For those unfamiliar with our cancer story, in October 2021 (covid19+) after two unexplained falls and a minor motor vehicle crash (bump), Marie was taken to the hospital and immediately screened for stroke. CT scan showed a 5.2 cm mass. The neurological doctor on call evaluated the imaging and said the pattern matching suggested Glioblastoma. We were left in the hallway for 18 hours with no attention from doctors or staff. Of course, we looked it up on our phones and discovered the dreadful statistics of 15-month median survival. An MRI was performed the next day and surgery was immediately scheduled. Surgery confirmed the Glioblastoma diagnosis.

After surgery and recovery, we received excellent care given the chaotic situation in the hospital. Marie received Standard of Care (SOC) treatment (radiation and Temozolomide) through the holidays. Everything seemed relatively well until the end of the treatment when she developed Gastroparesis (paralysis of the stomach). This complication caused rapid weight loss from constant nausea resulting in loss of important minerals and nutrients which led to several stays in the hospital. We saw over a dozen Gastroenterologists with little to no relief. This looked to be a fatal complication. We went through lots of Ensure and Gatorade, which was sometimes hard to find due to all the covid hoarding. In retrospect, this complication may have starved her cancer as early scans showed little activity post-surgery.

Thankfully our care team at Yale Smillow Cancer center is outstanding, and we wouldn’t be here to tell this story without them. The gastroparesis issue has ruled out maintenance treatments with Temozolomide for now, but with our care team, we have applied some alternative support and treatment methods including the use of the Optune device (Novocure).

Our doctor initially told us to make short term plans. We set some short term goals and a stretch plan (more than 15 months out) of seeing our daughter graduate college. We met that goal in May! Our next goals include to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and a 60th birthday. We hope you can help us achieve this and others fighting this disease.

Come join us at Stony Creek Brewery on September 12th to help support the Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance annual fundraising event. If you can’t join us in person, please join us in spirit by making a donation. Every dollar we raise will advance Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance's great cause! Additionally, you can ask me how you can get involved too.

Together, we can make a difference!