After being diagnosed with stage three brain cancer in 2011 as a result of a series of unexpected seizures, the caring team at Siteman Cancer Center gave me a new lease on life. The team that was formed around my care treated me as if I was the only one in their care.
During the first few weeks post-diagnosis my surgeon brought the case to the tumor board for discussion on the best plan to treat my specific tumor. While it was impossible to remove the full tumor without negatively impacting cognitive functions, even after the removal of much of the tumor, their study revealed that my tumor had a co-deletion - which meant I could be treated at half the level they would normally treat this type of cancer. That alone helped ensure that my quality of life during treatment could be the best it could be. The attention that they give to every case is truly transformative medicine.
After completing my first wave of treatment, regular scans helped monitor the status of my tumor for two years. When one of those scans revealed a risk that the tumor was growing again, I began another full year of treatment, this time exclusively oral chemotherapy. At the end of that year, my doctor shared the news that I would never have expected might be possible in my case: the scans no longer showed any evidence of the tumor in my brain. Thanks to that, I can now say that I have been in remission for 5 ½ years. I will be forever thankful for their compassion and bringing truly lifesaving medicines and technological advances needed to treat each cancer as an individual.