获得化学和双重学位后普杜拉。布辛ess at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Joshua had been growing his career at Covance, LabCorp’s drug development business, for seven years, starting as a quality assurance auditor before becoming a study coordinator and an associate pharmacokineticist. He considered himself healthy, which is why his cancer diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity came as a complete shock.
“Out of the blue, I was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue,” said Joshua. “I was a 30-year-old with no risk factors. I had a check-up only nine months prior and, all of a sudden, there was a tumor on my tongue. The doctors couldn’t give me an explanation and said I was dealt a bummer of a hand in life.”
在工作场所寻找支持
“I was so young,” Joshua said. “I had never even looked at my short-term disability policy, but the support I received at work was second to none. I remember going into work to tell my manager, who said, ‘Go home, take care of your needs and we’ll figure it out.’ Covance made it clear that my health was my priority, and I can fully understand and appreciate that not every employer is like that.”
Less than a month after Joshua’s diagnosis in 2013, he underwent a surgery that removed nearly half of his tongue.
“They grafted tissue from different places on my body and ‘Frankenstein-ed’ my tongue back together,” he explained.
手术后，约书亚有一个六周的辐射治疗。这种治疗使他无法用口吃食物，所以他有一个防止饲养管。
“辐射在身体上，精神上是我在整个生活中完成的最具挑战性的事情，”约书亚说。“我有一个面具让他们曾经把我拴在桌子上。”
His feeding tube was removed a week before Thanksgiving but he remembers not being able to taste his holiday dinner. It was about the same time that Joshua returned to work, nearly six months after he was diagnosed.
He continued with regular check-up appointments for five years and, in late 2018, he was declared cancer-free.
“My doctor told me I was cured. That’s really what I’d been waiting to hear,” he said.
Looking ahead and giving back
今天，约书亚在麦迪逊领导了药代动力学和毒物动脉内集团的团队。位于药物新陈代谢部门内，他专注于药物暴露和药物相互作用。他说他的作品是早期步骤的一部分，有助于确定用于人类药物的药物。
“我不是在这里的新角色的蜜月阶段。这是人民领导力的角色，并将我的人民置于我的首要任务。我的经历教会了我，没有我们的人。“
During the time he was undergoing treatment, Joshua decided to start fundraising for the威斯康星大学碳通癌中心, where his initial surgery was performed. A year after his surgery, he raised nearly $4,000 with a 90-hole golf-a-thon. Over the course of five years, that amount accumulated to more than $29,000, and he formed an LLC in 2018. In September 2019, he hosted his biggest event yet – a golf outing near Madison, Wis., that raised more than $12,000 in one day.
“很明显，人们希望积极参与 - 不仅仅是用钱包，”约书亚说。“这让我旨在形成LLC，大约110名高尔夫球手在我的9月期间注册。我必须诚实：它在工作之外消耗了近半年的生活。但是，有一个人们享受的活动，并筹集资金来帮助患有癌症 - 这让我的心唱歌。“
如果人们比以往任何时候都需要帮助，约书亚希望在2020年实现更大的目标，他的组织最近获得了501（c）（3）个地位，以获得更多赞助者。Covance是他2019年9月高尔夫郊游的提案国，并致力于赞助2020年的郊游。
Continuing to share his story
While Joshua is now considered cancer-free, he reports having chronic side effects that are likely permanent.
“我从来没有意识到社交是如何在这种情况下的活动。吃我很长时间。我只咀嚼一边，我必须拿小叮咬。这可能是最大的挑战，“他解释道。
他还在脖子上一个报告肌肉痉挛d that he has to focus on speaking.
“I have to remind myself to slow down and think about the sounds before I speak. At a place like Covance, this can be challenging because it’s really fast-paced. It sounds silly, but I turn on the radio in the morning and sing along to get my muscles moving. I do the same thing on my drive to work. Where I stumble is when I sit for long periods of time and don’t talk. I absolutely notice it when I start to have a conversation then.”
约书亚说，尽管有这些挑战，但他有动力通过他的工作来帮助别人。他计划在2020年9月计划下一个高尔夫郊游。您可以了解更多关于他的故事以及如何参加，赞助或通过访问来参加2020年的高尔夫郊游www.links-strong.com.
“生活并不总是完美的，”乔什说。“但即使事情不到你的方式，Labcorp企业也提供了支持和包容性的环境，因为你并分享你的故事。”了解有关我们的使命，以改善健康和生活以及我们如何帮助Joshua这样的员工发现他们的非凡潜力：https://jobs.labcorp.com/andhttps://careers.covance.com/
