Tim McDonald: turning pain into passion

When a doctor told Tim McDonald he had three years to live, he knew he would have to become his own best advocate.

“I thought to myself, ‘That’s your story, not mine,’” recalled Tim, who was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer in late 2020. “I told my wife: I am going to find a way to beat this.”

He left the oncologist’s office that day and sought a second opinion. The Tampa, Florida, resident has endured several colonoscopies, a colonic stent, two-and-a-half years of aggressive chemotherapy, plus a liver transplant after the cancer metastasized.

Now 57, Tim is cancer-free and back to enjoying life with his wife Lori, their children, and grandchildren. But he had to stand up for himself every step of the way—and he wants to help other people facing serious illness do the same.

Early in his cancer journey, Tim discovered online support groups for men with cancer and people with his specific cancers. Those forums provided much-needed emotional support and practical advice about available treatments. “At that point, I was just like a sponge. I wanted to learn and absorb everything,” he said.

But those treatments came at a cost. Tim and his family spent a lot of time crunching numbers to minimize his out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. A private, high-deductible health insurance plan helped save some money, but he still struggled to come up with the premiums each month.

I just love calling on Congress. I love trying to get the message across, get our asks in there, and get commitments from people.”

Tim McDonald

Tim and Lori started cutting back on other expenses to afford the care he needed to save his life. His mother had recently left him an inheritance, which helped, but that’s not how he’d wanted to use the money. “I would rather have it in a retirement account,” he said.

“Every month, I was paying my rent, paying the car payment, paying my insurance premium. Those were three things that I could not let slide,” Tim continued. “I was like, where is this money coming from? How am I going to be able to afford this?”

Tim started researching financial assistance options online and learned about the PAN Foundation. He was approved for a PAN copay grant to ease the cost of chemotherapy. But then, he matched with a liver donor after a months-long search.

Tim’s liver transplant in May 2023 put an end to chemo and the expenses that came with it, but he remains devoted to PAN’s mission.

“I really appreciate everything that the PAN Foundation does, even though I actually never took advantage of it,” he said. “Financial assistance from PAN would have taken a lot of that burden off of me.”

Now, Tim is proud to be a resource to others, especially those who have recently been diagnosed. In September 2024, he jumped at the chance to join PAN’s Advocacy Action Summit and fight for affordable, accessible healthcare. He’d been to Washington, D.C. before to support other causes and was comfortable navigating Capitol Hill and leading conversations with members of Congress. Advocacy comes naturally, thanks to a long career in marketing, social media, and community-building for nonprofits and associations.

His biggest ask? Urging lawmakers to make all copays count. Tim’s research savvy backfired when his health insurance wouldn’t recognize the financial assistance he got from drug manufacturers—a harmful practice known as a copay accumulator.

“You think you hit your [deductible] limit, then you’re slapped with a $150 copay on this, a $200 copay on that,” he shared. “They tell you money from the drug manufacturer doesn’t count, but why not? I was resourceful enough to go out and get it. Why should I be penalized for that?”

He also joined PAN’s Patient and Family Advisory Council to further lend his strengths to the foundation’s work. “I just love being a part of this and being able to spread the word that something like [PAN] is out there and available to patients,” said Tim, who will rely on immunosuppressants for the rest of his life.

He adds: “My long-term vision is that nobody in the U.S. has to worry about getting good, high-quality health care because they can’t afford it.”