Ben’s GBM Battle

My husband Ben was diagnosed with glioblastoma in April 2019, after suffering from headaches, nausea, and feeling like he was having a nervous breakdown. He participated in a clinical trial at Dana-Farber that included injecting the Herpes Virus into the tumor site. The original tumor was donated to research. 

Ben worked as a Research Scientist Drug Discovery Oncology and was able to return to working remotely during radiation and treatment with immunotherapy. Overall, he had a good response to treatment but had side effects related to the tumor: seizures and treatment effects that landed him in the ER several times and resulted in a second craniotomy. He came off treatment in June 2020. 

Ben battled for 14 months. He was 51 years young when he passed. A brain donation was made to the research team at Dana-Farber. This year, the Benjamin W Knight Glioblastoma Research Fund was established to support Ben’s neurosurgeon Dr. Omar Arnaout, who uses artificial intelligence to help identify tumor type to maximize patient survival time and quality of life.

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