21 Days

In 2021, my brother-in-law, Mark (age 46), began experiencing weakness on one side of his body. Mark had autism and couldn’t verbalize his symptoms so his difficulties were noticed by his family. Unfortunately, this resulted in a diagnosis of a large glioblastoma brain tumor.

A second opinion confirmed that his tumor was untreatable and that our family should begin palliative care. Twenty-one days later, Mark was dead. There has to be better options out there for treating GBM, and I will always do what I can to fight for Mark and others to ensure those with others don’t have to experience the same fate.

Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.