DUSTIN’S STORY

A few years ago, Dennis and Debi Eskie confronted the worst news a parent can hear. Their son, Dustin, was diagnosed at age 20 with a Stage 4, multiforme glioblastoma, an aggressive, difficult to-treat brain cancer. They started looking for answers, but they found that there was scant material available to research what Dustin was facing. They also discovered that there were even fewer treatment options. They were told that chemotherapy could make his life a little longer; it could shrink the tumor but not eradicate it. Mostly, they were left with just prayers.

And then the reality set in. Time was not on their side. Even though brain tumors represent only 1.4 percent of all new cancers, they are the 11th leading cause of cancer deaths. The effects of the disease on both patients and families often are compounded, as in the Eskies’ case, by the deterioration in quality of life during treatment, and the short time between diagnosis and end of life.

We can do much more. We can study why cancers start, how to prevent them, how to slow them and how to stop them. More research, and a greater understanding of the complexity of the disease, are desperately needed. That is precisely what this initiative is all about.