皇家华人

As Sr. Director of Medical Operations for the Milwaukee Brewers, Roger Caplinger is accustomed to taking care of the health needs of others. On December 1, 2017, however, it became time for others to care for him. That鈥檚 the day he heard two of the scariest words a doctor can utter: pancreatic cancer. Roger decided immediately to adopt a fighting spirit. 鈥淚鈥檝e been in baseball my whole adult life, so I have a baseball analogy for this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a curveball. You can either take it or you can crush it. We chose to crush it. Meaning we are going to take this disease head-on.鈥� 鈥淔ighting any disease takes a TEAM effort. We have been blessed to have the best team, the 皇家华人 and the Milwaukee Brewers.鈥�

At MCW, pancreatic cancer care is multidisciplinary and includes specialists from many areas to collaborate and develop a cohesive treatment plan tailored to each patient. From diagnosis to cure, Roger underwent several rounds of chemotherapy, as well as radiation and a surgery known as the Whipple procedure. Roger said, 鈥淚 wear this bracelet that says 鈥楳r. Happy鈥� to remind that everyone at MCW is there to guide us through this journey.鈥�

Roger was also fortunate to have participated in a clinical trial pioneered by the doctors from the MCW LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program. Clinical trials and research are key to discovering new treatments and providing the best care to patients. Roger commented, 鈥淢CW is leading the fight against pancreatic cancer as they are treating the patients of today and treating the patients of tomorrow. We鈥檝e done medication trials- and, collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with tumor research. These innovative research studies are vitally important to the patients of tomorrow; we鈥檝e done these things to help them. The studies may not be helping me right now but they鈥檙e going to help somebody else.鈥�

After beating pancreatic cancer Roger explained, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not done. My battle was won. Now, we鈥檙e going to battle for everybody else. My family and I, are committed to bring a cure for pancreatic cancer, and it鈥檚 starts with the MCW LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program.鈥� Roger and his wife Jackie believe in paying it forward. They raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network through its annual Purple Stride walk at Miller Park. They also hosted a fundraiser with the Brewers called the 鈥楶urple Tie Guy鈥� at Miller Park with all the major Brewers players and raised over $50,000 for the MCW LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program.