Linda Bowden came down with COVID-19 last summer. Little did she know, the diagnosis may have saved her life. After about a month of treatment for blood clots in her right lung, Linda, 53, passed out. That, combined with the blood clots, led to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of her head being ordered….
Completing one century ride in life is a goal for many. Bike to Beat Cancer rider Scott Walters has achieved that goal eight times, riding the 100-mile route in Bike to Beat Cancer for the past eight years. What drives someone to pedal 100 miles year after year? For Scott, it was the loss of…
John and Jessica Bostock were in the middle of exciting life changes as the summer of 2015 started warming up. John was just 35, and the couple had an 18-month-old daughter, Olive. Plans were underway to fix up a farmhouse. John had been experiencing nearly constant headaches for months when they got so bad Jessica…
TrueBeam, CyberKnife and Gamma Knife may sound like superheroes, but actually they are tools for treating brain tumors. These three machines are used for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a non-surgical treatment option that uses high doses of precisely focused radiation beams to destroy cancer cells. What is stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)? Older versions of radiation therapy cast…
A seizure in late May, followed by another in early June led Ben Smith to the emergency department at Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Visitor restrictions were in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he found comfort in knowing his wife, a nurse at the hospital, was working nearby. A computed tomography (CT) scan…
Neuro-oncologist Kaylyn Sinicrope, M.D., always wanted to a doctor, a profession that combines two things she loves to do. “I’ve always had an interest in fixing problems and helping people,” said Dr. Sinicrope, who’s now with Norton Cancer Institute. Dr. Sinicrope, who trained at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Harvard…
When Emily Carr began experiencing a baffling array of symptoms — pain when she stood up, dizziness when she leaned over, severe migraines and memory loss — she thought it could be a brain tumor. A trip to her primary care doctor and then an ear, nose and throat specialist didn’t bring a diagnosis. Six…
Renato V. LaRocca, M.D., values the opportunity to be at the forefront of brain cancer research. As a neuro-oncologist and cancer medicine specialist with Norton Cancer Institute, Dr. LaRocca has treated many cases of glioblastoma. He is grateful to have been part of a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of a novel immunotherapy vaccine…
Immunotherapy is a method of treating cancer, and new immune treatments are being studied across the country. Norton Cancer Institute is participating in a clinical trial conducted by AIVITA Biomedical Inc. to study whether a vaccine can help fight off glioblastoma or gliosarcoma of the brain, two forms of brain cancer. Renato V. LaRocca, M.D.,…
March 2016 was a life-changing time for the Davis family. On March 23, Matt Davis and his wife, Hailey, celebrated the birth of their son, Finley. The next day, Matt learned he had a rare brain tumor – ependymoma. Prior to his son’s birth, Matt had undergone testing to find the reason for his troubling…
How do you tell your family you have incurable brain cancer? How do you go on with life while facing an uncertain prognosis? These are difficult questions that many of us will never need to answer, but for patients facing brain cancer or a brain tumor, these questions are part of the reality of their…
During one patient’s brain surgery, Kellie Kopp, R.N., noticed the patient’s wife sitting in the waiting room alone. So she joined her. “I couldn’t stand that she was there by herself, so I took the afternoon, and I sat with her,” said Kellie, who is the brain tumor patient navigator for Norton Cancer Institute. “We…
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