Mark McConnell: a survivor's story

At the end of last year, University of Auckland academic Mark McConnell joined some of Australasia’s leading gastro-intestinal (GI) cancer specialists for a two-day ‘preceptorship’ – an intensive process for mentoring and supporting incoming specialists in the field.

But Mark wasn’t there to impart his experiences as a clinician or health researcher; he was there to talk about survival.

A professional teaching fellow in commercial law at the Business School, Mark is also a Community Advisory Panel member for GI Cancer Trials – a network of clinicians, researchers and community advocates working to improve outcomes for those with the disease.

As a panel member, he shares his lived experience of having colorectal cancer to ensure patients’ perspectives are considered in research priorities, directions and how clinical trials are designed and delivered.

It was through his involvement with the panel that he was invited to speak at the preceptorship, where he talked about cancer ‘survivorship’ with the oncology and surgical trainees.

“It was an amazing experience to be in the room with the preceptees and preceptors; to hear them talking about cases and asking for my perspective as a patient. There was also a lot of talk about the latest research and what that means for treatment – conversations you don’t get to be a part of every day, which was a real privilege.”

Mark was a few weeks into teaching in the second semester of 2020 when a colonoscopy revealed he had a large tumour in his colon. Despite his only symptom at the time being fatigue, which he put down to his age and fitness level, the cancer had spread to his stomach and liver. It was stage four and his chances of survival were 3-5 percent.

A gruelling series of procedures and treatments followed, including three major surgeries. Mark describes his mindset when dealing with cancer as ‘defiant realism’, with his acts of defiance including teaching classes while hooked up to chemotherapy medication.

Thankfully, the chemo worked, allowing a previously inoperable tumour on his liver to be removed, and in May the following year Mark was told there was no longer evidence of cancer in his body.

“I saw my oncologist and he said, ‘Okay, go live your life’,” recalls Mark. “And I remember thinking, after everything I’ve been through, what does that mean?

“There’s this idea that once there’s no evidence of disease, you’re off the hook, you’re free. But you’re always going to live with that experience, that trauma and that sense of dread when you go for your scans every few months.”

The experience has diminished his tolerance for certain things, he says, and the question, ‘Did I survive cancer for this?’ has become a touchstone when considering whether something is worth his time, energy or attention.  

After a stint working for local government in Queenstown, in 2023 Mark returned to his ‘dream job’ teaching at the University where he is now the Business School’s associate dean teaching and learning. The role involves dealing with everything from academic integrity issues, to setting policy around AI use, and procedures around student feedback.

“For me, it’s an opportunity to contribute something significant and that’s making a difference. It gives me a sense of meaning and purpose.”

Volunteering his time with GI Cancer Trials has also provided a way of giving back that draws on his teaching experience, helping clinicians and researchers increase their understanding of how their approaches, activities and attitudes impact patients.

Mark says allowing people to talk about their experiences of cancer is an important way to support them. He formulated aspects of his talk at the preceptorship into a blog post for the GI Cancer Trials website, where he reflects on what it means to survive cancer.

“Survivorship, for me, hasn’t so much been about strength or positivity,” he writes at the end of the post.

“It’s been about holding the contradictions: joy, ambivalence, thankfulness, an ongoing sense of trauma, a reviewed appreciation of beauty, the awareness of death and the desire to experience life in all its fullness.

“I don’t think this is what the oncologist had in mind when he said, ‘Go live your life’. But maybe this is, in fact, what life is about.”