Adam’s Story

My name is Adam Swartz and I am a 27 year old male currently living in Denver, Colorado. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, moved to Tampa, Florida, and we then finally relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana when I was in 5th grade.

I have an older brother named Ari who lives in Bloomington, Indiana and my mother, Robin Clark, lives with her husband Mike in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The first 26 years of my life were fun and enjoyable. I had never experienced any medical complications in my life.

I am an avid golfer, basketball player and snowboarder who loves to relax outside with friends and family.

I graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Arts Management. I was able to attend IU through The Evans Scholarship, a scholarship provided to golf caddies who meet requirements regarding the need for financial assistance, academic excellence and extensive experience caddying at a golf course throughout middle school and high school years.

Two days after graduation in May of 2014, I packed my car and drove to Boulder, Colorado and started a creative agency with my best friend. Things were going really well.

On January 29th, 2020 I fell asleep and experienced a grand mal seizure. Luckily my girlfriend was staying over and called the paramedics to rush me to Denver Health.

After several CAT scans and MRI’s a doctor came into my room and notified me that they had discovered two large tumors in my brain. I was clearly shocked as a healthy 27 year old who had not experienced any symptoms prior and had no awareness of the severity of the growths in my head.

Luckily my dad was living back in Baltimore at the time, working in the healthcare industry and was able to schedule an appointment for me with Dr. Jon Weingart at Johns Hopkins.

On February 24th I had a craniotomy with Dr. Weingart which resulted in a partial resection of the large tumor, while leaving the second tumor untouched.

I then recovered at my dad’s house for several weeks until they removed my staples and read my pathology report.

We thought everything was going as well as it possibly could have.

After recovery, I returned to Denver to try to get back to my normal life as much as possible.

Just a few weeks after returning to Denver, we learned that my dad, at only 61 years old, had experienced a heart attack in his favorite wine store and passed away.

Due to extreme stress and anxiety I then experienced another grand mal seizure on July 27th and was again rushed to the hospital in Denver.

I am now being told that it is not a matter of “if” but “when” I will need radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

My mom, brother and I are trying to navigate this decision and timing to the best of our ability while mourning the loss of my father and receiving medical consultations from both CU Anschutz and Johns Hopkins.

On top of the global pandemic and economic uncertainty, it certainly has been quite the year and without a doubt the hardest of my life.

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