Cancer patient Keith Whyte is known as a fighter, but has found singing is an effective way to deal with the stresses of his battles, and helps raise funds for cancer research by singing old country favourites on his karaoke machine.

A farmer from the Bengough area, he has been diagnosed as a terminal cancer patient, and he has done battle with the provincial government to get a certain cancer drug paid for by Sask Health. Many people are also getting to know him as a singer of songs by John Denver, George Jones and Eddie Arnold.

Known as "Old Man Keimo", Whyte has far surpassed the doctor's prediction of how long he would have to live, and he takes each day as it comes, including continuing with chemotherapy every two weeks, which brings him to Weyburn for two days as part of the treatment. Whyte performed in Weyburn on Friday evening at the Weyburn Inn, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

"I always liked singing, so I bought a karaoke machine and started practising," said Whyte, adding with a laugh, "My two beagles quickly left the house when I started practising."

His first public performance was at Weyburn's Country Music Jamboree at Nickle Lake Regional Park, which is held annually as a major fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Whyte was asked at that time why he was embarking on singing this late in his life, at the age of 63.

"I want to show people that cancer patients are the same as any other individual. I don't want to sit in a corner and waste away. In my shows, I do a whole spiel beforehand, and I say that every individual should live their life day by day. If there's something you want to do, you should do it before it's too late," said Whyte.

His ordeal with cancer began in 2004, when a doctor's X-ray revealed a grapefruit-sized tumour in his colon; he underwent an eight and a half hour operation to remove it, during which the doctors almost lost him, and subsequently he was found with five other tumours which are inoperable.

Whyte was diagnosed in June of 2006 with terminal stage 4 colon cancer, and was given four to six months to live, but was told this could be mitigated somewhat with chemotherapy and with a strong but expensive cancer drug, Avastin. This drug cost $2,500 per shot, and he needed two shots a month; the problem was, Sask Health would not pay for the drug, and by Christmas he was $30,000 in debt.

This problem was compounded when his doctors told him he had to stop working. He took his fight with the province public and enlisted the help of MLA Dustin Duncan and the Saskatchewan Party, then in opposition. With that party now in power, word came last week that by the end of the month the government will in fact pay for Avastin, among other treatments that previously were not covered.

"That's excellent news, a positive thing to hear. I was elated to see that the government will be now providing it," he said.

Meanwhile, Whyte's doctor told him the treatments were taking a toll on him, and he needed to take up a hobby to relax with, and that's when he got into the singing.

Has the singing worked? Does it help him relax and forget about the stresses of cancer treatment? According to Whyte, it was just what the doctor ordered.

"What the singing does is it does take away the stress. Your mind does not dwell on what's happening. When you're with other people, they're talking about other thing. You're giving enjoyment to other people," he said, adding his repertoire is around 80 songs that he's practised.

His two favourite songs that he always tries to get into the mix are "Back Home" by John Denver, and "Make the World Go Away" by Eddie Arnold. He also likes such country standards as "Tear in My Beer", and he starts out his shows with the Johnny Cash hit, "Folsom Prison Blues", and ends each show with the George Jones song, "Choices".

Since he's gone public in his cancer fight, and trying to get the government to support bringing in whatever drugs will help people, Whyte says he's been getting a lot of phone calls from other cancer patients, and a lot of them are from newly-diagnosed patients who don't know yet what to expect.

"I say that they should put their trust in their specialist, and do your best to get through the first stages of treatment," he said.

Use of Avastin did help him at the start, although there are some definite side-effects to it.

"Some of my tumours have shrunk while I was taking it," he said. He wouldn't take the drug again unless there's a change in the kind of chemotherapy he's being given, but that will be up to his doctor to decide.

The advice he gives to fellow cancer patients is the same he gives to people in general, he added: "Go out and do what you can, and enjoy it while you can. Don't sit in a corner and be depressed. People should forget about arguments and be friends with people."