Quigg Strong

Brain tumors have unfortunately played a very large role in my life since I was around 13 years old. My mother was diagnosed with astrocytoma and was on and off of treatment for the better part of 12 years. She went in and out of remission, and my siblings and I assumed this was something that we would deal with for a very long time. 

A little over five years ago, things changed pretty drastically when the cancer spread to her spine and eventually took her away from us on July 10, 2018. She fought the battle long and hard, but it eventually became too aggressive. Three months after my mother passed, my father started to experience headaches, and it eventually got to the point that he had to be taken to the hospital to deal with the pain. 

They discovered a mass on his brain and had to have him transported to Washington Hospital Center for further evaluation and eventually to remove and test the tumor. Doctors were hopeful that it was a non-cancerous mass and it would not be life-threatening. We would soon find out that the tumor was a glioblastoma, and our lives were forever changed. 

The side effects were almost immediate, and despite numerous treatments to keep the tumor at bay, it only worsened over the next 15 months. On December 15, 2019, our father passed away after a hard-fought battle with GBM. This horrible disease took both parents from my siblings and me in the span of 15 months. 

The next year, we started team Quigg Strong and have participated in the Maryland Brain Tumor Walk and Race for Hope DC every year since. We fight to help make sure that no other kids have to suffer through the pain and loss that we have endured.

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