Rose P. Diagnosed - 11/29/2006
This is Rose's story.
On November 29, 2006 -- after sufferring from headaches for a period of more than one week Rose was taken to the York Hospital by me (her husband) to find out what the problem was. Something was terribbly wrong. Rose just wasn't acting right. To make a long story short, after the initial examination including a CT scan and MRI it was revealed that a potentially bleeding mass was present in her brain.. It was also determined that there was significant swelling and midline shift between the two halves of her brain. After much prayer and consideration we opted to have surgery performed right where we were instead of traveling to another hospital.
On December 1, 2006, Dr. Salotto, an excellent neurosurgeon removed all of the "visible" tumor from Rose's brain. The tumor was approximately 2" in diameter and was located in her right frontal lobe. Much to our amazement Rose was up eating ice cream 3 hours after the surgery. Rose came through the surgery remarkably well. Unfortunately though, a week after surgery Rose developed serioous blood clots in both her legs. Rose's tumor turned out to be a GBM. The pathology was confirmed after having the tumor sent to Duke. Rose underwent 30 radiation treatments with concurrent low does Temodar chemotherapy beginning on December 26, 2006.
Rose has thrived since the surgery and is currently on a 5 days, 23 days off monthly Temodar cycle. Thus far every MRI has looked great. Every two months we travel the National Cancer Institute to see Dr. Fine, who is the chief of neuro-oncology to let him evaluate her MRI's and make suggestions. Between Dr. Fine and our local oncologist Dr. T. Rose has received excellent medical care.
Rose has been working full time since the February following her surgery. She has now passed the 28 months since the diagnosis and removal of her GBM. She has resumed a full schedule of activity and even works out occaisionally! She is simply amazing. The prayers of many faithful people have sustained us and helped us as Rose has endured this challenge. God has been faithful. There is hope, even in the face of a GBM diagnosis.
God is able to do far more abundantly, exceedingly beyond what we can imagine.
Updated - 12-10-2010 -- Today Rose had another clean MRI report. It is official, 4 years with a recurrence of the glioblastoma. God is good! What a great Christmas present !!
UPDATE 6/21/2011: 52 months post op and still getting clean MRI's. Last one was in end of April.
UPDATE 2/11/2012:
Rose is doing well, 5 + years post-op.
UPDATE 2/28/2013:
Rose's story and survival remain the same. Having just completed 12 more
rounds of Temodar, she is now 14 months out since her recurrence in 11/2012 but
has survived for over 6 years since her first GBM in 12/2006. Rose
continues to work full time and is doing well considering all that she
has been through. Rose's last clean MRI was 1/3/2013.
UPDATE 7/10/2013:
Rose Pierce is alive and well, but we are monitoring a new spot on the last MRI.
UPDATE 1/25/2014:
The spot we were monitoring several months ago has indeed been confirmed as a recurrent tumor. Rose is currently being treated with Avastin and being monitored closely with MRIs. The tumor has been stable for now. Her treatment plan may change in the very near future. Rose continues to work full time and presses on to live life as normally as possible. It is difficult, to say the least, but with the support of friends, family, and faith in God, we somehow persevere through the challenges. Rose has survived and persevered for over seven years now. Please pray for Rose.
