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Brain tumor survivors plan fundraising walk this weekend
Published: October 01, 2008
By Ken Odor
They have brain tumors.
They’ve had seizures, chemotherapy and face uncertain futures, but they are ready to walk in the fourth annual Celebration of Hope 3K walk Sunday at Innsbrook.
The walk—sponsored by B.R.A.I.N. (Brain Tumor Resource and Information Network)—has a goal to raise awareness of the disease along with money for research.
In 2005, Terry Owens, woke up on the floor after a seizure. The 36-year-old Mechanicsville resident was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, but chemotherapy with the drug Temodar stopped its growth.
Owens said she has had to modify her goals in life. “I just want to see my kids grow up and get married.”
“I consider myself lucky,” said Owens. “I tell everyone I have a well behaved tumor,” she said with a smile.
Marguerite Sciuk plans to be there too.
“I’m healthy except from the neck up,” said Scuik, 54, of Manakin-Sabot.
Scuik was diagnosed with Oligo-Astrocytoma in 2003, a tumor the size of a baseball in both frontal lobes of her brain.
“I didn’t think I was going to be here five years later,” she said.
She had surgery to remove 30 percent of her tumor and later underwent a 25-month- long regimen of chemotherapy treatment with Temodar.
Even though she suffered a seizure in August and was hospitalized for five days, Scuik said she wouldn’t miss the 3K event. The founder and current president of B.R.A.I.N has thrown herself wholeheartedly into advocacy for those who suffer from the disease.
“I’m passionate about making a difference,” said Sciuk. Along with her husband Kevin she attends the yearly Society of Neuro-Oncology and has become an advocate for other brain tumor patients.
Owens is also active in promoting awareness of the disease, primarily in the Mechanicsville area. The board member of B.R.A.I.N. moved to Mechanicsville with her husband Dennis and their two children in 2001 to pursue a career in nursing. But after becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN), she has had to put work on hold because of her illness.
“It took me awhile to accept it,” said Owens.
Owens now goes in for an MRI only every six months. At first it was every two months. Now she hasn’t had a seizure for more than a year and can drive and take care of the kids.
“If it grows again I’ll have to do radiation and chemotherapy,” she said. “I keep my fingers crossed. I keep them crossed everyday.”
Scuik said that brain tumor patients need to be willing to travel in order to get the best treatment. Both she and Owens are patients of neuro-oncolgist Dr. David Reardon at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center.
According to a B.R.A.I.N. brochure, 190,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumors each year in the United States. Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer deaths in children.
This weekend’s fundraising walk will take place at the Innsbrook Picnic Area on Dominion Boulevard.
Registration is from 9:45 until 10:45 a.m. and the walk begins at 11 a.m.
The sign-up fee for each walker is $25, and walkers are encouraged to form teams and get pledges from friends and family.
The Susan Greenbaum Duo will perform immediately following the walk.
To date, B.R.A.I.N. has raised more than $100,000 in research and quality of life funds. It has provided more than 600 information packets to brain tumor survivors in the Richmond area.
For more information, call (804) 749-3649 or visit the B.R.A.I.N. Web site at http://www.brainsite.org
