My Brothers Fight

My Story started when I was 14 years old and my brother Spencer was the young age of 7.

Our summer of 98′ started out amazing. Our parents took us on a trip to Hershey Park PA, however, little did we know it would take a turn for the worse.

My brother started having complaints of double vision and wasn’t walking like he normally did. We knew something wasn’t right, but my mom thought he may just need glasses, so she made him an appointment when we returned back home. That’s when it all really changed they discovered that he had a brain tumor what we would later come to find out is known as a Glioblastoma. Our lives would never be the same.

That same day my parents rushed my brother to Boston Children’s Hospital where he would soon begin his grueling treatments. The treatments were supposed to help him and make him better but they just made him so sick. He had to swallow pills that I didn’t think anyone should have to swallow and then he gained a lot of weight from the steroids that they were giving him. My brother fought a tough fight and gave it his all, but ultimately he was taken from us way too soon. He lost his fight in January of 99′ just two days after our fathers birthday.

This is the single moment that I remember the most because it changed my life and my whole family’s life forever because even though we lost my brother to this monster, we gained and learned a lot as well. My brother, in his very short life, taught me more than I ever thought possible, and I have to believe that he is in a better place and everything happens for a reason.

There isn’t a day that I don’t think about him and wonder – what would he look like now? Would he be married? Would I have more nieces and nephews? What kind of job would he have? The are questions I often think about and I will always have a hole in my heart.

My brother is my hero and the reason I advocate for this very worthy cause. We need to continue to fight this monster until we have a cure, so that other families don’t have to endure what my family has and will not have to ponder those “what if’s”.

Please remember to hold your loved ones close and always say “I Love You.”

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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.