‘Almost planning my funeral’: Former London Majors star living ‘new normal’ after brain tumour

A local baseball star reflects on his life after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. CTV London's Brent Lale has more.

Paul Lytwynec was 26 years old when his life turned upside down.

“I had shock, fear, every emotion you can think of,” said Lytwynec, when learning of a brain tumour diagnosis.

The former baseball star with Western, Fanshawe, and the London Majors had just started a career in policing with the OPP in 2018, when he had a seizure at work.

Months later he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

“I went through chemo, I went through radiation, and I had two surgeries,” said Lytwynec.

“I was almost planning my funeral, thinking like my life’s over. Luckily, I had a good support system. My family was awesome and my mom’s a nurse, so she was able to be a good advocate for me.”

Seven years after diagnosis, he’s not sure exactly how the tumour formed. He believes it’s possible it was in his head when he was born, and it slowly grew to the point where he had a seizure.

“It was basically 16 months of treatments,” said Lytwynec.

“I had to stop work, stop baseball, stop everything, and now I’m living my new normal. I still have to go for regular MRI’s and just fingers crossed, hope everything goes well.”

Dr. Joe Megyesi, a neurosurgeon at London Health Sciences Centre, University Campus performed the surgery.

Megyesi said he operates on two-to-three patients a week with a brain tumour ranging from children to young adults, to seniors.

“Some patients are very disabled before surgery and the surgery can help them considerably,” said Megyesi.

“So that is very satisfying when that happens. Other patients need to go on and have more intense treatment with radiation and chemotherapy, and it can be a struggle for them.”

The Brain Tumour registry estimates that 27 new primary brain tumours are diagnosed every day in Canada.

“Because of having the seizure, we were able to find it and then treat it,” said Lytwynec.

“Some people aren’t so lucky. You don’t have a symptom and then all of a sudden you find out it’s too late and it’s too big.”

In certain types of brain tumours, the treatments have improved and there are more long-term survivors, according to Megyesi.

“In certain types of brain tumours, sadly, the treatment has actually not changed the outcomes as much as we would like.”

That’s why he believes fundraising and events hosted by the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, which focus on research and awareness, are so important.

“As people grow older, they need to be aware of a new onset of headaches after the age of 50 or so, especially if they’re persistent,” said Megyesi.

“It’s important to have that checked and your family doctor can start that process. If something shows up on a scan or something, then you would be referred to a neurosurgeon or a neurologist.”

The 2025 London Brain Tumour Walk blew away its fundraising goal. Their website had that total set at $75,000 and the total at the time of the walk was over $138,000.

“I have a brain tumour team now called ‘Every day we Lyt’, with a play on my last name and we’ve raised $26,000,” said Lytwynec.

“It’s been a good experience giving back and I’m now part of the organizing committee for the walk. It’s nice to see other survivors, people that have overcome a brain tumour. People associate a brain tumour with death and there’s people that have actually lived through it and got through it.”

More than 20 of those survivors gathered for a photo Saturday prior to the annual walk.

“This means a lot to me because the Brain Tumour Foundation is for patients, but it also gives me a sense that even the patients that are challenging, they have some hope when they come here,” said Megyesi.

“They see people that have the same kind of problem and the people that look after them. I think the camaraderie is very important for everybody in their in their journey through this devastating disease.”

Brain cancer can affect anyone, and it doesn’t care about your age or whether you are a star athlete.

“Anyone that survives one of these is a lucky person,” said Megyesi.

Lytwynec is one of those lucky ones, who has not only survived, but is back to work full time and even can play baseball again.