McLean Family

This year, the McLean Family has had to embark on a journey most of us can't imagine. In May of 2023, Colin will be undergoing extensive spinal cord surgery.

Colin is a 36 year old husband, father, son and brother. He shares two children (aged 4 and 7) with his wife of 10 years. He is the man of many hobbies, most of which involve the outdoors. He lives for hunting and fishing with his dad. Canoeing in the back country is another huge passion of the McLeans. The pain and physical ailments Colin is currently enduring does not allow him to participate or enjoy these activites to their full capacity. His strength and determination to push through his pain has been most apparent on these trips. In short, Colin is a very active man who has become increasingly limited by his pain and physical deficits.

Colin radiates kindness. He loves his family and friends with every fibre of his being. He loves to have fun and makes the most out of any situation. He is a constant calming force. His commitment to choosing happiness everyday has kept their family strong beyond measure during these emotional 5 months.

Colin was diagnosed (via MRI) in October 2022 with a Hemangioblastoma (non malignant, vascular tumor) at C2 after at least 10 years of worsening symptoms. Since diagnosis, Colin’s symptoms have worsened at an exponential rate.

Deficits include:

* Extremely limited function to right hand with numbness, weakness and poor coordination.

* Loss of fine motor skills

* Numbness to left hand

* Numbness from feet to mid thighs

* Severe nerve pain from neck down both arms

* Severe neck pain

* Severe headaches/migraines

* Severe spinal cord swelling, extending from his brain stem down through his thoracic spine

* Limited activity tolerance due to pain and fatigue

From the time of diagnosis there has been many issues with the management of Colins care in Manitoba. The family was under the impression the tumor was inoperable and sent home with encouragement to have their affairs in order. Conflicting information, lack of interest in his case and many other barriers prompted a visit to Mayo Clinic in March 2023 for second opinions.

After pursuing second opinions, it introduced options that were either not recommended in Manitoba or recommended with little confidence in regards to the procedure and ability to safely remove the tumor due to size, location, and vasculature of the tumor. The Mayo Clinic introduced their family to a confident surgeon with 25 years of experience, whom developed a concrete surgical plan to remove Colins tumor. This surgery is time sensitive and imperitive to help alleviate not only his debilitating symptoms but also to prevent any further, permanent damage. If all goes according to plan this will alleviate Colins spinal cord swelling and in turn his severe pain. It will also allow him to grow old with his family. After much discussion, a decision was made to pursue surgery at Mayo Clinic before Colin deteriorates further.

Colin was informed at Mayo Clinic that the functional deficits that he currently experiences will very likely remain post surgery. Colins symptoms worsen weekly. The longer he waits for surgery the less function he will retain post surgery. Therefore, surgery has been scheduled for mid May.

Attempts have been made to claim some funds from Manitoba Health to help cover the cost of surgery. The requirements are to exhaust options through other Canadian provinces. Since time is of the essence due to Colins worsening symptoms, travelling province to province is not feasible or realistic at this time. Many details are involved which further complicates the ability to have Manitoba health cover these medical expenses.

Any monetary donations we can raise to help the family with the costs of Colins surgery would be tremendously appreciated. It would allow them to move forward and quite literally give him a new lease on life. Thank you in advance for your support.