Welcome

Hi everyone. Welcome to my blog, Coming Home To Cancer.

I titled it Coming Home To Cancer because I was away at college when I found out my mom had been diagnosed with cancer. And because of her, I decided to move back home.

She was diagnosed with stage IV Brain Cancer in January of 2011.

She was first diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most common type of Brain Cancer. Months later she was rediagnosed with Gliosarcoma, a type of GBM. Gliosarcoma is an extremely rare form of Brain Cancer, and researchers haven’t found any significant differences between GBM and Gliosarcoma. So for now, Gliosarcoma and GBM are treated identically.

The prognosis for GBM, and therefore Gliosarcoma as well, is only 1 – 2 years. It is extremely rare for a patient to live beyond 5 years.

Today marks the one year anniversary of my mom’s diagnosis.


One year ago, I was a freshman at DePaul University in Chicago. I had just gotten back to school to start winter quarter after a very long 6 week winter break. One week into classes, I got a call from my dad telling me that my mom had a brain tumor. A few days later they performed surgery and found out that the tumor was malignant. I knew I couldn't continue to go to school in Chicago while my mom was in California. I decided to move back home so that I could closer to her.

Let’s just say it’s been an extremely difficult year. 

With all the stress that came with having a parent with terminal cancer and being a college student, I began searching for other people my age who were going through something similar. Everything I found online was for young children or teenagers. College-age children of terminal cancer patients seem to be a forgotten topic.

I’ve created this blog, Coming Home To Cancer, so that other people in similar situations will know that I’m going through it too. I think just knowing that you’re not the only person dealing with the stress of having a parent with terminal cancer and being in college will hopefully be a great help.