Proton Therapy Helps Homecoming Queen Defeat Cancer
Monday, March 01, 1999
Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Gardner packed up her surfboard and headed to the California coast to enjoy the spring weather surfing. Paddling out into the water, she positioned herself on her board to catch an oncoming wave. She hopped up on her board, but was suddenly overtaken by an unusual sense of dizziness as she tried to balance.
When Jennifer was in fifth grade, doctors had implanted a shunt to help drain fluid in her brain that had been causing pain and swelling. Ever since then she had enjoyed a healthy and active life. She participated in various sports activities and did very well scholastically.
Following her surfing incident, Jennifer ’s dizziness became compounded by double vision and headaches. Thinking perhaps it was a problem with the shunt, she went to see a doctor. Instead of finding a problem with the shunt, doctors discovered a tumor had grown, surrounding her brain stem and cerebellum. The tumor appeared to be removable, and Jennifer was scheduled to undergo surgery two weeks later. As with her surgery years ago, she expected to recover quickly and resume her life.
What doctors found two weeks later in surgery dashed her hopes. "I had asked my brother before surgery to tell me if it was cancerous," Jennifer recalls. "When I woke up from surgery he came over to my bed. ‘Jen, I have something to tell you.’"
Known as astrocytoma, Jennifer’s tumor had deeply lodged itself in her brain tissue and was quickly invading her cerebellum and brain stem. Doctors determined the tumor was inoperable. "How long do I have to live?" Jennifer asked her doctor. He couldn’t tell her.
"When I found out I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, I didn’t know how I was going to handle it," says Jennifer. "I am a strong person and never cry. I cried." A second opinion confirmed the tumor inoperable. "‘Great,’ I thought, ‘I’ll never get the chance to grow up,’" she states. Then, says Jennifer, she prayed and decided to leave it up to God.
Everyday activities turned into major challenges. Staying in school, Jennifer decided, would be too difficult for her and those around her. "I worried about how hard it would be on my friends if something were to happen to me," she says.
Announcing to the track team she could no longer participate was heartbreaking for Jennifer. "Track team had been my life for three years," she tells. "All my closest friends were on it." Amid their tears and shock, her close-knit team prayed right then for her recovery.
Jennifer’s family began researching possible options that might allow her another chance at life. Her aunt, a nurse at Loma Linda University Medical Center, suggested trying the Proton Treatment Center. Since proton therapy attacks tumors with minimal damage to surrounding tissues, it appeared to be an excellent option. Proton therapy appealed to Jennifer for another reason. "I love my hair and didn’t want to lose it in chemo," she explains.
Throughout treatment, Jennifer decided she would not let cancer get her down. "When you let yourself get down," she says, "that’s when you feel the worst." After being out of school for almost a year, Jennifer decided to return despite multiple discomforts the tumor caused. "Some days everything would get so frustrating," she admits. "I would go into my couns elor’s office and bawl. Then I’d tell myself, ‘Get back up!’"
Jennifer excelled at what she could do-public speaking-and won speech competitions with her story on cancer. Speaking at schools and churches, she inspired others with her courage and faith. "I began to love talking to people! I would’ve never had the opportunity to meet so many great people if it hadn’t been for cancer," she says.
Although Jennifer knew she’d been nominated to be homecoming queen at Redlands East Valley High School, she says she was truly surprised when she actually won. "My friends had been so supportive, but it was amazing to think they’d pick me for something like this," she says. "They viewed me as a strong person. I felt strong."
Today, 18-year-old Jennifer is free of headaches, double vision, and dizziness. She is once again active in her best-loved hobbies: surfing and track. Although proton therapy could not eradicate the entire tumor, it reduced the mass to a controllable size, allowing her to live a full life.
Occasionally, Jennifer stops in to say hello to Eugen Hug, MD, "the best doctor I ever met," and the rest of the staff at the Proton Treatment Center.
"Cancer changed the way I look at life," says Jennifer. She dreams of attending Loma Linda University to become a radiation oncologist so she can continue to share her experience with cancer in a special way with others.
