CityNews 680 sportscaster and Hamilton Health Sciences patient Alex Seixeiro is raising awareness of testicular cancer after being diagnosed last year.
CityNews 680 sportscaster Alex Seixeiro is a household name among radio listeners in Ontario and beyond who tune into his broadcasts for the latest on their favourite teams and athletes. Thousands of these fans also follow Seixeiro’s sports-related social media posts on Twitter.
But late last summer, Seixeiro’s radio broadcasts and Twitter account suddenly went silent, staying that way for the rest of 2022 and most of January 2023. What few people knew, beyond his immediate family and a few coworkers, was that the Burlington man had been blindsided by a testicular cancer diagnosis and was undergoing surgery in Oakville, with follow-up care and chemotherapy at Hamilton Health Sciences Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre (JHCC).
“I never in a million years thought this would happen to me.”
“It was a curve ball thrown out of nowhere,” says Seixeiro, 39, who was well enough to return to work on Jan. 30. That day he also posted on Twitter, sharing his diagnosis and cancer journey through a series of tweets.
Tweeting his cancer journey:
In Seixeiro’s Twitter thread, which has 1.2 million views, he writes about his diagnosis and treatment, and encourages his followers to make an appointment with their health-care provider if they suspect a health issue. The thread has received hundreds of comments from well-wishers across North America including fans, sportscasters and other media personalities.
“Dear Alex, your honesty will save lives and your energy is contagious. I look foward to working together again! Stay strong.” — Canadian broadcast journalist Lisa LaFlamme, with 164,000 Twitter followers.
Another notable media personality to reach out was @NightShiftMD Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC White Coat, Black Art and The Dose, whose Twitter account has nearly 100,000 followers.
Elliotte Friedman, hockey insider and reporter at Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada with 764,000 Twitter followers, wrote: “We missed you around here, Alex. Looking forward to your return.”
James Duthie, NHL/CFL/golf host and reporter at TSN, shared with his 869,000 followers: “Great to hear you are doing well Alex. All the best.”
And Kristian Jack, vice president of media and content at the Canadian Premier League and host at OneSoccer, posted, “Special man. Pleasure to call him a friend. We’ve been talking soccer for 18 years (where did the time go) — have never been prouder of him. An important thread that can help save lives.”
When in doubt, check it out
Testicular cancer is the most common form of solid tumour cancers involving young men, says HHS oncologist Dr. Sebastien Hotte, Seixeiro’s cancer specialist. Thankfully, it’s also one of the most curable cancers, even when it has spread.
“As scary as it is to receive a testicular cancer diagnosis, it’s fortunately very uncommon for men to die from this disease even when it’s advanced,” says Hotte, adding that treatment typically involves surgery to remove the diseased testicle. This surgery rarely affects fertility and almost never affects potency, says Hotte.
But even when found early, the cancer can return to other parts of the body such as the lymph nodes or other organs. Through active surveillance – a treatment plan that involves closely monitoring a patient’s condition – testicular cancer is almost always curable even when it reoccurs.
“By adopting active surveillance, we’re able to avoid chemotherapy for men that won’t have a recurrence of their cancer and only treat patients with chemotherapy who really need it,” says Hotte.
To help catch signs of testicular cancer as early as possible, Hotte encourages men to check their testicles monthly for any changes.
Signs include a lump on the testicle that may be painless. Signs can also include a painful or swollen testicle, a feeling of heaviness or aching in the lower abdomen or scrotum, persistent or worsening backache, or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, especially on the left side.
Anyone experiencing signs should book an appointment with their health-care provider.
Signs of trouble
In early 2022, Seixeiro started to experience sporadic pain in the testicle area that would come and go. As the year went on, the pain became worse, even waking him up at night. “Then it would go away for a week or so, and I would push it to the back of my mind until the next wave,” says Seixeiro. “I should have visited the hospital emergency department right away, but because it came and went I didn’t take that step.”
Then last August he was woken up by pain so intense, he went to his local emergency department. “I thought it might be an infection and I would get a prescription to clear it up.” Instead, he was given an ultrasound and told there was a tumour. He was referred to a urologist in Oakville and that’s when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
“It was the last thing I expected to hear,” says the married father of two young daughters, whose busy home and work life were suddenly upended. His twitter thread continued:
Rolling with the punches
“The time between my diagnosis and surgery was really quick,” says Seixeiro, who underwent surgery at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital to have the tumour removed. A CT scan showed no evidence of the cancer spreading, and he was referred to JHCC for follow-up care with Hotte. “It was a relief. I thought that this health scare was behind me.”
But additional tests at JHCC found that the cancer had spread to his abdomen and chemotherapy would be needed to treat the disease.
“It was a shock to hear, and a tough nine weeks of chemotherapy treatment, but I also felt lucky because my cancer was considered extremely curable,” says Seixeiro, who continues to see Hotte for ongoing surveillance and follow-up care. He thanked his HHS health-care team in his thread, as well as his family and CityNews 680 colleagues.
Meanwhile, Seixeiro continues to use his platform as a media personality to get the word out. “I especially want to reach young men who think they’re immune from a cancer diagnosis because I was that person. I never in a million years thought this would happen to me.”
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
