All brain tumor survivors along with their caregivers, family, and friends are welcome to join our monthly support group. Please join us in an informal gathering where you can find help and support from others in a similar situation.
Support meetings are held on the third Saturday of every month.
The Glenn Garcelon Foundation exists to empower and support brain tumor patients and their families by providing grants to those who meet their criteria. People with primary brain tumor of any type (malignant or non-malignant) are welcome to apply for assistance.
Family Reach is a national nonprofit dedicated to alleviating the financial burden of cancer. The majority of funds are used to support families with a child (aged 17 or younger) fighting pediatric cancer. However, they also provide assistance to young adults (aged 18 to 30) living with cancer, as well as parents living with cancer who have young children (aged 17 or younger). Family Reach’s efficient, solutions-driven model bridges the gap between hospital and home, quickly providing the vital support families need to stay afloat.
Mission4Maureen is dedicated to providing financial assistance to families who are burdened with the staggering cost of brain cancer treatment. Financial aid is available for medical bills as well as child care, housing payments, utility bills, transportation, medication and other areas of assistance. An application with supporting documentation is required.
https://www.cancerhorizons.com/financialresources/ – Cancer Horizons
https://www.abta.org/financial-assistance/ – American Brain Tumor Association
I read that having a have a brain tumor is like waking up in the middle of a dark forest. You’re not sure how you got there, and you don’t know how you’ll get out.
Now I can appreciate what that means. My diagnosis came within hours after having a seizure in August of 2011 defining the beginning of my journey to find my way out of the dark and into the light, which would lead me back to a place that would give me some clarity, hope, and control of my life. After second opinions, hours of reading and self-educating, and then deciphering information, a treatment plan was initiated.
Although I had a lot a family and friends who were there to support me physically and emotionally, there was something missing in my recovery. I was encouraged to start attending a monthly support group exclusively for brain tumor patients and their caregivers. I found that the Brains Together For a Cure Support Group meetings once a month gave me what I was missing in my treatment plan. Both complex and basic issues were discussed and shared, helping patients and those who walked their journey with them find and exchange relevant and meaningful information to help them navigate the challenges all of us were facing in our own unique way. Who understands more clearly what you are going through than someone else who is facing the same or similar situation? Being able to access this group was and is the most valuable component to my emotional survival and my outlook on my life and my day to day living. Through laughter, tears, education, and a strong sense of community, we all have become united in a common purpose, which is to have the absolute best quality of life possible and to live every day to the fullest. I am not “out of the woods” in my recovery, but I have found my way out of the dark forest and into the light that illuminates my path for living life. I have learned that life doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be “wonderful.”
I want to personally thank the Mayo Clinic doctors and staff from Neuro-Oncology who so generously donate their time and efforts, along with giving inspiration and hope, to the members who attend this group.
