Paul Poirier: Test of a Man
My grandmom is legendary for her sayings and one-liners. One of Gram’s sayings that’
s really stuck with me through the years is “God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers.” If that’s the case, then Dr. Paul Poirier has been on the front lines fighting the battle against brain cancer for nearly three decades. Dr. Paul has had several battles with brain cancer since 1995 and his charity organization, Bikers Against Brain Cancer, is helping to bring brain cancer awareness into the national spotlight. Find out more about Dr. Paul’s incredible battle against brain cancer, his ties to bodybuilding royalty, and much much more in the Rx Muscle exclusive interview.
Q.) How was it you first became aware that you had brain cancer and what do you remember thinking after first receiving your diagnosis?
A.) Well, as I recall, it was a crisp California morning in April of 1995 and I was in the last year of the 4 year course to become a Doctor of Chiropractic. A fellow student and I decided to go and have a game of tennis that morning. In the middle of the game I suffered what is known as a "Grand Mal" seizure. The main difference being that with a grand mal one loses all consciousness for several minutes and you wake up with a splitting headache (for me anyway). Paramedics showed up feeding me oxygen asking me my name, what year it was, performing the "cardinal fields of gaze" test, having me count backwards from 100, etc. They then took me to the Hayward medical center where, upon confirming that I had Cadillac insurance coverage, they performed every test known to man, b
lood work, computerized tomography (aka CAT scan), X-rays, MRI. I was 29 at the time and some ER doc came in she told me that they had solved the mystery. She told me I had a brain tumor, what she didn't know at that time was that I had a significant level of "quasi medical" education. I knew my neuroanatomy and physiology quite well. I started pumping her for more details. Where was it located? What kind was it? She has the "bedside manner" of a bag of rocks but eventually, once the results came back from histology she told me it was confirmed to be a "mixed glioma" (meaning it was made up of two kinds of tumors). Astrocytoma cells and oligodendroglioma cells. The latter is a slow growing malignant kind whereas the former is MUCH more aggressive. If one had to list the top ten most lethal kinds of brain tumors it’s always based on the KIND it is, the DATE of diagnosis and the GRADE of the tumor. The most lethal one presently known to man is known as the Glioblastoma Multiforme. Some diagnosed with this kind make it beyond the one year mark but most are unfortunately gone within 6 months of diagnosis. If one is going to get diagnosed with a brain tumor better it be a grade 1 than a grade 4 (the higher the grade the worse are one's chances) and ideally benign. My tumor was found to be a grade 2 malignant kind and because it had astrocytoma cells within it I was required to undergo brain surgery ASAP. My insurer ended up getting a bill for $17,000 from all the tests that were done and they in turn performed their due diligence by backtracking all the way to my pediatrician in the hope of there having been signs of this before and they'd be off the hook from paying. No such luck for them as I had a stellar health record up to that day so they were forced to pay. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was resolute in NEVER letting it phase me while at the hospital. I guess I was in a state of "shock and awe" as it didn't compute for me. ZERO cancer in my genes on both sides of the family, my siblings were all super healthy and athletic, I'd played a little hockey and yet here I was having won the ultimate lottery we all try to avoid. Upon getting in the taxi when I left the Hayward hospital is when reality set in and I had my first "meltdown". After throwing myself a pity party for five minutes in that cab I just took in a deep breath and decided to "suck it up buttercup" and I've never let it get to me since. I let my wife worry for me! Being Canadian I had the choice whereby I could stay there and have the surgery stateside and put force my insurer to pay for the surgery or I could go home and be surrounded by family to get through this crisis. I chose the latter! Being that I had a few days prior to flying home, I made an appointment to meet with a prominent neurosurgeon at Stanford University in Palo Alto just to get as informed as possible on my options. I then flew home to Ontario Canada and the hunt to find the right surgeon began. I ended up seeing 5 different ones before choosing the one that I thought was best for me. The one in NY Cit
y was at NYU & was my number one choice for, Dr. Patrick Kelly, was considered the "Mozart" of brain surgeons at the time. I was fortunate enough in life that my father had done well in business and he was willing to spend the $100,000 surgery "if I wanted" but I felt guilty about it. I buckled and opted for getting it done by Canada's foremost neurosurgeon, Dr. Rollando Delmaestro, in London Ontario as he'd just completed a successful procedure on a member of parliament!
Q.) After undergoing successful surgery just a few weeks after your diagnosis life seemed to normalize for a few years. However, in 1997, you had another seizure while driving and your car struck by a train traveling at nearly 100km/hr. Miraculously, you were able to come away from the accident relatively unharmed, only to find out that you had another malignant brain mass. What, if anything, do remember about that accident? What were your feelings after finding out that the cancer had returned for a second time?
A.) Well, I suppose it was "successful" because I'm still here to talk to you about it. The exact "chronology of events" was that I graduated in 1996 (I got backed up by a year due to the brain surgery) and got a job as the "gopher" for a licensed chiropractor in a suburb of Ottawa. It’s all well and good to graduate school but it’s a whole different kettle of fish to then take & pass national and provincial boards for a license. Note that I'm actually licensed to practice anywhere in the USA as well for I took my American boards soon after graduating as a precaution should I decide to work stateside. And I did for a few months. After healing up from the car wreck I got hired on by a chiropractor in Nashua, New Hampshire in late summer of 1997 as he was opening a second clinic and was in need of a young energized chiro to run it for him. By Christmas, I realized that he was a great guy but a piss poor businessman and I knew that if I hitched my wagon to his there would come a day where he'd do down like the titanic and take me along for the ride. I severed that relationship and moved back and opened up a clinic in a Montreal suburb called Dorval! One major side effect about having had 4 brain surgeries is that I tend to stray off topic easily! So, back to the car wreck, as mentioned earlier I was working as a "gopher" and driving home from my shift when I suffered yet another seizure (note that I've had many since and will no doubt continue to have them for life). From the perspective of the train's engineer, he thought I was trying to beat the train at the tracks. I've had in total 5 speeding tickets in my life so I'm not that flippin' crazy to race a train! Anyway, I was driving about 100km/hr and it was travelling about the same and I essentially plowed into the first car. It always takes me back to one of my top ten favorite movies, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry with Peter Fonda. The film end with him and his possy thinking they got away with it and they drive right into a train! In the film the dodge charger blows up. Fortunately for me, I was driving a suped up Trans Am that had a Corvette engine in it and, according to the Ontario Provincial Police that were on the scene, I was the 7th train wreck case of that officer's career but the 1st to survive and he believes that had I been in a small Japanese shitbox I'd of been killed on the spot. Thank goodness for BIG heavy American cars because the train dragged me into the bush about 500 feet and chewed up the entire passenger seat and roof and all I suffered was a serious seat belt bruise across my chest. I didn't even break a rib, but I gave my soft tissues such a sprain-strain that I could only sleep sitting up in a chair for about a month as laying horizontally was not doable! Had there been a passenger with me on that fateful February day, they'd of scrapped them off the side of the road in a hundred pieces! Shortly after moving to Montreal in December of 1997 is when I was re-diagnosed with tumor number 2. Although it was successful, I was not ready to undergo yet another surgery at that time so I explored my options further. I had about 3 months to wait before they could fit me in for this second surgical resection. I used this time to go to Tijuana to look into alternative forms of cancer healthcare and spent quite some time at the Hoxsey cancer clinic. Without going into too much detail, Harry Hoxsey was seen as a pioneer for cancer t
herapy in the 1930s using tonics and had multiple cancer clinics set up, especially in Texas. The AMA of the day however saw him as a threat to their established rules and protocols so they chased him out of the country…literally! Mexico has, over the decades, become a haven for many alternative care providers that are shun by big corporate America! I don't think they have all the answers in Mexico but I believe it’s a question of trying everything one has access to and that's just what I did. In addition to venturing down the Mexican route of healthcare I also saw a homeopath in Ottawa with a Masters in microbiology and whether it was what she did, whether it was the tonics that I took in while in Tijuana, all I know is that the tumor was gone and the surgery I was told I'd need ASAP was canceled at that time. People were so surprised at my results that I was invited on a TV show called "Montreal Today with Les Roberts". As far as how did this second diagnosis make me "feel"? Well, I simply applied the "suck it up buttercup" philosophy of life. Things happen in life and it’s not what things happen to YOU that matter it’s how YOU react and handle these events that makes or breaks a person!
Q.) Let's jump ahead to April 2005. You undergo brain surgery for a second time to have the growing mass removed, but things didn't seem to feel quite right to you. A few weeks pass and you notice the post-op swelling start to increase so you return to the hospital for a CAT scan. The results of the CAT scan confirm that there's an infection and you are rushed immediately into surgery. Did you begin to lose hope that things would turn around for you?
A.) There's a term many people don't know that’s called "iatrogenesis". It basically means medical error or having an adverse reaction to a therapy or procedure. Although my first surgery occured in London, Ontario I was now living in Montreal and so my "file" got transferred to the Montreal Neurological Institute which is Canada's foremost teaching institution for all matters relating to the brain and is physically part of the campus of Canada's equivalent to your Harvard, namely McGill University.
This new surgeon had a good rep
utation but from day one, he did not give me the "warm and fuzzies" like the surgeon that had taken me on 10 years earlier in London. Almost ten years to the day from the 1st diagnosis is when this latest diagnosis was made. The thing is, everything that could go wrong did go wrong this time around. The surgery itself "seemed" to go fine at the time and was considered a success but it was the post operative period that was a kick in crotch! Whether someone coughed in the O.R., whether an instrument was dropped or just dumb luck I'll never know. What I do know is that I contracted the "staphylococcus aureus" bacterium. Never let them tell you that hospitals are under "staphed", there's plenty of "staph" to go around! I had to go back three weeks or so after the surgery for the surgeon to look at the stitches and essentially monitor my recovery. I said to him then and there, "I don't know how to explain it doc, but I don't feel right". He patronized my concerns with the old "there there...you'll be fine" lingo. After all, what do I know? I'm just a lowly Doctor of Chiropractic and he's a brain surgeon right? So I took him at his word and left. It reminds me of one of my favorite jokes "what's the difference between God and a brain surgeon? God doesn't think he's a brain surgeon!!". Anyway, I went home to continue my recuperation but my head started to swell up and looked like that baby "Stewy" on the "Family Guy", sort of football shaped, and my left eye was almost completely closed. My wife said I don’t care what he told you there's something wrong with this picture. So, back I went and sat on a gurney for 15 hours before a resident neurosurgeon dealt with me. He knew straight away something was off and ordered an immediate Computerized Tomography (aka "cat" scan) test. The test showed that my brain was full of "pus". Having pus in a wound is NOT the same as having pus in the brain. The reason is we have this barrier in the brain called the "blood brain barrier" and it only allows certain sized molecules in because the brain is supposed to be floating in what is known as CSF (or Cerebral Spinal Fluid" and does not allow for dead white blood cells to be naturally cleaned up and disposed of the way "pus" would be if it were from a flesh wound. I was immediately re-operated as this is a life threatening condition. But, guess who was on call for surgery during that time frame? The same guy that had done the last surgery and sent me home stating all is fine Mr. Poirier. This time, they "flushed" my brain, but the piece of skull they had removed from surgery number 2 had now putrefied from being exposed to pus and so they could not put it back in. I thus had to walk around without a "skull cap" for over a year. I also had a peripherally inserted central catheter (aka "picc line") inserted for 8 months with a sulfur based anitbiotic to kill any remnant pustulant cells that the lavage didn't get to. Being that I was big time into motorcycling I told the doctors that I wanted to have as much protection as possible while riding and they eventually gave in and had me go in for a fourth and what I had hoped was a final surgery. Honestly, as far as my perception of it all, it’s like a hit man might say to his apprentice "the 1st person you kill is hard...but its gets easier each time after that". So it was with me, by the 4th time under the knife, I felt like a car going in for a lube job and now they're simply "popping my hood" (actually it’s a metal plate) and look in to make sure all is well! None of the 4 times have been memorable but by the same token I'm MUCH better off than most I've ever met during these last 17 years. Some are blinded permanently from the surgery; others are drooling in a cup for life! Me? I've got all my faculties and all my parts function including my plumbing so what have I got to bitch, moan, or complain about by comparison to all these others? I "should" be dead by now but God obviously has a much bigger plan for me and that's why I think my destiny is to make the awareness of brain cancer as common a household word as possible. This is why I created my fundraiser rides in 2010 called Bikers Against Brain Cancer (www.bikersagainstbraincancer.org). One may google or youtube those words to see the plethora of articles and videos accumulated to date. People always try and find blame for things happening to them or loved ones. I sincerely believe that our destiny is determined in advance Corey. Having recently devoured Arnold's latest biographical book Total Recall while on a recent Disney cruise to the Bahamas and feeling like I was physically there with him driving those tanks back in Austria and knowing he was destined for so much more was very inspiring to me. He knew at a VERY young age that he was going to do something bigger with his life than anyone could imagine, so much so that he cast a shadow over his own idols like Reg Park in no time flat. These beliefs don't "materialize" by chance, accident or random luck.
Q.) Following a long recovery process your life begins to find some balance again as you move back to your home town, open up a new practice, and seem to have a new lease on life. Then, during a routine MRI, another brain mass is detected, only this time it's inoperable. Was it deflating to hear that news given what you'd already overcome and the place you were at in your life during that time? Or did you just see it as another hurdle for you to overcomne?
A.) Yes. Following that 8 month recuperation period was a huge challenge for me and my family as my disability insurance refused to pay out a dime (as this was considered a pre-existing condition since 1995). I was not able to work at all during those 8 months during the "picc line" intervention and so we lived off our savings, but even this was limited. By the 6th month of being at home with zero income I was forced to sell my x-ray machine for a fraction of what I paid just to stay ahead of the bills. This was the time in my life where I truly got to see and experience people’s true colors. The old litmus test separating "true blue friends" from "fair weather friends" took place during those 8 months. I had practiced in Montreal from late 1997 to mid 2008. I sold what was left of my Montreal practice to my partner in May of 2008 and moved back to my home town (1 hour away) called Cornwall, Ontario as my chiropractor for years wanted to move on with different life goals. We inked the deal in May of 2008 and I took over that practice in June. I went as far as buying back my childhood home that my parents sold twenty years prior and I am re-living my youth vicariously through the eyes of my two young sons, Benny and Zachary.
Just as I'm sure everyone wants to be "pals" with the greats out there, be they in business, politics, acting etc...I believe one has to "make his bones" and earn their friendship the hard way. I don't yet know if four brain surgeries, a metal plate and 23 months of chemo qualifies me but I like to think it’s helping. I suppose that had I not been "blessed" with a brain tumor I'd of n
ever been challenged to "better" myself beyond one's normal "comfort zone" and would have been content with the idea of existing but never having really lived. The yacht I have is fun, the motorbikes are fun, but at the end of the day I want to leave this planet knowing that I at least tried to make a difference to better the lives of others around me. Had none of the events I've been pushed into having to undergo and sustain occurred I would have no passion or purpose for my making a biographical film on brain cancer, named "The Test of a Man" (www.testofman.com) in which I've received the help of 8 time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman training me "long distance". The trailer of the film is available to be seen on the website mentioned above including Ronnie putting me through my paces. As far as the latest details with my tumor...I got re-diagnosed in 2010 with worse news than the other times. It’s now considered inoperable as its invaded parts of the brain known as "Broca's area" and the motor cortex. What this means is that if they operated...I'd be rendered mute and have permanent tics with my right arm and leg. I think it would be difficult to keep running my practice (www.drpaulpoirier.com) if I could not speak (as Broca's area is responsible for the phonation of words) and the motor cortex controls the functioning of our limbs on the opposite (aka contralateral) side of the brain! This is why I've opted to do chemotherapy as it’s not a cure, but it is delaying the inevitable and buying me time to complete my mission.
The biggest difference this time was that I had a patient die of a brain tumor in the summer of 2010 and I felt like I knew I could do something but I just wasn't sure what that something was. Note that used to I ride and collect moneys for the Ontario SPCA to help the plight of cats and dogs and it dawned on me at 60 miles per hour that why can't I just make my own fundraiser and create awareness for MY own condition! This is how Bikers Against Brain Cancer was born. This latest resurgence of my brain tumor was, and is, a blessing for its made me a better and more grounded human being.
Q.) That brings us to Bikers Against Brain Cancer. Where did the idea to start your oganization come from? Talk a bit about the work you've done towards raising awareness for brain cancer.
A.) Well, as briefly mentioned in the last question, www.bikersagainstbnraincancer.org started in 2010 with the sole purpose of creating awareness and collecting moneys toward the research and perhaps an eventual cure. Note that there are in excess of 120 kinds of brain tumors, some malignant such as seen with Senator Ted Kennedy (and no doubt myself someday) while others benign such as Sheryl Crow’s relatively recent diagnosis. In 2010, the ride was small as I had just lost my patient to the condition and people tend to put their bikes away by early September in Canada. I still managed to create enough buzz to get 54 riders out (including our city's mayor) and we collected just over $3100 toward research as the proceeds were given to the Canadian Brain Tumor Foundation.
Our 2011 ride was MUCH bigger as I decided to expand it into 4 cities. We did Montreal, Cornwall, Ottawa as well as
Toronto. I feel 2011 was a raving success for our mission of creating awareness was accomplished for we made the front cover of Canada's coast to coast paper, the Globe and Mail. So everyone and their dog were getting to know about our new cause. I was also made the "chiropractor of the month" for the entire profession of 100,000 plus chiropractors for May 2011. In addition, we've made the cover of an American motorcycle magazine to date as well as the cover of the most read magazine in my profession (www.todayschiropractic.com/archive/arpilmay2012.aspx). As far as I'm concerned this is just the beginning as I intend to get my cause to go viral (through YOUTUBE but also though film festivals) and we have an extended trailer of our film being released by late April and the film will be narrated by none other than rock icon Ian Anderson of the famous rock band Jethro Tull. The "final cut" of the film will be by year’s end! I'd like to see the "cause" spill over into the USA.
Q.) This brings us into your major connection with the world of bodybuilding. One of the major supporters of Bikers Against Brain Cancer is the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger. How did Arnold initially come to be involved? What does it mean for the organization to be affiliated with someone who's as high profile as Arnold?
A.) Well you have to understand that Arnold is involved in one thousand and one projects simultaneously and bikers against brain cancer is no doubt "presently" far from the top of his priority list but I intend to change that with time. My meeting with him by far catapulted my cause to a new level in the USA and Canada as it garnered me attention with local media but more importantly it got me noticed by others within my own profession that have political muscle. Drs. Gentempo and Kent had me on their podcast and it was soon decided that my cause deserved the recognition to make me the "chiropractor of the month" for May of 2011 within my whole profession. Not even Dr. Franco Columbu has achieved that. Later on in 2012 as mentioned earlier, the budding "fame" of my cause got us on the cover my profession's national magazine. I have many aspirations of where I'd like to see this cause eventually get to. In fact, I'm off to NY City in late April to attend a media summit (www.meetthemedia.com) in order to "pitch" my concept to many different producers, directors and TV shows so as to seriously get this movement to the next level. Ideally, I'd like a reality show based on "Bikers Against Brain Cancer" whereby the 26 episodes would consist of rides performed in different cities throughout the USA with a common thread of having a different celebrity on, be it from the world of music, acting or business, in each episode. He or 
she would ride for the cause and create awareness for brain cancer simultaneously. I'm also having Phil Lobel (www.lobeline.com), Brad Pitt's former manager, among managing other well known celebrities, take on my cause and open the doors of Tinseltown to me before year's end. If the Hollywood elite can see value in a show that highlights hillbillies making duck calling whistles I hope they see the value in doing something with this cause as well. I'm in preparation mode for bridging my new career by taking weekly acting lessons in Montreal so as to keep my axe sharp for the day when my phone rings and there's an offer on the table.
Q.) Arnold isn't the only bodybuilding royalty who you're currently working with. You're also working with, and being trained by, 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman. How is that you came to be affiliated with Ronnie? What was your impression when you met Ronnie for the first time?
A.) As far as "working with" Arnold...I'm not sure if that's the right way to put it. When I think of working with Arnold...I think of Franco Columbo who worked with Arnold in the masonry business early on in the 70s. Over time, they each built up their profiles in their own way. Franco, as you probably know, is a chiropractor still practicing in west L.A. but he got to be in a few movies with Arnold such as "The Terminator". Arnold, as you can imagine, has many "buffers" and is not an easy person to reach. I had always wanted to go to an Arnold Sports Festival and by chance Arnold made an agreement with the International Chiropractors Association roughly 20 years ago to have them involved with the ASF. Arnold recognizes ours as the ultimate profession for natural healing. Dr. Franco even had Arnold recognized with an honorary doctorate of chiropractic at his alma mater in L.A. and I saw this window at the ASF as my opportunity to perhaps meet him and discuss options of how to expand my cause. I know of few people as talented as Arnold at having turned self promotion into an art form as he was tirelessly promoting his films on Jay Leno, David Letterman throughout the 80s and 90s. Nothing was determined "on the spot" from our meeting so I came back to Canada but then a few months later the chairman or Arnold's new film festival, Jim Hern, got in touch with me and that's when the idea of a biographical film was cemented. Arnold's festival appears to be on hold presently but I'm still going to submit it into many many other film festivals.
I've been given permission by Arnold through the son of his late brother, Meinhard Schwarzenegger, who's now Arnold's lawyer, Patrick Knapp, the privilege of using the copy written segment from Kindergarten Cop whereby Arnold states "it’s NOT a toomah" to a little boy who tells him that maybe he has a brain tumor. It will likely be used in the "final cut" of the film. Now, my relationship with Ronnie. Well, I'm quite chummy with the president of the IFBB wing here in Ontario, Ron Hache, and he was instrumental in setting me up to meet with Ronnie last year at the Toronto pro supershow. Ronnie and Arnold are not at all the same types. Arnold is a flamboyant extrovert whereas Ronnie is much more introverted and keeps to himself. Once we met and completed our training session that day, I gave him (along with my film crew) a ride back to the pro show. He and I are expected to train together again this summer and that footage will also be added to the film's "final cut". You want to know is he's as big as ever? Well, truth be told, he takes three months off from training every year now to let his body recuperate plus he's presently on the road with his new customized bus for several months promoting his new signature series supplement line that's doing VERY well! Is he as big as during his Mr. Olympia days? He's smaller now but remember the level of intensity that was required to keep up that massive physique. As far as I'm concerned, he's got nothing to prove anymore. He's matched Lee Haney's record and he did it back to back! Don't get me wrong he's by NO MEANS a small dude. The veins in his arms look like snakes, his overall structure and bodyfat is still un-frickin-believable! I'm 6'3" weighing around the 280 lb mark but the amount of "meat" that make up his hands made me feel like a pillsbury dough boy! I've yet to ever shake hands with someone whom you could just "feel" the power emanating from those meathooks! I'm just super honored to be able to call Ronnie Coleman my personal friend. He got involved with my cause because his favorite uncle died of cancer and he felt this was his small way of giving back and paying it forward...in honor of his uncle.
Q.) Despite multiple brain surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy you're currently training to compete in a bodybuilding competition. What was it that fueled your decision to put on the posing trunks and stand onstage?
A.) Well...it’s all good to have a cause and get it known but there has be a spin or an angle to make it better known. Although I'm a month shy of being 47 and I've never been a bodybuilder. At best I'd define myself as a "gym rat" and so after looking at my life and what I "could" still do at 47 is bodybuilding. I don't intend to drop my bodyfat % much below double digits nor will I look like Albert Beckles did in the latter parts of his career. The goal for me is using bodybuilding as a vehicle to spread the awareness of brain cancer. Had I been into cycling than I would have approached someone like Lance Armstrong....wait...bad example! LOL I still have more "chins" than a Chinese phone book but as mentioned it’s never been about becoming a pro bodybuilder it’s always been about creating awareness and using bodybuilding to get me there. If I come in 5th out of 5 competitors for the competition then I'll still be happy for I will have done it and overcome the odds. Trust me, at nearly 47 I have ZERO urge to be eating 10 egg whites for breakfast and benching north of 350 lbs for reps. My ligaments and stomach liner aren't meant to sustain that sort of "trauma" unless I'd be doing it all my life but having been focused on my businesses these last few years has caused me to make regular trips to the gym become very irregular. The cost of the fundraiser rides, the film and most everything affiliated with this concept has been on MY dime. We 
all have to have something to believe in and this is my passion.
Q.) Talk about the role that your family and friends have played throughout this entire process.
A.)Family has been my cornerstone throughout this 17 year marathon of an ordeal. My father has always stepped up to the plate for me since birth, but especially after seeing one of his five ducklings go through what I have. My mother tended to me as well during my recuperation from my surgery. I met my wife, Ginny, several months after my first diagnosis in 1995 and I told her of my condition on our very first date so there'd be no misunderstanding later. She's Portuguese of origin and has that hot blooded temperament you'd expect from most European women and she has that European "work ethic" that is so hard to find in today's generation of self entitlement. She bore me two beautiful young boys that are growing up with that strong work ethic. My "extended" family, as I like to think of them, consists of a national men's service club I belong called the Kinsmen club of Canada, Cornwall chapter (www.cornwallkin.com). It consists of over 30 men who are community minded and give back to their community. We collect tens of thousands a year that get re-invested back into our community (such as big brothers, big sisters). As of this year however, they are also taking on my "www.bikersagainstbraincancer.org" cause as one of the club's staple projects for the Cornwall area so that allows me to focus on other aspects of growing the cause elsewhere while they maintain the level of development that I've brought it to thus far
Q.) What's the one thing that you want people to take away from your story?
A.) That's easy. My boys are in Scouts Canada and one of the Scout leaders has less than 2 months to live from brain cancer yet he still gets up and helps better his community. There's NO EXCUSE for people to give up prematurely from being given a terrible diagnosis, be it a brain tumor, cancer or anything else. As Sylvester Stallone's final installment of the Rocky franchise states..."it ain't over til it's over"!!!
Q.) Where can people who want to find out more information, or possibly make a donation to Bikers Against Brain Cancer go to make that happen?
A.) Well ideally, what I want people to do are two things. 1st I'd like to have people go the site (www.testofaman.com) and click the videos subsection. There's presently a 3 minute trailer there with just under 75,000 views and I'd ask for commentary but note that we're adding a new, extended 15 minute version by late April, 2013. 2nd thing I'd like people do is go to (www.bikersagainstbraincancer.org) and "like" us on the Facebook button. Also note that there's a good chance that, for marketing purposes, the ride's name will change as unfortunately the term "biker" still has a negative connotation for many but if a new name does emerge it will be link to this present site. Donations at present are being accepted presently and sent to the Montreal Neurological Institute and donation receipts are available. I'm also in discussions with the American Brain Tumor Association so that a link will be on our site shortly whereby Americans can donate to this cause and the money will remain in the USA.
Be sure to check out Bikers Against Brain Cancer on Facebook, or their website www.bikersagainstbraincancer.org), and make a donation if possible. Also, be sure to check out Dr. Paul on Youtube training with Ronnie, and don’t forget to go visit the trailer for his film www.testofaman.com. Cancer is something that has touched all of us in some way, shape or form. Let’s support Dr. Paul and let his story inspire something inside all of us.
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