Cancer.
It’s a scary word that brings any number of things to mind – sickness, weakness, hair loss, struggle, survival, surgery, pain, suffering, fear, loss and death.
But for New Westminster resident and sports reporter Steve Ewen, he chose to ignore the chatter surrounding the disease and take on his tumour with humour.
Ewen’s battle with cancer began nearly four years ago when, what he thought was muscle pain in his shoulder, radiated to his chest. Thinking it was a heart attack, he and his wife took a trip to the emergency room at Royal Columbian Hospital where the doctor told them Ewen was not, in fact, having a heart attack.
“I hadn't been feeling well for a while, I'd been feeling kind of listless, but we didn't put everything together until he (the doctor) came back and he said, 'I think you might have a tumour,’” Ewen recalled.
In October 2010, only a few days after Ewen’s first visit to Royal Columbian, he was diagnosed with solitary plasmacytoma – a type of cancer characterized by the formation of a single tumour in the bone.
Ewen, whose tumour was in his T2 vertebrae, was quickly admitted to Vancouver General Hospital and started on a 25-session radiation plan. The experience was one he’ll never forget but he said the most important thing for him was to keep off the Internet.
“I think you can get lost on the Internet and I mean things are advancing so quickly, so rapidly that things are improving everyday. You look at where cancer was five years ago to where it is now, you know the stories you hear and the things you hear. I purposely stayed away from it,” Ewen said.
Rather than spend his time scouring the Internet, Ewen and his wife spent their time speaking to doctors and getting information from friends and family who had gone through similar experiences with cancer. In fact, one of the first people he phoned after he received the diagnosis was a friend who had also been diagnosed with cancer.
About two months after the diagnosis, Ewen’s health took a turn for the worse. On Nov. 28, his back collapsed due to the effects of the radiation, which was targeting the tumour in his spine. The experience was one Ewen still struggles to describe.
“It was frightening and embarrassing and gruelling, and all those things. I was in a chair for six months,” he said.
During that time, Ewen had eight surgeries, including two back reconstructions, in order to rebuild his spine. His spine is now mostly made of titanium, with six rods, 15 screws and several other pieces of “shrapnel.”
Ewen spent three and a half months at Vancouver General and two and a half months at the G.F. Strong Centre for rehabilitation. When he was finally able to go home, it wasn’t without struggle. An at-home physiotherapist would come by each week to help Ewen learn to walk again.
“It was just a matter of getting into the pool and doing some walking in the pool, and getting out with her and doing some walking,” he said. “To be on a walker was very frustrating and very depressing.”
But Ewen persevered.
He continued to walk everyday and often times his neighbours would cheer him on as he passed by.
“I'd walk around the neighbourhood on the walker, and I'd do a lap of the block and people would be out supporting and cheering, and stuff like that,” he said.
He also started a blog called “Crush the tumour with humour” to dispel some of the rumours about what it’s like to have cancer as well as to share his experience and story with friends and family who continued to support him.
“We had neighbours who were over raking our leaves, and neighbours were here doing all sorts of stuff. One of our neighbours had a key to the house and would come over and clean out the fridge because we couldn't do it,” he said.
Ewen has been in clinical remission for three years now, and he said the support he received during his treatment and recovery was overwhelming. To show his appreciation he decided, almost on a whim, that he would participate in the upcoming Ride to Conquer Cancer, a two-day ride from Vancouver to Seattle on June 14 and 15.
Ewen has a few friends who have participated in the ride in the past but it was something he never dreamed he would do, especially after his back collapsed.
“I got talked into this (the ride) probably about six months ago,” he said. “I hadn't owned a bike, hadn't been on a bike, to be really blunt, I didn't know whether I could still ride because I did lose a fair bit of balance.”
Despite his doubts, Ewen went out and bought himself a bike. He immediately took it for a spin when he got home and much to his surprise, he didn’t fall down.
“I thought it was a major accomplishment. It was pretty scary leap of faith and I knew that if I didn't go all in that I'd probably fail,” he said.
With one week remaining before Ewen embarks on his cycling adventure, he has already raised more than $4,000, while his team, Crush the Tumour with Humour, has raised more than $20,000.
When asked what he is most looking forward to come June 14, Ewen gave two answers: getting across the start line and paying tribute to everyone who helped him when he was sick.
“No matter what happens, just getting across the start line is going to be a huge goal for me, so I think anything after that is really kind of gravy,” he said. “I'm excited about the challenge and a lot of it was about raising the money for me and now it's kind of going through the follow through.”
To donate to Ewen or his team visit tinyurl.com/SteveEwen, and check out his blog at www.crushthetumourwithhumour.blogspot.ca.
