Cancer Care Connections
Cancer Care Connections
No One Fights Cancer Alone: A Story of Healing, Helping, And Hope
A shattered helmet, a rebuilt face, and a diagnosis that changed everything...Kevin Johnson’s story grabs you by the hand and walks you from crisis to clarity. We sit down with the longtime educator turned advocate to unpack the hard-won lessons he learned after a near-fatal cycling crash that led to the discovery of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and, later, a rare eye involvement that many clinicians missed. What follows is a candid look at how gratitude, purpose, and community can transform the cancer experience for patients and caregivers alike.
Kevin explains how he initially kept quiet during his cancer journey and how a meetup with a friend gave way to a new mission: co-leading Man Up to Cancer in Virginia and supporting chapters across the South. We talk about the practical tools that support men during their cancer journey: chemo backpacks, local and virtual support groups, and an annual retreat that blends education with adventure. Along the way, Kevin names the uncomfortable truth: men often wait too long to seek support. Simple invitations from spouses, friends, clinicians, and even fire departments have become the lifeline that brings them into a network where honesty and humor coexist with treatment plans and scan days.
We also highlight how peer connection improves adherence, symptom reporting, and overall quality of life. This is a powerful reminder that outcomes improve when men speak up, and that no one has to walk this path alone.
If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who needs strength today!
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Cancer Care Connections is the official podcast of Virginia Oncology Associates. For more information, visit us at VirginiaCancer.com. or find us on Facebook or Instagram at Virginia Oncology Associates.
Intro: 0:10
Welcome to Cancer Care Connections. Today's episode is a bit unique. Our guest is not a provider bringing you the latest updates in patient care and treatment, but a patient who is sharing his personal story of a cancer diagnosis and how it changed his perspective on life. In this episode, Cheryl sat down with Kevin Johnson, who shares the raw, powerful truth of what it means to rebuild. From a near fatal crash to a battle with rheumatoid arthritis and the unexpected cancer diagnosis, Kevin's story is one of resilience, clarity, and deep gratitude. Now retired, Kevin leads with purpose, co-leading the Virginia chapter of Man Up to Cancer, helping men find their voice, their community, and their courage. You'll hear how simple invitations save lives, how caregivers become catalysts, and how friendships endure beyond loss. This is more than a cancer story. It's a call to speak up, to connect, and to live fully. The message is clear. No one needs to fight cancer alone.
Cheryl: 1:14
This podcast began in 2023 as a way to explore a better way to fight cancer together. We've introduced you to Virginia Oncology Associates physicians and staff who have given us the latest in medical breakthroughs, treatment options, and patient care. Today's show is a little different. You're going to meet Kevin Johnson. He isn't a medical professional; he is someone who will share a story with us of healing, helping, and hope. Kevin, thanks so much for joining us today. We appreciate your time.
Kevin: 1:48
Thank you for having me.
Cheryl: 1:50
Let's start by talking about your background, which is in education. In fact, you were named twice, Teacher of the Year. So can you talk a little bit about teaching, education, and the passion that you have for helping students?
Kevin: 2:08
I started out as a history teacher, and then technology came along, and I got to see it go from THE computer in the department to eventually becoming an instructional technologist and seeing a few laptop carts in the building to giving a Chromebook to every student, to dealing with COVID and remote learning. That was fun. In a matter of days, supporting two schools, going totally online with learning and a lot of panicky teachers going, how do I do this? And a lot of late nights. So I basically saw instructional technology go from non-existent to what it is today.
Cheryl: 2:46
To being so, so important. And to be clear, you were a teacher in Virginia Beach for many, many years. Is that right?
Kevin: 2:54
Yeah, I did a total of 34 years.
Cheryl: 2:57
Talk a little bit more about your path and how you were able to take what you loved, history, then technology, and supporting students, and how that has shaped you over the time you were in Virginia Beach.
Kevin: 3:13
I love teaching history, but I found I was using more and more of the technology. And it just became a natural path to eventually getting my master's in instructional technology and teaching teachers how to use it more effectively in the classroom, doing special projects like podcasting with students, which was a lot of fun towards the end, and doing things like designing 3D objects with 3D printers, a lot of the modern technology. And so I did that until really I started cancer treatment. And then that kind of changed things.
Cheryl: 3:48
Something happened in 2020 that changed her life. Can you talk to us about what happened in 2020 and how it has changed everything for you?
Kevin: 3:59
In 2020, I started getting into biking in a serious way, with 30 to 50-mile bike rides. It was COVID. Everyone was looking for a way to get out, and you couldn't do it in groups. So bicycling was a way to go out and have fun and get some exercise, so I got seriously into it. And so I had done a great deal of the Capitol Trail. And then one day, I decided I was going to finish the Capitol Trail. So I got up one day and went to Richmond, kind of wish I hadn't, because as I got down to do that final part, I was literally almost back to my car that day and another bicyclist was kind of careless, ran into me, and I landed face down on cement. I was told later that that's not usually something you survive. I went in as a trauma delta, the highest level you go into any trauma center. I spent five weeks between the trauma center and a nursing home. I spent months after recovering. I was told another 30 seconds and I would not have survived it. Fortunately, they closed the roads in Richmond to get me to VCU. I'm very grateful for them. They are the reason I'm alive. Four days into the process, they did seven hours of surgery, reconstructing my entire upper face that was shattered. And just before that happened, yet another doctor came in with a form. And I'm like, I've already signed everything. And he's like, I'm an oncologist, and they wanted to do a biopsy. Well, turned out it never happened that day. But as I was spending the months recovering in February of 2021, I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Then I started having eye infections, and the eye infections went on for a long time, for over a year. I was told they were not the cancer. I went to UVA, they said the same thing. Finally, I had another surgery, and it was the cancer. My chronic lymphocytic leukemia had gone extra nodal, lacrimal gland, which are your tear ducts, and I immediately started cancer treatment, which I continue to this day.
Cheryl: 6:09
I imagine you have been in many, many medical facilities over the last five years or so. And there's a feeling, I imagine, of gratefulness that they were there to support you in that time.
Kevin: 6:24
I'm very glad to be here. Three weeks into this, the head of trauma at VCU actually called in the nursing home to check on my trachea and see how I was doing. And when he saw my recreated face and the fact that I was talking to him, he actually started crying. He's like, we thought we were going to lose you. It was a very emotional moment. But it made me appreciate life very differently. Like when you have a near-death experience, you find you're really lucky to be here. I started re-evaluating life in a lot of ways. It eventually led to two and a half years ago deciding to retire, spending my time a little different. That's looked like world travel. And I also wanted to find a nonprofit to get involved in. I would eventually end up running into a friend at the botanical gardens, and he told me about Man Up to Cancer. It turned out to be that nonprofit that I got super involved in. I'm now co-leader of the Virginia chapter. I work with six other states in the South to help them grow as well. I spent a lot of my time working with them to help grow the chapter, working with Sentara, with Virginia Oncology, and anyone else that will help grow what they are doing. I see how it helps men. We have a lot of stage three and stage four cancer patients. Men need to reach out and talk about their cancer. It's incredibly important for outcomes. And I see how much Man Up to Cancer helps them. It's made me very passionate about what they do. And so things like talking to you today, I want to get word out about how important it is for men to talk and to have that sense of community. Women tend to reach out. When you go to a support group, you're lucky if you see one man there. So it's really important for men. But if they go there and they're the only man, they're not going to speak up and they don't tend to come back. Five years ago, Trevor Maxwell, who lives in Maine, created Man Up to Cancer because that's exactly the experience he had. It's grown to over 3,000 men. We're in the United States, we're in Canada. We have men in the United Kingdom, Belgium, lots and lots of places now, and we're growing rapidly. And it needs to grow more because there are so many men who need it. You go in, you see your oncologist, you're given your prescription, you're given your treatment. We don't deal with the social and emotional part enough, and it's badly needed. I see it every day. I've been in hospitals with men who are newly diagnosed with stage three and stage four colon cancer, for example, we get a lot of that. And they need to be able to reach out. They need to know there are people who care, people who love them. We use that word with Man Up to Cancer; men telling each other that we love each other. If you can't do that with someone who's dying of cancer. I don't know where you can. It's really, really important.
Cheryl: 9:18
First, I need to acknowledge how much you've been through over the last five years. So, so much. And you talked about Man Up to Cancer, and I want to talk more about that. But if I may, can we go back to when you were diagnosed with your cancer and how you handled that? Because I'm imagining the way you handled that is why this group, Man Up to cancer, is so important to you in particular.
Kevin: 9:48
As I said, we had a family history there as well. And I remember my dad. My dad had much more serious cancers than I do. He really suffered from it. When I was diagnosed, I was told it was the good cancer, which really is not ever the way you say it to anyone. But also the eye infections. I went through over a year where my eyes would just explode. Literally, I'd be going somewhere and this gunk would just explode out of my eyes. And for a long time, no one recognized that as the cancer. I was told repeatedly, "no, it's not the cancer. It's not the cancer." I had a wonderful eye surgeon who, as soon as she saw me, she's like, I want to do a biopsy. She made it seem very normal. She told me later, "I saw it. You had thick eyelids. I knew it was cancer." And I asked her later, I said, "So, you know, eye cancer is one in a million. It's incredibly rare. How did you know that? How many cases of eye cancer have you seen in the 30-something years you've been an eye surgeon?" And she told me, she says, "none, zero," that most eye doctors, most eye surgeons will never see a case of eye cancer. But she saw it. And because of her, it was recognized. It was very quickly treated. I was told literally a week before my surgery that I had probably two to three years before I would need treatment. And a week later I was back. Fortunately, because of modern science, treatment is pills that I take twice a day. Seven or eight years ago, that would have been harsh chemo, but because of scientific breakthroughs, we have modern drugs for my cancer that have made that much easier, which I'm very, very grateful for. But I see people who are still treated with much more harsh drugs and I really want the scientific breakthroughs to continue. It's so important.
Cheryl: 11:37
It really is. As far as who you turned to, who were you able to find in terms of support? Friends, family, did you feel like it was just you? Where did you go for help?
Kevin: 11:50
I think during COVID and what I went through originally with my accident, my original diagnosis, I don't know that I did. I just kind of dealt with it. I was one of those people. I didn't talk about it much. I just went to work. I'd go to work, I'd go home, and go to the doctor. And I think it was one of the things I realized along the line that that was not life because I was spending so much time in the doctor's office for different things. One of the reasons I retired when I did..I sat down, and it's like, okay, I can financially do this. I need to reevaluate. And the accident definitely made me look at things differently. What is the purpose of life? It's not to go to work and then go to the doctor. And so when I retired, it's like I need a purpose. I hadn't really found it. The first six months of retirement were really quiet, and I really didn't have a purpose. Then I ran into Jim Edmondson at the garden, and he told me about Man Up to Cancer. And I was like, yeah, I'm not sure I need this. I started looking online, reading up about it a little bit, and then okay, I'll join. The local leader of it, I quickly found out, was dealing with his wife's cancer. He had had stage three colon cancer, and then he was dealing with his wife's breast cancer. I was finding that the group really needed leadership, and within weeks, I was stepping up and like, Hey, I'm willing to help out here. And very quickly, I got involved with the leadership part of it and found that this is really what I want to be dealing with for a lot of my retirement. I'm finding that not only is it helping me, it's also helping me to help others. And it gave me a sense of purpose in retirement. So that's also been really important. I also do some advocacy work with Blood Cancer United. So, you know, we're cutting cancer research. That's not really a great thing right now. And I wanted a voice in that. So I got involved in that a little bit as well. But the vast majority of what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis is growing Man Up to Cancer in Virginia, and also what I can do to help with some of the southern states to help those leaders grow their chapters.
Cheryl: 14:00
Your efforts are remarkable, Kevin. I'd love to hear how the group has helped you. You initially said that you didn't think it was something you needed. How has Man Up to Cancer helped you specifically?
Kevin: 14:13
It's given me a purpose in retirement, but also, my cancer is pretty easy to treat right now at the stage it's at. But my rheumatoid arthritis is really hard to treat because of my cancer. So I've been up to UVA for a consult with their CLL specialists and the rheumatology team to figure out that I don't run out of RA treatments is the challenge right there. 30 years ago, people were all shriveled up and not walking because of rheumatoid arthritis. That's actually probably my bigger threat because it's harder to treat that with using 50-year-old drugs, because I can't use the modern drugs. It would make my cancer go to a more acute cancer. I'd rather it not do that. But it has also really given me a purpose in being able to help others. So that's really valuable to me right now. I see the need out there. I see, you know, these guys. It starts out as a group you're involved in, but quickly, these guys become your friends as well. I've gotten some really close friendships out of this. The hard part of that is we walk them wherever they go, and sometimes that's home. We just lost John Gibson. That was really hard. Someone who has been a great leader to our group, a gentleman out of Texas who has given countless hours to our group, but that's part of this. You know, he provided great leadership, but we walk with them wherever they go. We give chemo backpacks to our members who need them. It's one of the things I really love about our group. I've given those personally to members, and that's another really great thing that we do. We do a retreat in the Poconos every year. This year, almost 200 members; lots of fellowships, everything from zip lining, going up in a balloon. I was up on the zip line. It hurt my hand so badly with my arthritis. I didn't care; I was going to do it. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to. So darn right, I was gonna get up there. We did archery. We've already lost a couple of those men. But that's okay. They had a good time. They had feelings of friendship, being with others, and talking about their cancers. It's so important. And, you know, we'll do it again next year. We do mini galas as well in several states. And I'm hoping to eventually get a Virginia-North Carolina one going. So if there are any local groups that would like to financially help with that, hey, get a hold of me. I want to see that happen. More opportunities for these men to get together. We go to lunch with them locally. We do a support group at the Sentara Brock Cancer Center on the second Wednesday of every month. Jim and I got that started last year. Just so many opportunities for these men.
Cheryl: 17:14
It's a community that you didn't know you needed. It's something that once you're on this journey, it feels like you're all alone. But what you and your fellow volunteers are doing, Kevin, is you're showing that this community is there to support.
Kevin: 17:27
It is definitely there to support. This week at our support group, we had a new gentleman join. This Wednesday was the day he started chemo. He joined us remotely. It was too much for him to come to the Brock Cancer Center. We have a Zoom option. He joined us on Zoom. We've already ordered a chemo backpack for him. But it took him three months to make that decision to join. We've been talking to him for that long. His wife has been encouraging him. His wife first contacted me. I was in Morocco. I do answer the phone wherever I'm at. And I talked to her in Morocco late one night. Something told me I needed to answer that phone call. We talked to him a few times. My friend Jim has talked to him a few times. But finally getting chemo was finally what made him decide to join. And he's already said he's so glad that he did this. He needed this.
Cheryl: 18:17
This show reaches our community, caregivers, spouses, children, and parents. As you just mentioned, with your story, a spouse, a loved one of the person who needs support, can reach out and get that ball rolling. So I want to hear more about that. The stories related to how people end up getting support from your group. It doesn't have to be the person himself. It can be someone who loves that person and says, I think this is something for you.
Kevin: 18:50
Yeah, my phone number is out there. I give out so many cards. I get calls from oncologists, and that's fine. I'll talk to anyone. "Can we give this guy your number?" "Yes, definitely. I'll talk to him." There are local fire departments that send men our way. Unfortunately, too many firefighters get cancer from what they do. It's very common. So we've got a large number of firefighters. The Chesapeake Fire Chief has been wonderful. He sends people our way, unfortunately, but it happens. I've talked to a number of fire chiefs. We get men from Sentara. They've been a great partner to help us grow. Sentara Brock Cancer Center has been great to do that. They host our local group. We wanted an in-person support group meeting monthly. That was really important to Jim and I that that happened. Sometimes we get two or three people, sometimes we fill the room. It just depends on what people need on a given night. We have support meetings on the second Wednesday of every month from six to eight at the Sentara Norfolk Brock Cancer Center. We'd love to have you. We do take male caregivers, as well. We do have them in our group, so it's not just cancer patients. If you are a guy who is a caregiver of a cancer patient...we've got one in our local group right now who has a child at CHKD who's fighting cancer. We understand what you are going through. It's a different level. We understand that as well. But we do take caregivers, and they're welcome to come to the support group as well and join Man Up to Cancer.
Cheryl: 20:23
You mentioned just now about the partnership with Sentara. Talk a little bit more about that. How did that evolve into what it is today? And what do you see happening in the future to continue to grow your group?
Kevin: 20:35
Definitely making sure all the healthcare systems know about us. We've talked to Chesapeake Regional, which is very, very small. Getting into Sentara was really hard. They're big. Where do you start? So Jim last year saw the advertisement for the Beyond Cancer event. There really wasn't someone to call. It was a Facebook ad. So we put on our Man Up to Cancer shirts, we grabbed some brochures, and we crashed the event, kind of. But we went in and we heard the speakers. One of the speakers talked about men with cancer and the problem they had with not getting support. His conclusion was that he didn't really have a great answer to the problem. Then Dr. Alberico got up there and spoke. The event is named after him. And he got up there and spoke, and basically said the same thing. This is a problem. Men need support. We don't have a great answer. We're still exploring this problem. I then got up from the table as soon as he sat down and went down and sat next to both gentlemen and said, "We have a solution for you. We'd like to talk to you," and gave them our brochure. They put us in touch with staff at the local cancer center. Keisha has been incredible with giving us other contacts. And she offered us space, and we're like, yes, we will take space. I've now been offered space, I think, at almost every Sentara hospital, but I don't have enough men to run a local support group at every one of them. We take men from all of the hospitals. It's why we do Zoom, so they can join the support group wherever they are in Virginia. We've had men join from Charlottesville. We've had men join from Radford, Virginia. We don't care where you are; we'll take you. Sentara's made it very clear we don't care what hospital you're treated at. If it's not one of ours, we don't care. Join. We want to offer the support, and that's been great. We've worked with the Blue Ridge hospitals to join our support group. They needed a support group for accreditation, and they don't really have one locally. So we've helped provide that, and they joined our Sentara group. We continue to build that relationship. We partner with Imerman Angels, that is one of our partners with Man Up to Cancer. We partner with a group that provides fishing trips for men. So if they come to the Beyond Cancer event, I have brochures for that. We try to partner with other groups. There are tons of internet-based groups for different cancers as well. And when we get new men, we try to lead them to things that are helpful to them. They don't always get that at the local cancer center. So we try to give them the resources they need. You know, when they join Man Up to Cancer, they get a lot of value in different events. And a lot of them do join us in the Poconos for a big event there. It's a really incredible event. It was fun going up in a balloon. I tried that on a couple of my trips, and they kept getting canceled. So it was fun to actually do that this year. A whole bunch of cancer patients and survivors going up on a balloon together. So that's a really cool experience.
Cheryl: 23:46
And you've got a t-shirt on from an event you just did.
Kevin: 23:50
I do. This is the gathering of wolves. This is our annual cancer retreat that we do up in the Poconos. We have different events that we do during this, we do fun events. We also do educational events, How to deal with stress during a cancer diagnosis was one of the things. We've had art therapy events. We do a big US-Canada challenge event every year, as well. There are all kinds of different speakers on all kinds of different topics. It's amazing to sit around and talk to other people with cancer. The year before last was the first time I ever talked to other blood cancer survivors. That really meant more to me than I thought it would. It's a really cool event in so many ways. So I really encourage men to reach out and join. We'd love to have you. You'll find that there is a community for men with cancer, and you will find that it does help to talk about it. And we're here for you.
Cheryl: 24:48
We've talked quite a bit about what members get, what the benefits are of Man Up to Cancer. So now what I want to ask you is, what do you need? What do you need to continue to grow the group, which I know is a goal of yours, to provide the kind of support and care that your members need? It is time for you to say it, Kevin. What do you need?
Kevin: 25:12
We need the community to be aware of us and help get the word out. We do give chemo backpacks out. We are hoping to do 500 this year. So when you go to our website, for non-cancer patients, we ask nothing of our cancer patients. We totally provide this. A lot of pharmaceutical companies are our sponsors. We're lucky there. But if there are people out there who want to help give a chemo backpack to a member, there's a place on our website where you can do that. We're going to provide 500 of those this year. So certainly there is that opportunity to donate to help Man Up to Cancer as well. That is on our website. Getting the word out is valuable. We do grants to our chapters to help do things like take them out to lunch. And so when people donate, that also goes to those types of things.
Cheryl: 25:58
Wonderful. And I know you mentioned a way to reach out to you, a website, email, a phone number, anything you care to share for people who want to reach out to you. Whether it is to find information about the group, to donate, or to find information about the group to send a new member your way, how can someone reach out to you?
Kevin: 26:16
The easiest way is to go to www.manuptocancer.org. That's www.manuptocancer.org. If you want to email, we have a generic email for all of our chapters, wherever you're located in the United States, Canada, or wherever, info@manuptocancer.org.
Cheryl: 26:36
Anything else you'd like to add before I ask one last question about you and your remarkable journey?
Kevin: 26:42
Outcomes are better for people who talk about cancer. So it's really important that you reach out and have that community. There are a lot of support groups out there, and I encourage you to find one that will help you.
Cheryl: 26:56
And maybe this ties into my last question, which is what message would you share with someone who is newly diagnosed or feeling all alone in their cancer journey?
Kevin: 27:07
No one fights alone. There are lots of organizations out there that will help. It's really funny because in my neighborhood, I'm kind of the cancer guy. My next-door neighbor thought she had cancer. She had a weird spot. I helped her get over to a person at Brock who worked with her. We had a lot of late-night conversations as she went through that journey. Fortunately, after surgery was found to be clear. But I've had a lot of that type of experience with people coming and just having those conversations. And I encourage that. Probably everyone knows someone with cancer who can help lead them to resources. Certainly, we're willing to help do that. Sentara has a lot of great resources for people at the Brock Cancer Center. It's a great place. They do so many things for cancer patients: Tai Chi, massage, lots of things that are helpful. I just encourage them to reach out.
Cheryl: 28:05
As you mentioned, you don't have to face this journey alone. Kevin, thank you so much.
Kevin: 28:11
Thank you for having me.
Exit: 28:18
Thank you for joining us today for Cancer Care Connections. Kevin Johnson's story is a testament to the human spirit, how one man turned trauma into transformation and diagnosis into direction. From the wreckage of a bike crash to the quiet courage of facing cancer, Kevin reminds us that purpose doesn't end with survival. It begins there. If you're walking through the storm of cancer or standing beside someone who is, know this. There is hope, there is help, and there's a tribe waiting to welcome you.
Visit manupcancer.org or email info@manuptocancer.org to find your people. Share this episode with someone who needs strength today. And if Kevin's journey moves you, leave a review. It helps others discover these life-changing conversations. When men speak up, feeling deepens, fear fades, and life expands beyond the diagnosis.
Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere podcasts are available. Or listen online at CancerCareConnections.buzzsprout.com. Cancer Care Connections is the official podcast of Virginia Oncology Associates. For more information, visit us at VirginiaCancer.com or find us on Facebook or Instagram at Virginia Oncology Associates.