How To Thrive, According to a Thrivr

An Interview With Jonny Puglia

Stage IV cancer is no laughing matter, but outspoken survivor and advocate Jonny Puglia shares how to laugh in the face of anything that tries to hold you down.

Jonny / Grenada 2019.

Being diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer a week before your 30th birthday, and being dryly told about near-hopeless survival statistics in a sterile doctor’s office, on a work break appointment, would be enough to not only end your day, but to shatter anyone’s whole world. But Jonny Puglia is not anyone. He’s a soccer-playing, science-teaching, proud LGBTQ advocate, speaker, writer and non-profit founder. 

He’ll also be the first to humbly tell you that he’s not superhuman. Seventy-four rounds of chemo, and two years later, he’ll sprinkle no sugar on the hell he went through. But you’d be hard-pressed to ever see him not smiling. Turning his life and mindset around after diagnosis, he’s on his way to full remission. And he’s nowhere near stopping. In these unprecedented times, Seek North wanted to sit down with this unstoppable Upstater to share his story, his positivity, and his secrets for living your best life - and sticking to it .

SN: When one listens to your story and journey over the past two years, it can be overwhelming to hear. What keeps you going and did you ever feel like giving up? 

Chemo Treatment #32 at NYOH, Albany Med.

Well, there are always moments in anyone’s struggle, and everyone has bad days where it seems like everything’s wrong – me, maybe I just had a huge dose of chemo, and that same day I had a fight with my friend, and there’s all this compounding negativity, and you just think, “Wow. This all really sucks.” But I never really had a sense that I ever would give up. I really didn’t. I think everyone also has those recurring thoughts from time to time, but I can’t really think of a time where I ever thought I actually couldn’t do this. I think it’s because I don’t really sit and reflect on my trauma. I still haven’t. I was just always thinking ahead – it really is just one day at a time – and I think maybe that’s why I haven’t had a moment where I wanted to quit. I’m always thinking forward to the future.

SN: Was there anything in particular that really propelled you forward, or really gave you the sense that, yes, you can handle all this?

One of the big things, I think, is just telling my story and being honest. I spent about six to eight months radio silent about my diagnosis before I told anyone other than a few friends and family members; especially on social media. I never really liked being the center of attention, or having a lot of focus on me, but I still desired and maintained connections post-diagnosis. As my harsher treatments approached the twentieth-something round, I began to meet some notable people along the way – one being the first person I met, my age, with Stage IV cancer too: my amazing, dear friend, Lauren that I started the ThrivR initiative with. Opening up, along with my amazing support community of friends, family and newer connections, really pushed me to eventually say yes I can get myself through this. I really need to, not just for myself but for the people that believe in me...can handle this!  And it all led to making a difference with the story I told and getting it out there to help foster inspiration and helping people understand. with my story, which turned into doing important work that’s really helping people.

SN: Tell us a little more about your ThrivR project you mentioned, and how it came to be...

Lauren & Jonny / ThrivR

I’d never met anyone outside my family that had cancer, especially at my age. There’s surprisingly little support , or even much known, about what’s needed in younger cancer patients around 18-40. A lot of younger patients end up feeling a little ostracized because the support groups and conversations are mainly centered around people who are older. After being encouraged and gaining more confidence than I’d ever previously had, I decided not only am I going to share my story, I’m going to be really, really blunt about it. For people going through cancer at a young age, it can be really hard to have any connection, so I wanted to fill that realm, and create a community that can reach others, where they can feel connected, and be just as honest and open. A lot of the things I talk about, or post, are really positive, and that’s something most people, regardless of their cancer perspective, do not get to hear a lot of. 

I want to create a place where they can see that cancer is not a terminal designation but an experience that can inspire others to continue their goals and passions while holding onto hope, while crushing the outside stigma that cancer patients receive.

SN: I think anyone reading this right now is going to start wondering what your secret is. So, can you tell us – any routines or habits you make sure to stick to? 

I live on routines. When I first got diagnosed, I got immersed into yoga and meditation to make sure I had a clear mindset going into this - your brain can just get so cluttered when bogged down. This exercise I get really helps in the practice of getting your mindset clear, it’s just been pivotal.

Eating clean has always been important to me too – It’s so weird, huh? You eat well all the time and still get colon cancer... So, eating healthy, nourishing, protein rich food has always been another routine of mine. This is actually how I came to know about Seek North. I’m always looking for holistic and natural things, while big on looking into what a company stands for. I loved what the company was founded on, what it lives, how it gives back with its outreach on Lyme Disease awareness. Honestly, I knew it was good for me, the probiotics, antioxidants, and all those healthy bits, but I never liked kombucha... just... ugh. No. A local friend of mine introduced me to SN and I reluctantly gave it a chance...your Ginger Hibiscus just sold me. I remember going, “What is this?!?”. If you have a healthy gut, you have a healthy mind, and you have a healthy immune system. I need all three, so that’s what I try to keep in all my routines. It’s simply a win-win!

SN: Healthy habits are notoriously tough to stick to, though. Do you have any advice for sticking to your goals, even through adversity?

Sticking to any habit takes a ton of time and focus, so the clear mindset I was talking about earlier is absolutely necessary. I started journaling a lot because it was such a great way to keep myself accountable – both for my mindset, and to track my habits. And then it was just having a support system around that, people that I called my ‘accountability partners’... I know, it sounds so corny... I have two friends that know literally everything about me, more than even my parents, like all of my deepest, darkest secrets, so they could encourage me and keep me accountable for what I was doing. I opened up and let them know everything. They can hold me to what’s truly important to me. They’ll call me or text me daily and say, “Hey, did you do this thing today?” and if not, they’ll go “Well, why didn’t you do it?” Then you start to see patterns as to why you’re not completing something. It helps to identify the why’s, which are the redistricting obstacles, so that you can come up with ways to clear those obstacles. 

SN: You talk about your mindset, and your positive outlook a lot. In the worst circumstances, it can almost seem like a magic trick. What do you think you’d credit the most for your always-positive attitude? 

Taking a break during a 5k in Downtown/South End Albany / April 1, 2020

I think it’s really just me always thinking toward the future, and my drive to strive and live. The reason I do what I do, no matter even if the doctor says I only have a year to live, is to improve the world and do so in a holistic manner – through science, community, and education. I’m going back to school to get my Masters in Education because I want to teach science in a way that’s human and real, and tells stories that apply to our lives. I really want to leave a legacy worth living. I look forward to that every day. And I wouldn’t be able to do any of this either without my amazing parents that have sacrificed so much for me, and my incredible friends that get me out of my slumps. I am fortunate and extremely lucky.

SN: If there’s anyone reading this interview right now, going through something that they’re not sure how to make it through, what advice would you give them?

There’s a book I read, The Miracle Morning (Hal Elrod) and there are these activities called SAVERS, it's an acronym where each letter stands for a 10 minute activity you do in the morning, leading up to an hour of your time. Supposedly, after a while, you begin to develop these healthy mindset patterns. I thought it sounded a little too good to be true, but it was a quick read and I had a lot of time on my hands during my 6 hour chemo infusions...so I just tried it.

It was a total game changer because it starts to show you your thought process over time, because you gave yourself the time to look forward, and you start to make a natural habit of doing that. For the most part, whatever our baggage is we tend to accentuate it internally a lot. We do not learn or learn enough of this in school - journaling, adjusting your mindset, visualization, goal-setting – we just keep going, going, going and if we ever stop, well, we just look at our phones and like the next person’s selfie. Make it a habit of taking the time for yourself and keep thinking about moving forward, or you’ll keep getting stuck. Self discovery is truly the holy grail of living your life...so start that journey now!

In addition to being an unstoppable ThrivR, Jonny is also on the board of GLSEN, an enthusiastic member of the Albany Empire Soccer Club and co-founder of the non-profit ThrivR (hyperlink to https://thrivr.life/), where you can read his full story.

You can follow him and his journey on Instagram @pugggslife or at jonnypuglia.com.