My Story - The Short Version

Five years ago I woke up surrounded by medical personnel asking me to answer simple questions: What is your name? What is the date? I couldn't do it. I'd had a grand mal seizure that morning which terrified the color out of my parents' skin (not that there was much there to begin with). Later that day I found myself being prepped for brain surgery for the following morning, but my uncle, who is a physician, asked me to seek a second opinion before going through with surgery. After the ordeal I've gone through, I am thankful for having had him there to help guide me.

The mass (or the blob as I like to call it) rests on my motor strip, and surgery to remove the blob completely would have left me paralyzed. Instead, I went through radiation and chemotherapy. In 2007 the fun began with more seizures, and I started to fail through the list of anti-epileptic medications available. In 2009 I had seizure surgery to remove the seizure focus, but again unfortunately this procedure was unsuccessful, as eventually the seizures returned. The surgery also put the left half of my body in a weakened state (essentially paralyzed on day one), forcing me to relearn how to use my body during endless days of Physical and Occupational Therapy.


This year, 2010, I've begun a new battle. In May, just before I started to feel like I could get my life back together, I was informed that I'd have to receive another round of chemotherapy because the blob was showing signs of growth. I was two weeks from starting to earn my Master's in Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, and I decided to travel back and forth between Pitt and my home in Cincinnati every two weeks to receive treatment. I would advise against attempting this, as earning a Master's degree and fighting cancer are individually brutal, let alone doing both at the same time. Just before the Summer term ended, I succumbed to my hostile body as it pummeled me with seizures, and the chemo wasn't doing me much good either. I have every intention of returning.

Now, I am in Bloomington, Indiana, two days from beginning proton-beam radiation therapy, which is the most potent radiation available, and also provides the smallest amount of risk of side-effects. I will receive 33 treatments over the next 7ish weeks, with the goal of total death of the tumor. I have returned to Occupational Therapy as a (much more informed and educated) patient, and continue to work every day to gain strength in my left arm in preparation for the potential damage this radiation could cause (plus it's fun anyway). I will continue to migrate between here and Cincinnati to receive chemo in Cincy and radiation here until the radiation is finished. Oh, and at the beginning of the fourth week of radiation, a second chemotherapy is going to be added... woohoo!

This tumor has been the hardest thing for my family to deal with, but it has also been a blessing for me. I found a passion for Occupational Therapy during my time as a patient after the seizure surgery, and I am now working toward my Masters in Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, which is one of the best programs in the nation. But more importantly, I appreciate and respect life, I find beauty in simple things, and I am surrounded by amazing people.

Whew! That's the short version!