Six experiences with cancer. Eight surgeries. And a perspective on life that will stay with you.

In this episode of The Healthcast, Phil Zappone sits down with author and patient advocate Jonathan Gegerson, who joins the conversation while actively receiving chemotherapy.

Jonathan shares how his first diagnosis changed his life, how his wife’s words—“We are going to get through this”—helped ground him, and why being present for his family matters more than any material achievement.

They also discuss the emotional weight of ongoing treatment, the often-overlooked role of caregivers, and the nurses whose compassion made his hardest days more manageable.

In this episode:
• Facing a cancer diagnosis and seeking a second opinion
• Navigating the daily mental and emotional challenges of treatment
• Finding joy in everyday life, even during uncertainty
• The importance of caregivers, family, and community
• What exceptional nurses do that patients never forget
• Speaking up and staying involved in your care
• Why support shouldn’t end when patients leave the hospital

Chapters:
00:17 Meet Jonathan Gegerson
00:49 Life before cancer
03:34 The first diagnosis
09:44 Facing cancer six times
10:23 The mental and emotional challenges
15:06 Recording while receiving chemotherapy
16:15 Redefining success and happiness
20:24 Love, caregiving, and a difficult recovery
26:47 What patients need from healthcare providers
29:01 Listening and patient advocacy
33:14 Why follow-up care matters
36:32 Living fully, one day at a time
38:44 Jonathan’s book and where to connect

Learn more about Jonathan:
Find Jonathan Gegerson on LinkedIn and explore his book, Perspective C, on Amazon.

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-gegerson-4633a814/

Perspective C | https://www.amazon.com/Perspective-Survivor-Jonathan-Gegerson-Suffering-ebook/dp/B0CT4Z9B1S?ref_=ast_author_dp_rw&th=1&psc=1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._fMWG81CAYCV_Nzl7tooHA.H1d3foO73_km6XjukM320XtCxxgyqLT98uUIxKGy57s&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Learn how I help small businesses:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.

What if conversations about men’s sexual health opened the door to better preventive care?

In this episode of The Healthcast, Phil Zappone sits down with Dr. Elliot Justin, emergency physician, entrepreneur, and founder of FirmTech, to explore the connection between sexual and cardiovascular health.

Dr. Justin shares the story behind FirmTech’s wearable technology and his vision for bringing objective data into a field often guided by subjective questionnaires. They discuss tracking nocturnal erections, understanding changes over time, and helping patients become more engaged in their care.

In this episode:
• Dr. Justin’s journey from emergency medicine and telehealth to founding FirmTech
• The relationship between erectile function and cardiovascular health
• Why Dr. Justin challenges conventional approaches to erectile dysfunction
• Why trends matter more than a single measurement
• How wearable data could support more personalized conversations about treatment
• What’s next for FirmTech and women’s sexual health technology

Chapters:
00:17 Meet Dr. Elliot Justin
00:57 From emergency medicine to sexual health technology
08:08 The design behind FirmTech’s wearable
10:45 Exploring the cardiovascular connection
16:32 Rethinking erectile dysfunction
23:25 Why trends matter more than snapshots
27:45 Personalized care and tracking treatment response
29:37 How the technology collects data
33:33 Building FirmTech and what comes next
37:12 Future goals and adoption challenges
38:57 Where to learn more

Connect with Dr. Elliot Justin & FirmTech:
Website | https://myfirmtech.com
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/myfirmtech/
FirmTech LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/myfirmtech/
Dr. Justin’s LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-justin-md/

Learn how I help small businesses:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.

What happens when you build a successful business but neglect the health that makes it possible?

In this episode of The HealthCast, Phil Zappone sits down with Dr. Quinto Pauletti to explore the connection between personal health, leadership, and sustained performance. Dr. Pauletti shares how his family’s experiences with serious illness shaped his career and why he built a concierge practice focused on executives, founders, and high-performing professionals.

They discuss his approach to personalized diagnostics, the role of trust and motivation in behavior change, and why more time with patients matters. They also explore where AI can support healthcare—and why listening, relationships, and everyday habits remain central to his approach.

In this episode:
• How personal loss shaped Dr. Pauletti’s approach to care
• Why he encourages founders to treat health as a core business asset
• How his concierge model incorporates genetic, hormonal, and gut testing
• Finding the personal “why” behind lasting behavior change
• Building a practice around time, relationships, and quality of life
• Using AI to support clinicians and reduce administrative work
• Returning to the basics before chasing supplements and biohacking
• His book, Running on Empty, and his interest in genetics and epigenetics

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Quinto Pauletti is a chiropractor by training whose precision health practice serves executives, founders, and high-performing professionals. Over the past decade, his work has combined genomic, microbiome, and hormonal diagnostics with a root-cause clinical model focused on sustained high performance.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:42 Family illness and the path into healthcare
03:20 Choosing chiropractic and exploring root causes
07:14 Entrepreneurship and lessons from building a practice
09:52 Health as a founder’s greatest asset
12:18 Connecting personal health and business performance
13:59 What concierge care makes possible
17:29 Motivation, trust, and behavior change
19:47 Growth, time freedom, and defining “enough”
22:33 Where AI belongs in personalized healthcare
24:03 Rethinking the patient experience
28:34 The future of healthcare
30:05 Back to basics: habits, supplements, and biohacking
32:05 Perspectives on GLP-1s and behavior change
34:44 Collaboration, humility, and listening in medicine
38:37 Running on Empty and what’s next for Doc Q
39:59 Where to connect and learn more

CONNECT WITH DR. PAULETTI
Doc Q: https://doc-q.com
Running on Empty: https://runningonemptybook.com
Running on Empty Quiz: https://runningonemptyquiz.com

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.