Published Sep 30, 2023 • 4 minute read
Windsor city councillor Fred Francis and his wife Carolyn walk on a trail at Central Park in South Windsor on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star
Windsor city councillor Fred Francis says he’s now living life to the fullest after winning his battle against ‘demons.’
He’s officially cancer-free.
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Earlier this month, the 42-year-old learned the Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin’s Lymphoma he fought more than four years ago is almost certainly gone for good.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t say a prayer of thanks — I know other people aren’t as lucky,” Francis told the Star. “I went through treatment with people that are no longer here.”
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Until now, Francis has been reluctant to refer to himself as cancer-free. He’s undergone blood tests at the cancer centre every six months since his cancer treatment to monitor his health.
Earlier this month, his doctor told him Hodgkin’s lymphoma usually comes back between two and three years following treatment, if at all.
“She specifically told me, ‘Listen, if this thing comes back in year five, they’ll literally put you in a book because it never happens,’” Francis said.
Francis received his cancer diagnosis on New Year’s Eve of 2018 after chest pain, drenching night sweats, and a dramatic weight loss prompted him to see a doctor. Only a month prior, he had lost his sister-in-law Michelle Prince — wife of his brother and former city mayor Eddie Francis — following her highly public and inspirational five-year cancer journey.
What followed for Francis were 12 chemotherapy sessions over six months. Although he now describes the treatment as “not as bad as I thought it would be,” it left him unable to get out of bed some days, swallowing the biggest pills he’s ever seen, and injecting himself in the stomach every other day — “not pleasant,” he said — to stimulate white blood cell production.
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Left alone with his thoughts, the “cancer demons” took a toll on his mental health, as did his weight gain and inability to exercise. The previously fit and active man put on 56 pounds (25.4 kg) through overeating and could not jog around the block for lack of energy.
Rather than keeping those negative feelings inside, he shared them with friends, family, priests and medical professionals. His now-wife Carolyn and brother Eddie went with him to every chemotherapy appointment.
Windsor city councillor Fred Francis and his wife Carolyn are shown at Central Park in South Windsor on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star
Francis also kept his mind busy with work. Inspired by other patients he met, patients who would do manual labour, shift work, and child care following chemo sessions, he worked as much as he could. During some council meetings, he found himself gasping for air and drenched in sweat, though he tried to hide it.
Francis promised himself he would share his story once he made it to the other side in hopes of helping even one other person. He strongly urges anyone with a new pain or something strange going on with their body to see a doctor.
Keep on fighting, because you can win
“Go get tested. If only one person does and finds something, and they get the preventative treatment and it saves their life, that makes it all worth it,” he said.
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“I know other people are going through the cancer fight and other people are getting diagnosed every day. Keep on fighting, because you can win.
Grow On ambassadors, from left, Roger Beneteau, Daniel Thomas, Fred Francis, Jim Fair, and Jamie Matchett, pose with their Grow On mustaches during the Oct. 28, 2021, Ciociaro Club kick-off for that year’s fundraising campaign. Photo by Dax Melmer /Windsor Star
Since his diagnosis, Francis has served as a Grow On Windsor Ambassador with the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation and used his voice to spread awareness and give hope to other cancer patients.
“Fred’s story gives you hope,” said Houida Kassem, the foundation’s executive director.
“We do hear the stats that can be troubling, that can be concerning. We don’t hear as much of the stats of success rates, the wonderful things that progress and technology and advancements have also brought us.”
The foundation’s annual Grow On Windsor campaign begins next month. The organization is inviting residents to form fundraising teams and sign up to participate in the campaign by visiting windsorcancerfoundation.org. Funds raised remain local and will support a stem cell program.
The Windsor Regional Cancer Centre is currently seeing about 7,450 patients. Approximately 3,120 new cancer patients are diagnosed each year in Windsor-Essex.
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Since January 2022, approximately 16 local patients were diagnosed with the same form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma Francis battled.
Francis said he now tries to live life to the fullest. He got married in 2021. He values time with friends and family more, and he’s stopped sweating the small stuff.
“Time is really the one commodity that matters more than anything else because it’s not unlimited,” he said.
“You appreciate the small things, something as small and insignificant as being able to run around the block, but also something as huge and significant as getting married to the person you love.”
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