Editor’s note: The following is a first person narrative by David McDowell, cancer survivor.
At the age of 14, my life was turned around by the effects of a brain tumor. My name is David McDowell and this is my true story.
It was the summer of 1989 and I had just finished the eighth grade. Normally during the summer months I was riding my bike, hanging out with my friends and helping my dad on the farm, but that year was different. Oh, I still did all those things, but not quite as actively and eagerly as usual.
For example, when I’d be on the farm helping dad and my brother with the work, I would go to the pickup truck to lie down any time I had the chance. (I was always tired.) Also, I was having terrible headaches almost constantly. My appetite wasn’t much to brag about, but I was always thirsty.
These symptoms continued through the summer and into the school year.
I began ninth grade that year at Caldwell County High School. In my classes, I was often laying my head down on my desk and not getting all of my work finished. When I’d get home off the bus, I’d walk straight up the driveway, lay my book bag on the living room floor, go right to my room and lie down and go to sleep.
One evening, around mid-September one of my teachers called and talked to my mom and dad telling them about me being so tired in class and my grades slipping.
My parents knew without a doubt that something was wrong and we needed to find out what, because they had noticed my behavior during the summer, too.
As soon as possible, appointments were made at the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville.
Cat scans, blood work and finally MRIs were performed on me. The MRI images showed fluid around my brain, literally squeezing it, causing me to have those terrible headaches.
Surgery was needed to remove the fluid. So, a shunt tube was inserted which ran from next to my brain down into either my stomach or bowel areas.
I had never been through any surgery or operation of any kind before in my life. The operation was a success!
The next MRIs showed the fluid was completely gone! But there was something new in these MRI scans — a brain tumor.
We sought help at the Merle M. Mahr Cancer Center, which is a cancer treatment facility attached to the Regional Medical Center. We couldn’t have found a better place!
My doctor was Dr. Krishnamsetty, from India. Everyone called him Dr. Krish for short and he was truly dedicated to his patients.
The type of tumor I had was called a germinoma (I think I spelled it right) which is one that responds well to radiation.
Before I was given any treatments, Dr. Krish had to make a trip to New York City for a conference. While he was giving a speech before a group of doctors, he showed them my MRI scans and sought their opinions as to how much radiation to give as well as other factors. When we heard about what he did, that proved to us we had the right doctor.
My treatments began around mid- or early October if I remember correctly and I was taken out of school for the next few months.
My dad and I would rise each morning between 5:30 and 6:00 Monday through Friday to head to the Mahr Center.
My mom had to work full-time carrying mail for Rt. 1, Fredonia, because the man she used to substitute for retired at that same time and mom got the mail route (God is providing)!
When dad and I arrived each morning, we’d let the secretary know I was there. We wouldn’t be long in the waiting room before I was called back to the lab. They’d take my temp, blood pressure, pulse and draw my blood. Then I’d go back to the waiting room.
After only a few minutes, I would be called back again to get my treatment.
The treatment room entrance was in the hallway opposite to the lab. Outside the entrance were the computers and controls to the “radiation machine” (I’m using my own words here). Inside was a table upon which I had to lie face down. At the head of the table and extending up over it was the “radiation machine.”
The nurses/ workers would take a moment to make sure things were ready, then they’d step out of the room and the treatment would begin.
Radiation was administered to the back of my head to my brain stem, where the tumor was located. The machine made a buzzing sound while it was running and I didn’t feel a thing from the radiation.
If I remember correctly, the treatment time lasted only 20 or 30 minutes.
Although the radiation itself didn’t hurt, the side effects had their price. As you might expect, my hair came out gradually, but that didn’t really bother me. My appetite seemed to get worse and even what I did eat seldom stayed down.
I was weak and had very little energy. My weight got down to just under 90 pounds.
Treatments continued until mid-January of 1990. I remember coming out of the treatment room that last time to see the nurses and others gathered together with a small cake for me as they sang, “Happy Last Treatment to You!”
Yes, the tumor was gone! Praise God! And I mean it when I say, “Praise God!”
It was amazing all the love God gave me during those months through everyone at the Mahr Center and all my brothers and sisters in Christ as the Fredonia C.P. Church.
Before all this happened to me, I was lost: I didn’t know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. The night before my surgery the pastor of the C.P. Church at that time, Bro. Buddy Pope, and Tank Hillyard stepped into my hospital room telling me and my parents that the church would be praying for me.
Though I was barely awake at that moment, I remember it, and it touched my heart.
My life hasn’t been the same since. God healed me physically, but most of all spiritually!
Psalm 119:67
Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I obey Your word.
I ask for your support of this year’s Relay for Life in Caldwell County. This event raises money for the fight against cancer and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.
