For more than 20 years, radio announcer Terry Johnston has spent his free time volunteering with the Canadian Cancer Society.
He has emceed at Relay For Life and CIBC Run for the Cure, cheering on people and using his voice to make a difference. But in 2020, Terry's own life changed in a way he never expected.
Even with this lifechanging news, Terry stayed committed to his work and continued hosting his morning radio show while starting chemotherapy in April 2021. For 6 months, he pushed through treatment and stayed hopeful.
But that fall, Terry got very hard news. The chemotherapy wasn't working as well as his doctors had hoped.
He switched to another type of treatment – and again, it didn’t work. Still, Terry refused to give up.
The doctor told me I had an 85% chance of getting through it, so I just thought, ‘All right, bring it on.’
"I know I don't like needles but give me the needles. And then when the first treatment didn't work, I thought ' treatment didn’t work, I thought, ‘Okay, well, give me the next one.’”
Travelling for treatment
Searching for another option, Terry travelled to Toronto to see if he was a good candidate for CAR T-cell therapy, where his own immune cells would be changed to recognize and attack cancer cells. Terry was a strong candidate, and he began treatment during the holidays.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions at the time, Terry had to spend Christmas and New Year's in the hospital without his family. But they found ways to support him, sending festive pillow cases and ugly Christmas sweaters that Terry proudly wore during his hospital stay.
Even during hard days, Terry stayed positive. He loved making people smile at the cancer centre by wearing goofy, colourful pants whenever he got his chemo bag changed.
“I'd be walking in, and you’d see the look on their face with people saying, ‘Oh, look what he's wearing now!’”
Championing research
In March 2022, Terry received the news he had been hoping for: a PET scan showed no signs of cancer.
Terry believes it’s important to talk about his experience because you never know what someone may be going through.
“I tell my story because it might help get them over that hump. It might show them that people do survive.”
He hopes people understand how important cancer research is. His CAR-T cell therapy was an experimental treatment that he only had access to because of new cancer research.
When you fundraise for cancer research at an event, you may wonder where it’s going – and it’s going to treatments like mine.
For Terry, donating to cancer research is just a part of his everyday life. He believes if more people understood the good that cancer research contributes to society, more people would donate.
“When you volunteer for an event or donate, whether it’s a few dollars or a lot of money, it could come full circle. You don't know it will, but it could. Cancer can affect anyone.”
Help hope bloom
Since the 1940s, the Canadian Cancer Society has invested more than $2.1 billion in cancer research. CCS-funded scientists have been behind some of the biggest cancer research discoveries of the past century. Help us to continue making life changing research progress. Your donation this Daffodil Month will help fund:
- The most promising science to increase cancer survival, stop cancer before it starts and improve the lives of those affected by cancer.
- A nationwide compassionate support system that provides care, comfort and connection to people with cancer in Canada and their caregivers when they need it most.
- Advocacy for healthy public policies to prevent cancer and better support Canadians living with the disease and their caregivers.
Help change the future of people affected by cancer.
Terry Johnston, non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor
Help create a future without cancer
With support from readers like you, we can continue to make a meaningful impact for people affected by cancer.
We are determined to increase survival, stop cancer before it starts, and improve lives. But we can’t do it without you.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund the most promising research, compassionate support and transformative advocacy. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.