Mark Di Ponio
Mark is on a mission to make the road a little easier for families in our community facing a cancer diagnosis.
Lingering Back Pain
Mark Di Ponio was 38 years old when he assumed he had simply “thrown out” his back while moving into a new house with his family.
At first, it seemed easy to dismiss. Mark started feeling occasional back pain that seemed like nothing more than part of normal life for a busy man approaching ‘mid-life’. Through a season of lifting boxes and hanging Christmas lights, the pain would flare up suddenly, linger for weeks, and then fade away, just long enough for him to believe it was gone for good. But when it returned after something as simple as dancing with his children, Mark realized this wasn’t normal.
X-rays and ultrasounds showed nothing unusual, but it was the MRI that revealed the truth: a mass, the size of a cell phone, wrapped around his spine. Mark was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
The Long Road Between Home and Healing
In 2012, Mark began treatment at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre. Six rounds of chemotherapy brought his cancer into remission, and for a while, life returned to what he would call a ‘new version of normal’.
Seven years later, in 2019, cancer returned. This time, his treatment took him to London for chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant. Once again, remission followed and Mark was declared cancer-free for a second time. That only lasted a year. In 2020, cancer appeared for the third time. In 2022, Mark traveled to Hamilton for an allogenic stem cell transplant, supported by a donor whose generosity gave Mark another chance at life.
Each step in Mark’s journey brought hope, hardship, hotels, and exhausting trips up and down the highway. Although Mark would have traveled wherever was necessary to receive treatment, the separation from family and his home was heavy.
“It was difficult to be away from family. As the one in treatment, you’re not willing to risk anybody else’s life while driving on the 401 in snowy January just for a visit. Everybody was really great about making all the trips they could.”
Together, Let’s Grow the Future of Local Cancer Care
As a 2025 Grow On Ambassador alongside Norm (middle) and Tyler (right), Mark is sharing his story to spark change. This November, join Grow on Windsor to raise funds and awareness and support world class cancer care close to home.
