It’s always interesting when someone who is in the public eye is diagnosed with a rare health condition – it catapults the issue right to the forefront – centerstage as it were. And there it was.
Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant glioma today after experiencing a seizure over the weekend. I remember seeing the story regarding his seizure and I had this strange inkling that it could be a brain tumor. This is the type of tumor I have (an oligoastrocytoma is a type of glioma – they don’t know what Senator Kennedy’s tumor is until they can biopsy it). My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family for I certainly understand, at least in my own way, what they must be going through right now. Decisions need to be made. Should a biopsy be performed. Is surgery an option? Should it even be performed or can it be performed?
Because of Senator Kennedy’s stature in U.S. politics, there will be a lot of people who will become more educated regarding brain tumors as a result of his diagnosis. Everytime a health crisis hits an individual in the public eye, the public becomes more educated because the press puts so much information out about the subject – and frankly the public seeks information on the subject in this situation. Tug McGraw was a great example. He was the talented pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies who was also the father of country artist Tim McGraw. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor that eventually took his life. The positive outcome is the Tug McGraw Foundation – it was established by Tug in 2003 to raise funds to improve the quality of life for children who are diagnosed with brain tumors. Amazing stuff. Or Christopher Reeve – his wife campaigned on his behalf regarding his condition. How about David Bloom who died in Iraq after being stricken with a pulmonary embolism – his wife is now a spokeswoman for that foundation. And it goes on.
So, in Senator Kennedy’s case, this will bring significant attention to primary brain tumors and although his diagnosis is tremendously sad and troubling, as it was for me and it is for anyone else that is walking this journey, perhaps this will educate people further and what’s more, perhaps given his status and influence in the Senate and all of his friendships with those who establish bills and make decisions around medical research & funding, healthcare reform, etc. we will see initiatives brought forward more aggressively in Congress around funding for brain tumor research and development. Ironically, Senator Kennedy have had Senator Kennedy as a proponent in the Congress for a long time fighting for better health care for all – making strong cases for increased federal investment in biomedical research. Perhaps his diagnosis that is so ironic given the issues he has been pushing will open some other eyes and Congress will act as a whole and see what the Senator has been fighting for. Congress has the ability to accomplish this – and they can do this in his name, with him – as a tribute to him and what he is now fighting against himself. As a result, it will help all of us who find ourselves in this position. The Ted Kennedy Brain Tumor Research Fund? What do you think?
I pray for everyone touched by the diagnosis of a brain tumor. I pray for Senator Kennedy. And I pray that Congress will think seriously about funding brain tumor research and start acting. Afterall, their comrade who has been active as a Senator and policymaker for more than 40 years, who has been our champion in Congress in this capacity, is now facing the very threat he has worked so hard to temper, at least in terms of setting forth legislation that is ambitious and that responds to the needs of those battling cancer.
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The Sacramento Bee article came out today and I was surprised to see it was on the front page – “Cancer vaccine offers hope to family”. The writer asked me my perspective on what I hoped that this article would achieve and I said a) exposure in the form of hope for brain tumor patients, that they would see that other emerging treatments were becoming available all the time that were showing promising results and b) communicating to brain tumor patients, family members and others touched by this disease that they aren’t alone. There are others going through this. Finally, I wanted the Sutter Neuroscience Institute and my medical team to receive as much recognition as possible because they have stood by me and fought every step of the way.
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