They found a tumour

These 4 words hit me like a brick on May 11, 2023. They were from a text from my better half ( Arti Ozyetis, CHRL ), after she had gone to the hospital earlier that day due to persistent headaches, that she had been suffering from for a few weeks. In an instant, it felt like our world was turned upside down.

I was worried for her. What kind of tumour was it? How long had it been there? What were the treatment options? Would she be ok?

Then my thoughts drifted to our 2 little kids. What did this mean for them? How would they react? Should we even tell them? Would they have to grow up without a mom? When we first got the news, I wasn't sure what the future would hold. In many ways, we still don't.

In the days that followed her diagnosis, we met with specialists and neurosurgeons at Toronto Western Hospital . The manner in which they addressed our questions, and just gave us a bit more comfort, was nothing short of outstanding. I will never be able to thank them enough. She had brain surgery to remove the tumour on May 24, 2023 and was released from the hospital 2 days later. Perhaps read that again. BRAIN SURGERY! And then leaving the hospital just over 48 hours later. Before surgery, I wasn't sure that she would be the same person, or even walk or talk the same way (our doctors warned us this was a slim, but real possibility). Post operation and recovery, a scant 6-7 hours after she left me to go into the operating room, she was exactly the same person! Even joking around. It is a wonder of modern medicine and human ingenuity.

From there, we faced some uncertainty. It turned out my wife had what is called an "astroblastoma", a very rare type of brain tumour. It is the malignant kind, meaning it's one that is cancerous, can spread and come back.

In the weeks after the surgery, we met with the oncologists at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre . Our good fortune with doctors continued. :-)

They suggested that while surgical resection (complete removal of the tumor) was the primary method of treating this type of cancer, due to the mitotic activity that was present (how fast the cancerous cells were dividing prior to removal), they thought it may make sense to do a secondary round of treatment: in this case, radiation therapy.

So she got fitted for a mask (required for "precision radiotherapy" - where they target specific parts of your body in order to reduce chances of recurrence and generally improve patient outcomes) and powered through 33 consecutive days of treatment (with weekends off to help her body recover). The last treatment was on September 5, 2023. We sounded the gong (they have one for when patients finish treatments) and went for a celebratory lunch!

So why am I telling you all of this? Her first follow-up MRI was this morning (December 6, 2023) and we don’t know the results yet. But we are hopeful. And others should be too.

This is not a message meant to make you feel sorry for us or to make you sad or get likes. It’s meant to give people hope and spread awareness. The realization that this can happen to anyone hit us really hard, both of our families had very little cancer history prior to this.??

I guess you can say that this post is one part "thank you" to the doctors and nurses who managed my wife's care. It's another part "thank you" to our family, friends and colleagues who supported us every step of the way, and continue to do so. We also want to thank our co-workers and friends at Mackenzie Investments and CIBC for being so generous and supportive during our ordeal. And finally, it's part "hope" - a call to action, a message to others that they, and we, can beat this thing.

Although it is a terrible disease, cancer should unite all of us. It doesn’t care what your background is, how much money you have, what colour your skin is or what being you may pray to. It doesn’t care where you’re from or how you identify.?It can happen to any one of us, at any time. However, we should all believe that we can and we will beat it. We will develop better treatments and one day, perhaps even find a cure. ?

In order to help towards that goal, it made sense for us to partner with Princess Margaret, a world renowned hospital for cancer care and research. We have set up a site where all proceeds will go to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - specifically supporting The Gerry and Nancy Pencer Brain Tumor Centre.

Our site is blastingastros.ca . There, you can read Arti's story, in her words, and donate to the cause. If you have the means, please give. If you don’t, please share.?

Thank you for reading and participating in our journey. Your well wishes, prayers and support have given us a tremendous amount of strength and we are forever grateful for them.?

#fcancer

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