HOPE FOR MAE

ONE WEEK YOU’RE ON VACATION AND THE NEXT YOU’RE IN THE HOSPITAL WITH BRAIN CANCER. IN JULY 2020, A NORMAL DAY TURNED WHEN A YOUNG AND HEALTHY MAE, WIFE & MOTHER OF TWO AMAZING TEENAGERS, A RETIRED U.S. NAVY VETERAN, GULF WAR AND IRAQ WAR VETERAN, SUFFERED

FROM STROKE-LIKE SYMPTOMS THAT SENT THEM SEARCHING FOR A REASON. WHAT WAS FOUND WAS A BRAIN TUMOR, IT WAS SURGICALLY

REMOVED, WHICH WHEN BIOPSIED, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT WAS A GRADE IV GLIOBLASTOMA. THE DIAGNOSIS INCLUDED A LIFE EXPECTANCY OF

15 TO 25 MONTHS. RADIATION AND CHEMO TREATMENT WERE PERFORMED FOR 8 WEEKS AND WORKED TO SLOW THE TUMOR AND CANCER SPREAD,

BUT IN JULY OF 2021 THE TUMOR WAS BACK AND SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR THE CLINICAL PROCEDURE DESCRIBED BELOW. SHE IS A FIGHTER AND

WORKING THROUGH THIS DAY BY DAY, BUT ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS CANCER HAS A 90% RETURN RATE IN THOSE WHO HAVE THIS TYPE OF

BRAIN CANCER. AS HER TRIAL PROGRESSED, WE HOPED AND PRAYED THAT THESE NEW CLINICAL PROCEDURES WOULD BRING ANSWERS TO THIS FATAL BRAIN CANCER.

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AS OF THIS WRITING, THE CANCER HAS RETURNED AND THE TUMOR IS GROWING RAPIDLY. SINCE FEBRUARY 22, 2022 TO MAY 10, 2022 THE TUMOR GREW 5.5 MILLIMETERS, AND FROM MAY 10Th TO MAY 19TH IT GREW AN ADDITIONAL 4 MILLIMETERS, THE LIFE EXPECTANCY PROGNOSIS IS 4 TO 12 MONTHS NOW. SHE HAS BEEN RECIEVING HER TREATMENTS AT DUKE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, WHERE SHE HAD VOLUNTEERED TO UNDERGO A CLINICAL TRIAL

CALLED POLIO-VIRUS THERAPY, WHICH IS AN IMMUNOTHERAPY THAT REQUIRES INJECTING POLIO VIA A CATHERTER INTO THE TUMOR SITE AND

FOLLOW-ON TREATMENT OF 6 HOUR INFUSIONS OF MEDICINE EVERY THREE WEEKS TO KILL THE POLIO IN THE TUMOR AND SLOW THE PROGRESSION

OF THE TUMOR GROWTH. IT DID PROLONG HER LIFE. IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR OF THESE TREATMENTS AND THOUGH IT WAS VERY PROMISING FOR

ALMOST ONE YEAR, IT HAS NOW BEEN DETERMINED THAT BECAUSE OF THE GROWING OF THE TUMOR, THAT THE CLINICAL TRIAL HAS HAD TO BE

STOPPED BECAUSE SHE HAS BEEN SUFFERING WITH PANCREATITIS AND COLITIS. BECAUSE OF THIS AND THE POSSIBILITY THAT CONTINUED USE OF THE THERAPY DRUGS, OTHER CANCERS COULD DEVELOP. THE PLAN NOW IS TO CONTINUE INFUSION CANCER CHEMO MEDS AND TO ALSO START A SECOND PILL FORM OF CHEMO, TO WORK ON THE CANCER. A SECOND CLINICAL TREATMENT WAS BEING REVIEWED FOR HER, OUT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BUT THIS TURNED OUT TO BE NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO THE CURRENT SIZE AND RAPID GROWTH OF THE TUMOR.

CLINICAL PROCEDURES HAVE BEEN A BENEFIT TO MAE, ADDING MORE MONTHS TO HER LIFE AND SLOWING THE CANCER'S PROGRESSION. THESE TRAILBLAZING PROCEDURES SHE IS VOLUNTEERING TO USE COULD HELP OTHERS WHO MAY SUFFER FROM A GLIOBLASTOMA BRAIN TUMOR IN THE FUTURE.

MAE’S GOAL: SHE WANTS TO GO THE DISTANCE FOR HERSELF, BUT HER ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO BE PRESENT FOR HER DAUGHTER’S HIGH SCHOOL

GRADUATION IN JUNE 2023.

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