| 14 weeks 6 hours 26 min ago Brain tumor survivor shares her story
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(NECN: Josh McElveen) - About 9,000 Americans are diagnosed with malignant gliomas every year. While doctors say most cases are fatal, there are survivors.
NECN reporter Josh McElveen met with a Massachusetts woman who is a rare, 10-year survivor.
"It was like a really bad dream. I couldn't even fathom that it was me that it was happening to because one day I was healthy and the next day I wasn't," said Lisa Bukegi.
If there is one person that can relate to what Ted Kennedy is going through, it just might be Lisa. When word broke Tuesday that the Senator is suffering from a malignant brain tumor, she felt as though she was back in her own doctor's office.
"Well, it just sort of brought it all back. You know, just a little remembering how I felt."
Like Kennedy, it was a seizure that first sent her to the hospital and following an MRI, this wife and mother of two daughters was told she had a glioblastoma -- among the worst forms of a malignant brain tumor. When her doctor gave her the prognosis, he didn't mince words.
"He was being candid, I think and he said well, maybe you'll have a good year or two or something like that."
Lisa and her husband Dan were devastated. But, here's the thing. All this happened in 1998, 10 years ago. Sure recovery was difficult, starting with an awake craniotomy, which marked only the beginning of her treatment.
"So, I had that. The radiation for six weeks and then chemotherapy for about
a year. So, it was rough. Yes, it was."
It was around that time when Lisa's husband took up the fight in a different manner. He has been an annual participant in the Pan Mass Challenge and both have become champions for brain tumor research. They want others to know that malignant glioma is only a death sentence if you allow it to be.
Lisa is happy and healthy and grateful to have had the chance to watch her daughters grow and help others who are suffering through similar battles.
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