Ginny moved to Cornwall, Poirier’s hometown, where he purchased Earthway Family Chiropractic. Before long, business was booming. “I was on fire at that period of time,” he recalls. By advertising his services, ramping up his pace of work and investing in laser therapy equipment, he boosted the practice’s revenues by some 30 per cent. Yet his most recent bout with cancer nagged at him, like a persistent reminder that the disease could kill him at any time. Was he doing enough with his life by prioritizing business success? Fundraiser revs up “There’d be nothing to gain if I festered in self-pity. I saw it as another challenge which I’d either stare down or allow to define me.” another surgery. His recovery was a nightmare. After the operation, an infection set in, which meant surgery once more. Doctors had to remove part of his skull. Later, Poirier underwent surgery again – his fourth – this time, to have a metal plate installed to help protect his brain. The surgeries took a financial toll. Unable to work for nine months, his income was non-existent. In-surance helped cover some costs, but the payments were barely enough to live on. “I lost my X-ray machine,” Poirier says. He had to sell it at a substantial loss to help cover the amount still owing on the apparatus. Grateful he was alive, in 2008, Poirier and his wife www.canadianchiropractor.ca One day, Poirier received word that a friend’s mother had died from brain cancer. That event spurred the chiropractor and motorcycle enthusiast to establish Bikers Against Brain Cancer (biker-sagainstbraincancer.org), a motorcycle ride to raise funds to fight and improve awareness of the disease. As Poirier puts it, “Few people realize that many Canadians are affected by brain cancer.” According to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, 27 Canadians are diagnosed with brain tumours each day. The organization estimates that 55,000 Canadians have brain tumours, which count as the leading cause of solid cancer death in children and young adults under the age of 20 and the third-leading cause of solid cancer death in people aged 20 to 39. Tumours affect co-ordination, mem-ory, thought processes and emotion. Survivors need access to specialty care and rehabilitative services. Since 2010, Bikers Against Brain Cancer has generated more than $50,000 for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and the Montreal Neuro-logical Institute – the workplace of Poirier’s neurol-ogist, Dr. Kevin Petrecca. The event’s success might have something to do with Poirier’s single-mindedness. He admits the time he has devoted to promoting and organizing Bikers Against Brain Cancer is time taken away from his chiropractic practice – not that he regrets it. “It’s more fun for me right now to be focusing on brain-cancer awareness than it is on chiropractic. February 2014 Canadian Chiropractor 21
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor February 2014: Page 21
