as a personal challenge, although not completely cold: he had trained in bodybuilding when he was in his teens and 20s. But this return to the gym wasn’t some grasp at past glory. Poirier viewed the training as a compelling anchor story for his documentary. He placed third in the competition, which was his goal. Something of a charmer, Poirier has developed relation-ships with a few celebrities. Anderson, the rock singer, is one, but also among Poirier’s photo collection you’ll find pictures of the chiropractor shaking hands with Arnold Schwarzenegger, spokesman for the International Chiro-practic Association. The former California governor, body-builder and actor is also related through marriage to Ted Kennedy, who died from brain cancer in 2009. To train for the IDFA, Poirier teamed up with none other than Ronnie Coleman, eight-time winner of the Mr. Olym-pia bodybuilding competition. Coleman’s favourite uncle died from cancer. Poirier has sculpted his body, yet the tumour still cuts in occasionally. When he was training, seizures kept him out of the gym for long periods. “Each time I couldn’t do anything for about a month, because my shoulder would get all knot-ted up and I couldn’t touch a barbell.” Then this past December, Poirier had a seizure at work. “I used my face to break my fall,” he says, demonstrating his unusual sense of humour. “The downside is my office looks like a crime scene.” No, he didn’t take the next day off. “No rest for the wicked,” he says. Certainly no rest for Poirier, according to Jody Archam-bault, vice-president of the Kinsmen Club of Cornwall and past chair of Bikers Against Brain Cancer. He says Poirier habitually texts him after midnight, as if he needs to express his thoughts immediately. “I think with his type of sickness, chances are if he doesn’t get it out, he’s worried it won’t be there in the morning,” Archambault says. He says Poirier illustrates the importance of tenacity. “Never give up. Always push.” about someone who has done so much with his life already, Poirier thinks maybe he’s still alive because he has more work to do. In conversations with his neurologist, “I keep telling him it’s some sort of divine intervention to do more before I cash in my chips.” Poirier says despite the financial problems he encountered after the 2005 surgery, he isn’t especially worried that his wife and children would be financially challenged if he passed away sooner than later. Nonetheless, he expressed disappointment that Canadian chiropractors have no dedi-cated insurance system. “We should have some sort of organization where we pay a certain amount each month and at the end of your career, you have so much set aside. But there’s no such thing. If there was, I’d know my wife and kids would be OK.” Yet that isn’t his fight for now. These days, this perpetually energetic optimist focuses on what’s really important. “I’m not trying to make more and more money anymore. I’m paying my bills and enjoying what I have.” For more profiles, visit www.canadianchiropractor.ca. Optimism and skepticism And always look on the bright side – which explains how Poirier regards his cancer these days. He says his neurologist now questions the diagnosis doctors originally made back in 1995. “He’s not convinced that mine is a mixed glioma,” Poirier says. “A mixed glioma is made up partially of oligodendro-glioma cells as well as astrocytoma cells. The problem is astrocytoma cells are far more aggressive and should have taken me out of the game of life by now.” He also points to a growing body of evidence that links chiropractic care and improved immunity to disease as a possible explanation. A longtime chiropractic patient him-self, Poirier believes the treatment may have helped improve his body’s ability to battle the cancer. But the line between chiropractic and improved immunity is dotted at best for now. So if his original 1995 cancer di-agnosis proves correct, Poirier has no scientific explanation for his longevity. Still, as difficult as it may be to believe www.canadianchiropractor.ca CAC Chiro jan 14.indd 1 February 2014 Canadian Chiropractor 23 2014-02-04 10:11 AM
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