I remember seeing a brochure titled “Living with a Brain Tumor” while in the waiting room before one of my first visits to the neuro-oncologist. To me, the title was incongruous. “Living” and “brain tumor” were mutually exclusive. But I recently celebrated my 5-year survival anniversary. I was diagnosed with a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma in August of 2016 after having a grand-mal seizure. 

My first thought was: I’m a working mom with two young kids - I don’t have “time” for a brain tumor. 

Fast forward two weeks and I was scheduled to have my initial “awake-craniotomy” the day my daughter started kindergarten. My husband and I decided it was best to proceed with the surgery so that our young family could begin our “living with a brain tumor” journey. I am thankful for the amazing family and friends support system that helped us get through not only those initial days but all 1,825-plus days since. There have been some set-backs - a regrowth, a biopsy, a blood transfusion, and a clinical trial - but I have decided not to let brain cancer dictate my life. In the past 5 years, I have run a marathon with my dad, celebrated my 40th birthday (in Italy), coached my son’s (championship-winning) basketball team and my daughter’s lacrosse team, started a new job, managed (barely) to get through two years of COVID-impacted school year (and we’re in our third), as well as countless other normal life events. Despite having had nearly 50 MRIs and regular check-ins with a team of doctors, brain cancer is just a small part of my otherwise full life. I am living with a brain tumor.