day. He was okay. I’ll do it again. So, now we’re gearing up for that. Now that’s going to be October 5 of this year is World Ostomy Day.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 24:28
Now we’re going to have an event in Sacramento at the Mater VA Medical Center. My wound nurse who’s now retired from the VA. They she’s been with me with these presentations, as well as with my mayor here in the city of Galt presents the his proclamation to us she has been there and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, they presented their ostomy awareness Dave resolution to me last September the end of September. So The only do is just continue to ask, you know, for support from my legislative member in this case, Senator Roger O’Neill has been very receptive to it. And he’s a such a down to earth guy and hope we’ll have many more opportunities in the in the coming campaigns. But that’s been the highlight so far. But it’s been an incredible journey, all the while along the way.

Amber Tresca 25:24
Yeah, I mean, that’s just incredible. And it must help so many people in your state, and then also beyond your state feel seen and heard and understood, to have these proclamations, and then also to, you know, have the the world ostomy day events that are coming up. That’s going to be so it’s going to be so exciting, and it’s going to help so many people. So thank you so much for for all that work. But But Dan, where did the “dry dock” come from?

Speaker 1 25:53
Oh, great question. Okay, so, Dan Dry Dock, the impetus of Dry Dock. In 2019, I was playing for the Central Valley, vintage baseball club here in the Sacramento area, we play by the 1863 rules of baseball, no gloves, it’s all under hand pitching. And their one rule was, if the ball bounces, you catch it on a hop, it’s still considered an out. They don’t count balls and strikes. And you can over run first base, those are among some of the rules. And you were all the attire that they’d wear from back in the day farmers coming in from the fields.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 26:39
So I started playing for them now, when I started, I have played three games with them. And then everything else changed. You know, the whole, the first game I showed up, I didn’t expect the play. And they asked what position I said Why play first base, said okay, and they had a second baseman, his name was Dan. So here we got first base and second baseball, Dan. And he was on the other Dan was Army Air Force vet.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 27:08
So I went to the coach and I said, Well, you know, this is gonna get kind of interesting, because first and second base for both. And then he goes, Well, what we do is we try to encourage our players to have a vintage theme. nickname. I said, okay, and I said, well just call me, Dr. Davis. Okay. So I’ll tell you later, and it’s just off top my head. Well, okay, so vintage. 1863. Okay, Civil War era, Abraham Lincoln’s President, my home record is Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. One of my deployments to the Persian Gulf was on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Guess where we got, guess what we went? When we came back from deployment? We went into drydock for 14 months.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 27:50
So I said, that’s it that’s got to fit. That’s my story. And I’m sticking to it. Go with it. And and I’m on land. I’m a landlubber. Now so water.

Amber Tresca 28:03
So it’s funny. Thank you for telling me that.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 28:07
Just happened? Seriously just happened. I didn’t plan it.

Amber Tresca 28:11
I thought you said you’re an amateur botanist. So I have to ask you about your garden. So you’re growing some pears. What else you’re growing and you’re here?

Speaker 1 28:24
Yes. So peas sugarsnap peas, I have the seedlings going the fall crops are gone though. The the beets and carrots and the snow peas. They weren’t, you know, that’s ongoing. I’ll continue to keep them going until the summer when it gets heat when it gets hot here. I’ve got Indian corn seedlings going right now. And then there’s, gosh, what else do we have? Give me a second. I planted a whole bunch of miracle seeds, because I need to marigolds around all the squash, cucumber, pumpkin. Marigolds because they keep the critters away. And I’ve got I’ve got like five different gourd varieties going and probably five, maybe five different pumpkin, nothing big but they’re all real small.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 29:13
But I’ve got so many seedlings and I’ve got raised beds and I’ve been making out of old pallets. So they’re about two and a half sometimes on the three feet off the ground. We have Australian Shepherd golden retriever mix puppy and she’s just over a year old and she gets into everything so I’ve got to put fences around the raise beds but I’ve got raised beds and various parts of the yard I’ve got sunflowers I got mammoth sunflower, seedlings going I’ve got two different types of cucumber seedlings gone. And when I say seedlings, I mean like 30 of each.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 29:49
Okay, and the gourds of pumpkins. I’ve got probably more than that. I got a lot of things going on out there. I want to keep things growing year round here. It’s more for enjoyment. I mean, we get some beets and peas out of it, we’ll get we’ll get peas. I don’t know about the beats. But it’s just I just go out there and I just I’m out there tinkering around, you know, but I’m trying different things, seeing what I can grow. If it doesn’t work out, I just go, you know, just keep trying other things.

Amber Tresca 30:19
Well, Dan, thank you so much for talking with me. And then also for everything that you are doing for the colorectal cancer community, the ostomy community, the AFAP community, you know, I don’t think I want you to be a part of any more rare disease communities. I think you’re doing enough. You don’t need to add anything else to it. But thank you so much. And last thing is I want everyone to be able to follow you. So if you can let me know about your social media and where people can find you across the interwebs.

Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley 30:50
Absolutely, yeah. LinkedIn. I’m Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley, Instagram I’m Dan drydock, and Twitter. Dry Shockley. So I don’t know how that worked out. I guess because my University Drive anyway. That’s a three I’m on how they can email me a Dandrydock@gmail.com as well. Excellent. And there’s how many 31 articles online about my journey? You google my name, Dan “Dry Dock” Shockley , you know, there’ll be a boatload of articles out there. I think now, this would be my 16th podcast guest appearance. So add that to the list. And yeah, pretty amazing. But thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity to it’s been an honor.

Amber Tresca 31:32
Thank you so much, Dan.

Amber Tresca 31:37
Hey, super listener! Thanks to Dan Shockley for finding the time to talk to me about how he is managing living with AFAP and the work he’s doing in the community to increase awareness. And even though I’ve been following him for years, it never occurred to me until he explained it, that the acronym for his mantra, “always forge ahead with a purpose” is AFAP, the acronym for his diagnosis.

Amber Tresca 32:01
Be sure to follow Dan across social media. As always, links to a written transcript, everyone’s social media handles, and more information on the topics we discussed is in the show notes and on my Episode 149 page on AboutIBD.com.

Amber Tresca 32:16
Thanks for listening, and remember, until next time, I want you to know more about IBD.

Amber Tresca 32:27

About IBD is a production of Mal and Tal Enterprises.

It is written, produced, and directed by me, Amber Tresca.

Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney.

Theme music is from Cooney Studio. 

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