All Sections All Sections The Free Press Subscribe
Articles Read Your Balance +tax

May 15, 2022

Winnipeg
4° C, Clear

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • The Star
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Day Pass
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
Free Press Community News
  • Sports
  • Correspondents
  • Columns
  • Contact Us
  • Staff and Contributors
  • E-Editions
  • Events
  • Weekly Video Updates

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Sharing hope from cancer experience

Sheldon Birnie By: Sheldon Birnie
Posted: 3:35 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 13, 2015

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later
Dennis Maione is the author of "What I Learned From Cancer."

Dennis Maione is the author of "What I Learned From Cancer."

Dennis Maione has battled cancer twice and lived to tell the tale. Just don’t call him a “cancer survivor.”

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/3/2015 (2620 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dennis Maione has battled cancer twice and lived to tell the tale. Just don’t call him a "cancer survivor."

"I shy away from the label ‘cancer survivor,’ as though that somehow defines me or is the most important thing in my life," Maione told The Herald from his "office" at a North Kildonan Starbucks. "I had it, I don’t have it, I might get it again. But that’s not who I am."

Maione had his first bout with cancer in 1992, when he was a 27-year-old student living in Regina.

"I started experiencing rectal bleeding when I went to the bathroom," he said. "But, like a good, self-sufficient man, I ignored it for about six months. I thought it would go away."

But it didn’t. Finally, Maione’s wife convinced him to go to a walk-in clinic. After a series of tests, a mass was found in his large intestine. One doctor recommended "a lot of nasty things, including colostomy," so Maione sought a second opinion from a surgeon in Saskatoon. At the end of the day, Maione explained, "it was an early stage tumour, so surgery was enough to fix the problem."

Fast forward 15 years, Maione and his wife were in Winnipeg when he started feeling a "weird pain" in his side. This time went to see a doctor right away.

"Doctor said, ‘You know, it might be nothing. But given your history, let’s do a CT scan.’"
When the doctor called back a week later, Maione said he knew it was cancer, and he was right. Shortly thereafter he had his second cancer surgery, this time removing most of his large intestine.

Maione’s first cancer had come unexpectedly— leaving him asking "Why did this happen?"— but the second time around he had a good idea why.

"In 2005, I got a phone call from my mother," he said. "(She) said they’d discovered a genetic anomaly in our family called Lynch syndrome, formerly referred to as  hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC)."

A genetic problem, HNPCC predisposes those inheriting it to certain types of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.

"It was sort of this ‘a-ha’ moment," Maione said.

In 2013, Maione decided to share his story with others to spread a message of hope. In September 2014, after almost giving up on the project midway through, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Maione released his memoir What I Learned from Cancer at McNally Robinson. Since then, he’s sold the books in stores across Canada and takes every opportunity that presents itself to share his story, especially during March, which is colorectal cancer awareness month.

"For me, it comes down to three things," Maione reflected.

 "First, I’m not my disease. I won’t let that define who I am.

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

"The second thing I learned is about the value of community. In crisis the community we’ve built around us provides us with the strength that we need to keep going."

Finally, Maione learned the value of "being a whole person."

"We’ve got this string that is our life and eventually it’s going to come to an end," he said.

"If I have been a whole person, regardless of the number of days I get, I can still go out and say I had a good life. That I was someone people could admire and appreciate saying ‘he was a friend of mine.’"

Dennis Maione will be speaking Friday, March 13, at the Exchange Community Church,75 Albert Street, 2nd floor, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. Copies of What I Learned from Cancer will be on sale for $20.


Facebook.com/TheHeraldWPG
Twitter: @heraldWPG

Sheldon Birnie

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@canstarnews.com Call him at 204-697-7112

   Read full biography

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top