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Treatment of recurrent ependymoma through immunotherapy

Brain Tumor | Last Active: Dec 8, 2019 | Replies (6)
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@rikrider

I had an ependymoma tumor growing inside my spinal cord near my brain stem..I was 56 years old at the time and Vanderbilt Hospital gave me about 6 weeks to live. Thank you Mayo, Dr. William Kraus for saving my life. Though I am tetraplegic, I am now 66 and strong. Please tell me if I can help anyone with this unique condition.

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Replies to "I had an ependymoma tumor growing inside my spinal cord near my brain stem..I was 56..."
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Dec 3, 2019

I'd like to add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, @rikrider. That is quite a story of going from news that you had 6 weeks to live to having life-saving surgery. My father-in-law has another type of tumor, neuroendocrine, but 2 years ago he had a similar situation where he was basically told he had about a year left to live, as tumors had filled a lobe of his liver and treatments were not working well on his disease. Finally, somehow he qualified for surgery and a surgeon at Mayo Clinic who takes on very complex cases basically saved his life.

I'd like to introduce you to some others who have mentioned ependymoma tumor who may be interested in hearing more about your story or asking you some questions, like @beckyziegler @jcorcoran @spacemoth @annrmarie.

You mentioned you are currently tetraplegic, rikrider. Do you have sensory and motor loss, or just one of those?

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