In 2020, Tim McDonald went to an urgent care for a pain in his side. He left knowing he had stage IV colorectal Cancer that had already spread to his liver. A second oncologist told him he had three years to live. Almost six years later, after a liver transplant and a long stretch of treatment, Tim is still here, still working, and still traveling with his wife every year.

Chris Anderson sits down with Tim to talk about the mindset that carried him through it, the symptoms he brushed off for months, and what it actually looks like to stop planning your life and start living it. Tim is a healthcare advocate and the host of the Advocacy at Work podcast and blog. He has gone to Capitol Hill to push for colorectal cancer research funding and sits on research panels that bring the patient voice into how new treatments get built.

This one is for the man who keeps putting off the checkup, the hard conversation, and the trip he says he will take someday.

What we get into:

• The moment Tim heard the words “you have cancer” and why his reaction worried his own doctor
• Why he told his wife “that’s your story, not mine” after a doctor handed him a three year timeline
• The count to 10 practice that got his temper under control, and why most men quit before it works
• The journaling Exercise he uses to talk back to fear so it stops running his decisions
• The symptoms he explained away for months: weight loss, back pain, night sweats, and never feeling warm
• Why colorectal cancer screening dropped from age 50 to 45, and why it may drop again to 40
• Cologuard versus the newer blood tests, and what to do if you are too young for insurance to cover it
• How one positive blood test six years later sent him back into the what ifs, and how he got out
• What changed in his Marriage when his wife became the rock instead of him
• Why he stopped trying to be the hardest worker in the room and started working smarter
• The question he left in the Upgrade Log for the next guest

Connect with Tim McDonald:
Website and podcast: advocacyatwork.com
LinkedIn: Tim A. McDonald

If this one helps you, send it to a man who needs it. Follow the show so we can keep putting them out.

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This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we’ll receive a small commission if you buy something.

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