My survival story

Cancer Prevalence and living through adversity. Certainly not a fun topic but as I can attest to, it is a common thread that links everyone in the world in one way or another. A site that I found (www.cancer.org) after being diagnosed in July of ‘05 has an excellent description of cancer Prevalence.

My focus is not cancer Prevalence. I want to give back to those that helped me and those out there living with cancer or any disease for that matter, the gift I was given. It may seem odd to think of this in the way I do. As you read this I hope you will understand what I am trying to convey.

I want to stress that I am just one of millions who have a similar story, but mine is mine and it is a big piece of who I am today.

I am a husband. I am a father. I am a son. I am a brother. I am a friend.

I am a survivor. I was diagnosed on July 7, 2005 as having a Grade III primary brain tumor (anaplastic astrocytoma) in the right parietal lobe of my brain. My life as I had known it for 35 years stopped on that day. STOPPED! LIFE also started on that day as well. My new reality brought with it a world I had heard about, even glimpsed into when my father overcame prostate cancer in 1994. Glimpsed is the key word. Words alone can’t describe the new reality you enter into as a person with cancer. After the shock wore off I decided I had a job to do. The new job only had one requirement … LIVE. I had Joyce, Ella (2 at the time) and baby to be who was growing beautifully in Joyce’s belly. (Grace is now 2 1/2 ). I did not have time to die, and I had always been a poor loser. So life was about winning which meant I had to do whatever it took to live.

At this point I did not question why this was happening nor did I care. I wanted that thing out of my head … yesterday. The wheels were already in motion to make this happen. My mother, who is all about action, immediately was on the phone reaching out to family and friends who were connected to the medical community. I had been in the hospital 2 nights; the tumor which was the size of a golf ball had been triggering focal seizures which caused temporary paralysis in my left arm. I had 5-7 occurrences that lasted 1 minute, then stopped, not occurring again until weeks later. These occurrences took place over a 5 month time span and my primary physician missed it. The final occurrence was a back to back and I thought I was having a stroke. I ended up in the ER. In the hospital a neurosurgeon who gave me the official diagnosis told me people typically survive 3-5 years - I politely told him to F off. I was already scheduled to see one of the premier neurosurgeons in the world down in Boston. That was purely due to a family member’s (my cousin Peter) wife having a connection to Dr. Peter Francis Black.

Dr. Black is the Chief of Neurosurgery at Brigham Women & Children’s Hospital and Chief of Neurooncology at Dana Farber. He is the man who saved my life. Dr. Black is a pioneer in his field. He developed the type of surgery I underwent (Craniotomy/MRT). In layman’s words he cracked my skull open to remove the tumor but I was in an orb that is an MRI machine. This allowed him to communicate with another neurosurgeon viewing the mapping of my brain as the surgery was being performed. The surgery went very well and Black was able to find a deeper section of the tumor that was not evident in earlier scans. I was out of surgery in 3.5 hrs, in ICU overnight and out of the hospital in 2 days. That easy … not. Pathology findings were Grade III (Anaplastic Astrocytoma) … CANCER.

Our lives changed, yet looking back everything I needed was in place. Joyce, Ella, my family and friends, countless people, most I didn’t even know were pulling for me. I would not succumb to this. And here I am, July 2008, at 100%. July 26th is three years out from surgery day. October will be two years out from radiation/chemotherapy.

I had a good perspective on what mattered most in life prior to cancer - Joyce, Ella, and “Gracie to be” - the rest of my family and friends. The difference today is that my reality and perspective is crystal clear. I am a better man today and quickly sift through whatever comes my way on a daily basis. Translation: Good or not good I spend my energy on what matters and is best for me and my family. Everything else is irrelevant. Whether you have survived an illness or any adversity in life, which 9 out of 10 of us have - probably 10 out of 10 - keep moving forward.

This may or may not help others but many people helped me to come to this point and I feel it is my obligation to pass it on.

Matt McGlynn
www.ImTooYoungForThis.org
www.NBTF.com