Tony McEwing lost his gay partner to misdiagnosed cancer, recovered from bell's palsy himself

In July 2016, Fox 11 representative and Good Day L.A. host Tony McEwing lost his partner of 17 years due to the negligence and misdiagnosis of medical personnel to recognize his stage IV cancer early on. 

In February 2020, the Fox host also left his fans worried when he didn't appear on several episodes of his show. But a month later, the newscaster gave an explanation as to why that was so, which put his fans at ease.

McEwing's Gay Partner Lost His Better Half to Cancer

After battling like a warrior against throat cancer, McEwing's partner Skiff passed away at their home with the Fox host by his side. The Fox TV representative lost his better half only a year after getting married in April 2015. However, the couple had been together since the late 90s. Their long relationship was alluded to when the late artist wrote an article on Queerty to share his suffering from HPV–Related Oral Cancer, which ultimately led him to the face of death in July 2016.

He wrote the piece from the hospital bed so that no one would have to go through the pain he went through and also prevent others from receiving a late diagnosis to save their lives. In addition to that, he also wrote how difficult it was to see the tears in his partner's eyes as he watched him battle for life.

Doctors Failed to Diagnose Skiff's Oral Cancer

Skiff's life-threatening stage IV cancer was misdiagnosed by not one but four different doctors. As per the aforementioned mentioned Querty article, the doctors were unable to identify the HPV related oral cancer due to lack of FDA approved screening tools, limited research, and utmost ignorance by the physicians. And if that wasn't enough, Skiff being an HIV-positive patient worsened the situation.

Initially, in the 2013 winter, he felt discomfort in his throat for almost 3 weeks. The pain started mildly but went on to become more severe. When he went for a check-up to his HIV specialist, the doctor refuted his claims of having throat cancer. He then went to his dentist for an oral checkup, but the dentist saw no concerning signs of cancer onset, and instead, called it a Temporomandibular Joint Disorder.

Following that, two more ENT professionals failed to diagnose his disease and gave him some antibiotic prescriptions. Things kept getting worse for Skiff, and in October 2013, he finally got a CT scan and biopsy done where the doctors found out about his advanced stage IV cancer that had already spread to his lymph nodes on the right side of his neck. 

I was filled with rage. Not that I had cancer, that was no surprise. But how could it be that I understood that I was a high-risk person for HPV-related oral cancer when my doctors simply didn’t?

The treatment with the combination of Chemotherapy and Radiation began as soon as he was diagnosed with cancer.

McEwing Cleared the Air on His Disappearance

In response to why the Fox 11 News Anchor hadn't appeared in a few episodes of the Morning Newscast back in February 2020, the newscaster shared a post on his Facebook page and revealed that he was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. He added that his case was relatively mild and clarified that he wouldn't return to work until he got better.

The disease causes sudden and temporary weakness in facial muscles, which leads to face droops and one-sided smile. The actual cause is unknown; however, it is believed that it happens because of swelling or inflammation of a facial nerve that controls its movement.

Nearly after a month of his February Facebook post, the host went back to his work desk and shared his recovery from Bell's Palsy on his Instagram. He is now healthy and is continuing to work on Fox 11 as the designated news anchor.

My recovery from Bell's palsy will continue for another couple of months or so but I now have almost complete function of my face again and total restoration of my speech.