John Vennavally-Rao on his double cancer diagnosis — and reason for hope

Twenty-seven year CTV News reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares the story of his health-care battle for the first time as medical advances give him reason for hope and optimism.

When Green Day performed recently in Toronto, I was in the crowd with my wife singing along as Billy Joe Armstrong belted out the rock anthem “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” The song is about his father who died from esophageal cancer in September 1982. It’s a month that I’ve long associated with cancer awareness. As a kid I took part in the annual Terry Fox Run every September.

Now, I have my own personal cancer connection with this time of year.

Twelve months ago, following a routine colonoscopy, doctors discovered I had two completely separate cancers: rectal cancer and lung cancer. It was two primary cancers at the same time. There were also cancerous lesions on my liver. As for symptoms? I had none and felt fine.

The lung cancer was particularly shocking. I’m 53 and have never been a smoker. Had this happened to me at the start of the 21st century, my doctors say I likely would’ve been dead within 18 months.

But thanks to remarkable advances in surgical techniques and the efforts of countless cancer researchers, I am doing ok and have my sights set on returning to work. This, despite battling cancers that are at stage 2 and stage 4. I sometimes joke that it must put me at stage 6.

Getting to this point where I have any hope—and can even make light of my situation—has been a slog. So far surgeons have removed half of my right lung, a chunk of my colon and a third of my liver.

Following a 10-hour operation in late January, I was sent straight to the ICU and spent a month in hospital. My liver began failing and so I turned yellow. Then there were life-threatening blood clots and a serious hospital infection. I lost my sense of taste and dropped nearly 30 pounds. As I left the hospital, I struggled to walk and was too frail for chemotherapy.