Man, 35, Diagnosed With Glioblastoma Brain Cancer After 1 Symptom

A few years into their romance that began at an IKEA furniture store, John and Ali Shaddock suddenly started suffering from severe headaches.

He was 35 and in good health, and the couple enjoyed hiking, traveling, road trips and other adventures with their dogs.

Therefore, no health issues, let alone life-threatening crises, seem possible.

nevertheless, headacheThe phenomenon, which began suddenly in the spring of 2019 and has not gone away, has raised concerns.

“I thought I had a migraine,” John Shaddock, now 41, told TODAY.com.

“It was more than painful, it was excruciating,” Ali Shaddock, 48, said of her husband’s experience.

“In the middle of the night he said, ‘Can I get an ice pack?’ and I put an ice pack on his head. … We thought, this is wrong, we need to go to the doctor.”

In April 2019, John Shaddock’s doctor recommended he get a brain scan. When the scan was finished at the imaging center in Kansas City, Missouri, where the couple was living at the time, they watched as others left but were told to stay.

“‘Mr. and Mrs. Shaddock, the doctor wants to talk to you in the back,'” Ali Shaddock recalled the staff member saying.

“The doctor was young and looked like he was on the verge of tears. He said, ‘You have what appears to be a large tumor in your head. You need to get out of here and go to the emergency room right away.'”

Five days later, John Shaddock was on the operating table undergoing his first brain surgery: a biopsy of the tumor confirmed it was glioblastoma, “one of the most complex, deadly and difficult to treat cancers.” National Brain Tumor Association I am warning you, it is very aggressive so pleaseterminator“

The average survival time is eight months, but John Shaddock is still thriving more than five years after his diagnosis.

“His survival is truly remarkable,” Dr. Peter Forsythe, director of the neuro-oncology program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, where Shaddock is being treated, told TODAY.com.

“There’s something special about him or his brain or his tumor. … John is showing potential, and that’s very, very important and encouraging.”

John and Ali Shaddock met and fell in love while working at IKEA in Long Island, New York.

The couple married on July 11, 2014, choosing that date in part because it was easy to remember. After the ceremony, the couple stopped at a 7-Eleven to take photos, which became a yearly tradition on their wedding anniversary.

“We were living life and having a great time,” she says, “and then in an instant our lives changed.”

After John Shaddock’s first brain surgery in April 2019, the couple were told he had six months to a year to live.

“It was horrible,” John Shaddock recalled. “It was heartbreaking.”

Glioblastoma can affect anyone of any age, but it’s more common in older people, Forsyth said.

Doctors don’t know what causes it, and there is no clear environmental or genetic cause, he noted.

July 17, 2024, Glioma Awareness DayAbout 15,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this malignant cancer this year. There is no cure, and persistent headaches are one of the most common symptoms. Glioblastoma symptoms.

Standard treatment begins with surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, but this is extremely difficult because the cancer has spread its tentacles to the brain.

John Shaddock was aware and able to answer questions during his second brain surgery in July 2019, allowing doctors to map key areas of the brain that control speech and movement, and remove more of the tumor without causing damage.

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy come next, but according to the National Brain Tumor Association, these only extend life for most patients by a few months.

Clinical Trials Testing promising new treatments for glioblastoma could be key.

John Shaddock underwent a clinical trial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and then transferred to Moffitt Cancer Center, and the couple moved to Tampa, Florida, so he could receive treatment there.

The clinical trial involved two different immunotherapy approaches: One involved injecting a slightly modified poliovirus into brain tumors to act as a danger signal to the immune system.

Glioblastoma cells elude the body’s defenses and lie quietly unnoticed. But when the poliovirus targets them, it triggers inflammation, “starting a little fire that draws in all of your immune cells,” Forsythe says. “The virus is the body’s way of bringing the problem to its attention.”

John Shaddock is doing well in clinical trials, and his doctor says his immune system is fighting the cancer and attacking the recurring cells. He thinks there might be something special in Shaddock’s body that’s helping him survive. Maybe it’s like soil that’s hostile to the seed (the tumor) and doesn’t allow the tumor to grow.

John Shaddock was fit and active when he was diagnosed, which helped, and he also had a lot of family support, which Forsyth added was “vital”.

“There’s no question about Ali’s positive attitude,” John Shaddock said of his wife, who he says is the driving force behind his success in life. “She’s amazing.”

Ali Shaddock recalls visiting the impressive glass Thorncrown Chapel After her husband was diagnosed, she thought to herself in Arkansas, “Give us something we can deal with and work through.”

“We’re going to figure it out,” she says of her mindset. “What’s the next step? What can we do? What options do we have? There are always options. There’s always some hope. There’s always another way to think about it or approach it.”

She never misses any of his doctor’s appointments and makes sure to celebrate any progress. She says staying proactive and trusting her instincts have been key in advocating for her husband.

Glioblastoma “ruined the wrong couple,” Shaddox writes. Instagram page It was named after their motto, “Always Stronger.”

He is physically fine but is experiencing short-term memory loss. He has retired from work due to his illness and no longer drives a car.

Ali Shaddock has good health insurance through her job, but it doesn’t cover everything, and she has to pay for a caregiver out of pocket when she’s out of town — “an astronomically expensive necessity” — because she worries her husband won’t take his medicine on time, or leave the oven on when he wants to cook, or go for a walk and not know how to get home.

Though the couple struggles with medical debt, they’re grateful that life goes on.

“This is not a death sentence,” Ali Shaddock said.