SAN ANTONIO – A diagnosis of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, is one nobody wants to hear.
It was something Barbara Wright never thought could happen to her.
“I couldn’t remember how to shut my computer off at work,” Wright said. “I wasn’t my usual self at home either.”
Memory loss and a change in personality started to become more frequent for Wright back in May 2015.
A trip to the doctor and a few tests later would determine Wright had brain cancer. The doctor at the time gave her only 14 months to live.
“I made a bucket list -- you know, stupid stuff you don’t even think about when you’re healthy,” Wright said.
Her prognosis would get slightly better when she met Dr. Andrew Brenner from UT Health San Antonio.
Brenner changed her prognosis to 16 months and put her on constant radiation and oral chemotherapy. The oral chemotherapy is a different form of chemotherapy that Brenner has started to use on his patients and causes fewer side effects.
“I have patients that have had a complete response and remain without tumors years out,” Brenner said.
Now two years later, Wright says she feels great and is has lived past her prognosis.
She is still not out of the woods yet and did suffer a small recurrence a few months back, but remains hopeful.
Wright plans to take part in this year’s Head for the Cure 5K on Saturday. Her team is called Barbara’s Believers.
