Alisha’s Story: Acoustic Neuroma

There was a time in Alisha’s young life when she was angry at her fate and bitter about her life. “I wondered why this had to happen to me,” she said.

Today her outlook is one of eagerness and optimism. Read More »

Blake's Story : Medulloblastoma

Blake knew he was in the right hands the moment he saw the surgeon’s wrists. Dr. John M. Tew, Blake’s neurosurgeon, was wearing one of Lance Armstrong’s yellow LiveStrong cancer bracelets. So was Blake. Dr. Tew, who was also sporting a Tour de France lanyard, was an avid cyclist. So was Blake. Read More »

Charlene's Story: Glioblastoma

As a five-year survivor of glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most dangerous types of brain tumors, Charlene is the first to say that she has been blessed. Her tumor was found earlier than most; it was located in a part of her brain that was easy for her surgeon to reach; and it was in a part of her brain that was not associated with speech or movement. Read More »

Jerry's Story: Spinal Tumor

On an ordinary day in February 2009, Dr. John M. Tew got one of the true surprises of his career. He was seeing patients in his Mayfield Clinic office on the University of Cincinnati medical campus when an unexpected guest arrived. Jerry, a retired law enforcement officer from rural Kentucky, walked into Dr. Tew’s office to say thank you. Read More »

Joe's Story: Glioma

Earlier in his life, Joe was a physics scholar who used equations and measurements to make sense of the world. Today he is a poet who relies on words. He lives in rural Alaska in a log home he built by hand. He has no e-mail, television, or indoor plumbing. “My house is small, and I don’t want it cluttered with a lot of stuff,” Joe says. “I want my silence.”

This pure and elemental life sustained Joe in health. But when Joe was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the summer of 2009, he was drawn into a modern and complex world where medicine, science, and physics intertwine. Read More »

Joe's Story: Oligodendroglioma

Joe calls it a miracle and a gift from “a higher power.” Others might call it a fortuitous turn of fate. Either way, Joe’s experience embodies a reversal of fortune that is both wonderful and startling. Once a man with a brain tumor and little hope, Joe is today cancer-free and buoyed by a favorable prognosis.  Read More »

John's Story: Glioblastoma

John, a retired painter and carpenter, is a tall, solidly built man with a strong inclination toward getting things done. A former Vista volunteer who was equally comfortable running a food co-op in an underserved neighborhood or standing near the top of a tall ladder, he is a natural at lending a hand to people who can’t quite make it on their own. Combine that industrious and generous spirit with a wry sense of humor, and you have a man who tends not to brood about circumstances he can’t control. Read More »

Sandra's Story: Glioma

Sandra (Sandy) is a smiling, breathing reminder that hope exists for patients with even the most challenging type of brain tumors.

Nine years ago, when Sandy was first told that she had six months to live, she stared back blankly at her doctor. “Who are they talking about?” she remembers thinking. “That isn’t me. I’m not going anywhere. I was determined to live.” Read More »

Stacy's Story: Anaplastic Astrocytoma

In the eyes of Dr. John M. Tew, Stacy’s journey is a story of hope and something more.

“Her story marks the culmination of one of the most important developments in brain tumor surgery in the last 100 years,” says Dr. Tew, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic and Clinical Director of the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute. 

That is no small statement, coming from a man who has operated on an estimated 12,000 patients over a period of 45 years.  Read More »