Here’s my story

Life was moving fast. I graduated from Wharton and was an executive for a major corporation. I was constantly on-the-go. When I started to get tired and have headaches, I brushed it off as stress. Long hours and frequent travel was taxing on the body. I continued to eat healthy, workout, and take natural remedies. After several months of persistent headaches, I went to a neurologist.

The doctor examined me for a few minutes, gave me migraine medicine, and pushed me out the door. He said, "go to the hospital for an MRI now." It was 6pm on a cold winter night. After four hours of scans, the radiologist said there was a tumor (meningioma) 3/4 size of a fist in my head. "WHAT???” It couldn’t be true.

It sure was. I kept thinking of Arnold Schwarzenegger - It's NOT a Tumor! They cracked my head open like an egg. I had 3 major brain surgeries within 6 days. (2 resections and 1 CSF leak repair). I was alert and had my senses. I was glued to a bed in Neuro ICU, hooked up to every type of machine, and monitored 24/7. Thank God, the surgeries were successful.

I was sent home to recuperate and called back a month later by the doctor. Pathology reports were received from Sloan Kettering, John Hopkins, Roosevelt, and Duke Hospitals. The tumor was malignant with glioneuronal differentitaion (GBM & PNET) and WHO grade IV. It already started to grow back and spread.

My head was zapped with radiation and my hair all fell out. I didn't really care but, outsiders did. People would look at me with trepidation, cry, and even turn their face not knowing how to react.

In less than 2 months I became a full time cancer patient. Instead of managing business transactions, I was charting out my sickness, pain level, and medications. The doctors were astounded by the color graphs and correlation curves.

                 

                 
  
Over the past few years, I have been through the whole cancer gig - brain surgeries (3), radiation (6 weeks of full cranio & spinal), chemotherapy (10 rounds), weight changes (+/- 90 1bs), blood tests (100's), sleepless nights (many), and fatigued days (even more). Of course, I lost my hair several times (5).

I am very fortunate and thankful to be alive and well. I have a fantastic medical care team and a solid support system. There are so many people who inspired me, helped me, and prayed for me. This is my way to give back and boost the confidence of others. HELP FUND THE CURE for CANCER No one should ever have to go through this.

My friends fighting cancer: keep your head up, have faith, and try to laugh.
My friends dealing with alopecia - Forget about it. The hair means nothing - who needs it anyway?