The Road to Awareness

The Road to Awareness

Mary

Several years ago my high school and college friend, Linda, told me that her Mom had a brain tumor and that it was terminal. I was very sad for Linda and very unaware of the type of brain tumor that her mother had. Not too long after Linda told me about her Mom she told me that her Mom passed away. Still I was not all that aware of why…..partly because as we age our parents die and we accept this. Then it happened again a couple of years ago….my step daughter aunt was suddenly ill and was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

She was in her seventies which was a bit younger than Linda’s Mom. Judy only lived a few months. I didn’t really know much about the type of tumor she had until just last June. I received a phone call that my long time friend (40years) Lori, was in the hospital and needed surgery because of a tumor on her brain. The original prognosis was that it was operable and the Doctors sounded very optimistic. Well, much the opposite occurred.

The tumor could not be fully removed and it was terminal. My friend Lori was barely 58 when we got this news. She is a fighter and she is still giving it the good fight! It wasn’t until this awakening that I learned about this type of brain cancer. This is called a Glioblastoma and is a very aggressive form of brain cancer. I also found out that the funding for research for this horrible disease is lacking. In November of this past year I walked for Breast Cancer research and the outpouring of support was amazing. Through these events we make people aware of the need for more research.

I hope to increase awareness for more research to prevent and treat this horrible cancer so that people like Lori can become survivors of this disease and not statistics. Lori is still fighting the fight and she will be with her team when we walk to help raise money and awareness for more research to help her with her fight and the fight of countless others!

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