The national broadcast added massive complexity to the Kingston hockey-arena show. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was invited to the concert and Gord had a message for him. We planned for worst-case scenarios but at the end of the day the only emergency Gord had was a skin rash! Along the way I spoke at dozens of fundraisers and with dozens of reporters about his condition. Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, with the machinery headed to Kingston, where it all began for the band and where they would play their final show. Beside me, my wife Meredith, who is an oncology nurse practitioner, said: “Now that is what hope looks like.”Īs so the beat went on through the summer. I had made the right call and I felt the biggest relief of my professional life. When the tour began in Victoria and Gord stepped onstage in the shiny pink suit and playful feathered hat, I, like so many, was in tears. Downie, centre, leads the band through a concert in Vancouver, on July, 24, 2016. It’s a brilliant way to do an end run around performance anxiety. Not only did this serve me well, I could see his strategy in his own performances. Gord told me to speak to one person at a time, and move on. Sometimes, he said, he would sing to one person at a time, not the whole arena. Gord was delighted, but concerned about how I would fare in front of an audience of 20,000. Just before the tour, I gave a lecture on brain-tumour research in Chicago at the world’s largest clinical cancer-research meeting. At other times I was the only health-care professional he would trust. At times, Gord didn’t want me near, my presence reminding him of what he didn’t want the summer to be about. I had to learn to wear black to blend in to the backdrop, I had to learn stage lingo and remember my pseudonym when checking in to tour hotels. I made a lot of rookie mistakes as I travelled with the band and worked backstage. The Tragically Hip crew – from management, to security, to the stage crew, to the drivers – all understood the vision: to honour Gord’s wish to tour, to celebrate the band’s legacy and to give back to the fans who had supported them for over 30 years. But I’ve worked with this disease before, treating hundreds of patients a year, and I sensed that he was going to do well. Although I saw improvement in his condition, things can go sideways in a hurry. Dreams aside, this was a decision affecting a big business. Open this photo in gallery:Īs a doctor, I’m often asked when my patients can return to work. From the first day we met to discuss his post-operative treatment plan, he had goals. He called these symptoms cruel and crushing but it didn’t stop his dreams. These treatments take their toll on patients, they suffer from fatigue, brain swelling, nausea and dark thoughts about the incurable disease that hangs overhead. He looked and behaved nothing like the iconic front man that many Canadians adored.Īs he began a six-week schedule of radiation and chemotherapy at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, his family gathered to help. Those who watched the documentary Long Time Running, which covered the Tragically Hip’s final tour, saw a heavily bearded, shabby-looking Gord in the early scenes he couldn’t remember if he had breakfast, let alone the lyrics to his own songs. Memory and language issues are pervasive when the dominant temporal lobe of the brain takes a hit. Medical tourism and chasing rainbows can take precious time away from your purpose. He believed in Canada, and knew that he would receive the best possible treatment in the world. Gord Downie understood this and was remarkably content from the start. No one who has it can escape its grasp, even if you are a Kennedy, a Biden or a McCain. Glioblastoma (GBM for short) is a horrible disease.
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