Stuart McLean cancels Vinyl Cafe Christmas tour due to melanoma
'This is not quite as ominous as it sounds,' says McLean, who expects 85% positive outcome from therapy
CBC News Posted: Nov 21, 2015 9:29 AM CT
Last Updated: Nov 21, 2015 10:49 AM CT
Vinyl Cafe host Stuart McLean has cancelled the remainder of his Christmas tour this year because he has been diagnosed with melanoma.
In a post on Facebook and the website for the CBC Radio program, McLean said all remaining shows after Sunday in Thunder Bay, Ont., will be cancelled.
"I have just learned that I have melanoma. I begin therapy next week," McLean said in the post online early Saturday.
"This is not quite as ominous as it sounds (or not as ominous as it sounded to me). Melanoma, which was once a deadly diagnosis, has, over the last couple of years, become eminently treatable. The treatment is, as my wonderful doctor describes it, the poster child of cancer therapy."
McLean's doctor said he can expect an 85 per cent chance for a positive outcome from the immunotherapy treatment he'll be receiving.
In particularly humble fashion, McLean said he expects "to reconvene next Christmas, as we would have this year had it not been for my extraordinarily bad timing."
McLean said he considered doing the tour while undergoing treatment, but worried the treatment's side-effects would keep him from being "my best self."
"I know this is a disappointment to those of you who are looking forward to the show. It is a disappointment to me too. It feels like I invited everyone to dinner and am calling to say the party's off. I don't know what to say except, I am sorry."
Originally scheduled for 16 sets after the Thunder Bay show, McLean's tour would have taken him to Seattle, Wash., into Western Canada — including stops in Saskatoon on Dec. 1 and Regina on Dec. 2 — and on to Ontario and Quebec, ending in Montreal on Dec. 22.
McLean said ticket-holders will receive refunds through the purchasing outlet, starting on Tuesday.