How this young cancer survivor overcame ‘dark ‘ and ‘challenging’ days

After a cancer diagnosis, many young adults and children might struggle more with maintaining friendships, coping with losses, and facing the potential loss of fertility.

Matthew McKinnon knew something was wrong when he went to catch a football during his high school practice in Surrey B.C., in the spring of 2012 and completely missed it.

McKinnon, 28, who was in Grade 11 at the time, said he was experiencing double vision, nausea and headaches. Following that practice, his parents took him to the family doctor where he was prescribed anti-nausea medication that was usually only given to cancer patients.

“It was a foreshadowing of things to come,” McKinnon told Global News.

Even with medication and a chiropractor’s visit, his health declined rapidly over the next few days.

It was then that a CT scan found a tumour in his brain, and he was immediately taken to BC Children’s Hospital and had emergency brain surgery.

“And then five days later, on Father’s Day, I had my second brain surgery,” he said.

Often, when someone receives a cancer diagnosis, they find themselves navigating the sickness alone, emotionally and physically, explained Carly Fleming, a registered psychotherapist based in Hamilton, Ont.

“Just the word cancer is laden with so much fear, and very often there can be hopelessness,” she said, adding this may be more convoluted when young people are diagnosed with the disease.