Cici Diaz, Churchton, MD

2018 Megan Kolb Immediate Need Fund recipient

Cici has been fighting a mostly private battle for the last four years. She has a brain tumor (a Stage 2 Glioma). This benign tumor, while found early, has been aggressively growing and the side effects have increased accordingly due to it being located extremely close to her brain stem. Some of these side effects have made it difficult to drive, work, and get through the most day-to-day tasks. This growth makes removal a nonstarter for every neurosurgeon that she has visited due to the permanent damage it could cause.

After seeing countless doctors who seemed to offer few encouraging options, she was finally approved to see the specialists at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital, who are now putting together an innovative treatment plan which could truly make a difference. She first has another biopsy scheduled in the coming weeks, and it seems for now, the best option is to have radiation treatments and chemo in an attempt to shrink and potentially eliminate the tumor. The treatments will be nearly every day for six weeks straight. She has been searching for potential relief from this condition for a long time, and these doctors at Johns Hopkins have truly raised her spirits in the past couple months.   An donation from Betterment secured her a place to live near the hospital for the 6 weeks that she was receiving treatment.