My Wonderful Norm

My story reflects how my husband Norm was impacted by the sudden change in his life. Norm was a busy CPA in his own business. He loved his work and enjoyed helping his clients for over 30 years. He had excellent health, always working hard, along with being a great Dad and loving husband for over 49 years.

Suddenly on a nice December morning, after doing errands, he had a massive seizure while driving. Thankfully he was driving slowly on a side street, so the crash was minor. After trying to locate who he was, he was taken to the hospital ER. After tests, he was told his diagnosis — grade 4 glioblastoma. Of course, we were all devastated.

He had the best care and surgery. Unfortunately, the surgeon couldn’t remove the whole tumor. Plus, he had two strokes after the surgery. He spent three weeks at Kessler Hospital, learning how to walk after becoming paralyzed on his left side. We went to Columbia in New York to get treatment for the brain tumor. We did six cycles of oral chemo plus radiation.

The difficult result is Norm was always very tired, plus having mild seizures. What all these efforts did was discourage us completely. Each time Norm finished a chemo cycle, the MRI showed no progress in definite improvement in getting the cancer. We would drive to Columbia with no answers. The hospital knew Norm was probably going to live only 11 months. This is the terrible truth about patients suffering with this tumor.

Norm kept hoping for some improvement, but we tried. He was hopeful, but it was so hard seeing the chemo did not give him more time. He would have died in 11 months, even without the chemo.

That was my sweetheart’s experience. This happened almost five years ago. 

I am so excited to hear research is hopeful for extending patients’ lives. We need lots of money to see real results to kill the cancer in the tumor before it multiplies. It was a hard journey for my Norm, but I believe God will give these scientists wisdom to beat this terrible tumor. Keep raising funds!

With Great Hope,

Ruth Ann M.

TAGGED WITH: #GBMDay

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