Sean McConnell Is Teaming Up For Grow On Windsor
“For me to have to travel to Toronto, and not having my wife there with me? I don’t know. I don’t think I would be as good a place as I am now without her at my side and having such great cancer treatment so close to home.” – Sean McConnell
Read his story, watch his incredible video, and team up to show your support.
Sharing His Story
Sean McConnell, a husband and father of two daughters is an accomplished IT Director with a passion for hockey. Watch his recorded interview or read his story below to find out how this incredible Grow On Windsor Ambassador is advocating for world class cancer care close to home, just as he received while in treatment.
“My wife has been to every appointment. I mean, she’s been there through all of it. Without her at my side, I don’t know how I would have done this. The Windsor Regional Cancer Centre has just been so great for me and really saved my life.”
Meet Sean
“In the spring of 2022, I noticed that eating became uncomfortable. It got to the point where even just a little bit of food felt like a boxer took his fist and put it right through my stomach.
I came to the point where I just stopped eating because it wasn’t worth the pain, other than soup and water. Luckily, I had a colonoscopy pre-planned, and my family doctor suggested I also book an endoscopy. I remember very succinctly when I woke up, the doctor was right there and he said, ‘You have cancer. There’s a large tumour in your esophagus.’
I received chemo and radiation followed by a PET scan. It was that follow up that I met the Oncologist. He asked how I was doing, and I said, ‘Well, you tell me, how am I doing?’ And he replied, ‘Well, here’s the thing. Your cancer has spread, and it’s very aggressively spread. There were 16 new tumors, and they were everywhere.’ They were in my lungs, my liver, in my pancreas, and even bone.
It was devastating.
I mean, I literally asked the question you hope to never ask a doctor, which is, ‘How much time do I have left?’
Then, something kind of kicked in inside me, and my friends and my wife said, ‘Okay, it is what it is, but you need to fight this.’
Team Up For Grow On Windsor
“So we’ve been going at it, attacking my cancer with chemo really heavy. And I remember a couple of months back, Dr. Nasser called, and he was super excited.
You could just hear him bouncing over the phone, and he said, ‘You won’t believe this, but the tumors are all shrinking!’ I had this huge one on my ribs, and I could see it shrinking.
You can feel the care, the humanity, from every person that works at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre. We need to continue to donate to support their efforts. Let’s team up for Grow On Windsor.”