Patient Stories

At that point in time I was a police office and I was doing surveillance when I had a seizure. I didn’t know what was happening. I actually thought I was in a car accident.

Ryan Masales
Ivy Phase 0 Patient

Although navigating this disease is very scary and participating in a clinical trial can be overwhelming, the research team at the Ivy Brain Tumor Center was wonderful and treated me like family.

John VanGundy
Ivy Phase 0 Patient

“Honestly, even as a physician, I was very afraid of neurosurgery, but I think the neurosurgeons here at Barrow are very competent and the nature of this tumor is that you have to go in every time it comes back so you have to lose that fear and just do the best you can.”

Dr. Patricia Levy
Ivy Phase 0 Patient

I was worried about my future and the safety of my family. I felt very afraid of not surviving the surgery or being left with severe permanent damage that would prevent me from continuing to work and be independent

Mario Correa
Patient Survivor

From the moment I met him, I knew he was my doctor. Dr. Sanai was experienced, confident and compassionate. He made me feel like I wasn’t alone on this journey.

Melissa Geiser
Patient Survivor

When I heard the diagnosis, the first thing I thought about was my kids. I prayed that I would have enough time left to raise my kids. You hear the diagnosis and it just feels like a death sentence.

Andy Ptacek
Patient Survivor

It sounded like a really appealing approach at the time or a very innovative approach to make sure that medicine is personalized, is working and know that the medicine I’m taking is just for me.

Nick Stump
Patient Survivor