During the course of the next few months, radiation and chemotherapy experts recommended the “watch and wait” program. At first, I didn’t understand why they weren’t aggressively seeking the powerful drugs and radiation to kill any remaining cells that could be lurking. What we’ve found out since that time is that radiation can only be used in the brain once, and we needed to save that option for as long as possible. We further found out that low-grade tumors can often remain “silent” for many months or years. The use of chemo does not prevent the tumor from coming back; in fact, the chemo may have more negative side effects than good results.
Also during these months, we researched and found the best hospital in the world, The Brain Tumor Center at Duke in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Receiving a call from Dr. Henry Friedman on May 2, 2003 began the next leg of our journey. I knew that I would accept no less than the best follow-up care for Rob, and Dr. Friedman is the best of the best. His confidence and spirit have seen us through our darkest hours.
During this time, baseball great Tug McGraw was diagnosed with a grade IV glioblastoma. Reading the newspaper that day, I remember pointing to Rob and saying, “This is going to be the biggest thing that has ever happened for brain cancer research.” I followed Tug’s progress until his unfortunate death the following year. I watched and waited as The Tug McGraw Foundation was formed.
Soon after, a blessing bigger than we could have imagined came forward. Ms. Jennifer Brusstar, the president of the Tug McGraw Foundation, started her steadfast efforts against brain cancer. Our local organization, BeHeadStrong, partnered with Ms. Brusstar and the Tug McGraw Foundation to form a partnership to beat this dreaded disease.
My husband is now a three and an a half year brain cancer survivor with no recurrent tumors. Our lives have changed. Rob suffered some long-term side effects from the surgery and is now a stay-at-home dad for our two beautiful children. I have returned to the classroom as a fourth-grade teacher. We are both extremely active with BeHeadStrong in partnership with the Tug McGraw Foundation. Our children, now six and eight, proudly wear the “Tug” bracelets in honor of their daddy.
