Cancer Survivor Is Joined by His Doctors for Tunnels to Towers 5K
Two Stony Brook Cancer Center doctors went the extra ‘3.1 miles’ with their patient
When Ed Murphy stood at the starting line at the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk in Brooklyn, New York, on September 29, he knew he wouldn’t be going the distance alone. Murphy was joined by his two doctors from Stony Brook Cancer Center, surgical oncologist Georgios V. Georgakis, MD, PhD, and medical oncologist Julie Anne L. Gemmill, DO. Murphy said they kept him alive after a difficult battle with pancreatic cancer.
For Murphy, participating in this race was a testament to the fact that after over a year of enduring chemotherapy, significant surgery and a slow recovery, he’s still fighting to stay positive through the power of exercise. But it was particularly inspiring for him to have his two doctors go the extra miles and run by his side.
Despite regularly participating in marathons and half marathons for many years, the 2024 Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk wasn’t one that Murphy expected to join after he was diagnosed with an early-stage pancreatic cancer in Fall 2022. As a registered nurse who worked in the psychiatric unit at Stony Brook University Hospital for 15 years before retiring in 2020, he didn’t hesitate to choose the Cancer Center team for his care. He first received chemotherapy to keep the tumor on his pancreas from growing.
“Given the tumor’s significant size and proximity to major vessels, he underwent a rigorous six-month chemotherapy course,” said Gemmill. “The first three months aimed to shrink the tumor for surgery, while the latter three eradicated any residual microscopic cancer cells. It was a difficult road, filled with ups and downs, but his courageous spirit and resilience never wavered.”
In March 2023, under the care of Georgakis and Gemmill, Murphy had Whipple surgery to remove the tumor.
Though his treatment and recovery were sometimes exhausting, Murphy said even when he was in the hospital, he pushed himself to keep training and moving. “I think I broke the record for most laps walking on the unit.”
At a follow-up surgical appointment, when he mentioned his plan to run the Tunnel to Towers 5K, Georgakis turned to Gemmill and said, “We’re running this with him.”
“At first I thought they might be joking, but when they made it clear they meant it, I was impressed,” said Murphy. “It was a very nice gesture. We traveled into Brooklyn together and the race was fun. It was a patriotic event, which made it even better.”
Read the full story at the Stony Brook Cancer Center website.