Karen’s Story

Karen’s Story

Karen

I was diagnosed in 2005 with a primary atypical meningioma brain tumor. I have had two craniotomies to remove my tennis-ball-sized tumor and consider myself to be lucky.

Although I have an older sister with the same type of brain tumor, I felt alone and wanted to meet others who understood what we were going through. I found out about the first NBTS Race for Hope in Philadelphia in 2006 (a month before) and quickly signed up. I assisted in the Survivor Tent that first year and I need to be honest that this experience really scared me. There were about 1,500 participants that first year, but only a dozen survivors. I left that day promising myself that I needed to find more survivors.

Since that first year, my husband, Tony, and I have been on the Race Planning Committee and I now manage the Survivor Tent each year. I love watching the race grow and seeing the increase of survivors each year. In 2010 we had 200 registered survivors and over 6,000 participants – WOW!!

For the past few years, I have had the honor of being on stage and introducing my fellow survivors. I am proud to be a part of this annual event, meeting so many courageous and brave survivors, each with their own unique story, each sharing my passion for brain tumor awareness and commitment to raise funds to FIND A CURE for this dreadful disease.

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