“I remember the worried looks on the doctors’ faces,” he recalls. “They said one way or another, this mass needs to be removed and the surgeon ordered a CT scan to prepare for surgery. That’s where things took a turn.”

The CT scan revealed a large mass on Roger’s colon, a smaller mass on his pancreas, and two spots on his liver –all of which looked cancerous.

It was April 22, 2015 when it was confirmed to be cancer, and that surgery was not recommended because it had metastasized. Roger and his family were given a median survival timeline of 11 months.

“We set my expiry date at March 22, 2016,” said Roger.

Roger began palliative chemotherapy treatments at Joseph Brant Hospital, and received what was termed the “Olympian treatment of drugs.”

Over the next almost five years, Roger received treatment every two weeks – 95 in all, in addition to 10 visits to the Emergency Department, 25 nights in hospital, and five radiation courses. Throughout it all, he knew he was in good hands.

“I have nothing but incredible memories of the entire team at JBH, most notably the nurses, who I call my oncology angels,” he said.

In March 2020, chemo was paused to determine the impact of treatment to the tumor. The good news was the multiple CT scans have, and continue to show no change. In July 2020, Roger had surgery to remove the mass obstructing his colon. The pathology, post surgery, revealed that it was a benign growth (schwannoma).

Because of the incredible care he has received, Roger has been able to continue to spend time with his wife and children, and his dog Marley.

“My family is grateful for the care I’ve received at JBH and can’t thank the team enough,” said Roger. “Thanks to the expert, compassionate care I received there, I am still able to go on holiday with my wife, celebrate important milestones with my family and play golf with my friends.”