Back in tune Joe Shanahan, the music man behind Metro, opens up about his battle with cancer AS TOLD TO ELLE EICHINGER

“My wife Jennifer and I [are being honored at Red Jacket Optional]. She’s my rudder in the water. … She put her life on hold just to take care of me. There’s a possibility that my ability to serve the mission of the CCC for a 10th year could have been way different without the dedication of my wife, and the consistent support of my daughter, Tara, and my son, Michael.”

It started with me feeling really run down — I thought just had a bad cold. I went to my [ear, nose and throat doctor], Gordon Siegel, and you could tell by his tone of voice it was serious. He wanted to do some tests — the biopsy turned out to be positive for tongue and throat cancer.

My initial response— looking back it sounds kind of silly— was,“So, doctor, I’m gonna go to Coachella, and then when I get back, we’ll [start treatment]! ’”and he says,“No, Joe, you don’t understand. This is really serious. You need to do this immediately.” And so my eyes opened.

I began to do [research] and spoke to Jonny Imerman of [cancer support nonprofit] Imerman Angels. I realized there was someone here in Chicago who I knew loosely, Grant Achatz of Alinea, and that he had tongue, throat and neck cancer, similar to my diagnosis.

I called Josephine Lee,[president and artistic director of the] Chicago Children’s Choir— awoman whose mission I serve as a board member— and I mentioned to her what I was diagnosed with. She said,“You know,[my husband] Kevin and I know Nick Kokonas”— that is Grant’s business partner—“you should talk to him.”

Nick sent some emails and made some phone calls [to arrange for me to see doctors at University of Chicago]. I woke up at like two in the morning, having a hard time sleeping at that point with worry— I’ve got a daughterTara, a senior in high school; I’ve got a sophomore son, Michael; I’ve got a wonderful beautiful wife, Jennifer, who’s looking at me like,“What roller coaster are we getting on now?”— and there was an email and a phone call fromNick: The team of Drs. Vicki Villaflor, Daniel Haraf and Elizabeth Blair were willing to see me the following day.

I knew then that the perfect team had coalesced. Grant Achatz spent an unhurried 90 minutes with me, and

he said,“Ask me any questions; I know what’s coming.” That’s the universe talking back to me. Because Grant and I aren’t close, but because of Josephine, because of Kevin, because of Nick— there’s this triangulation of people who began to rally for me… and all of a sudden I felt, I’m going to beat this, because I knew this was the team I needed— physically, mentally, spiritually— to move forward.

This month, it’s about a year later from when I had the surgery on my neck to take some of the dead and dying lymph nodes out of my body.(Surgery was ordered to make sure all the possible cancer was treated.) Last January … I just didn’t know what was wrong with me. My fuse was short. I still wasn’t listening; my body was telling me something was wrong. And that’s the message: Listen to your body, it signals you. Be aware of those signals and see your health team; you are your best advocate.