Greg's Mission

Bios

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  Greg Cantwell

  Founder and President

  My name is Greg Cantwell. I was born in Dusseldorf, Germany where I lived for the first 12 years of my life. Then we moved to the States where I went to high school in Potomac, Maryland and then off to college in Durango, Colorado. I moved to Hawaii in 1999 to continue my career with Continental Airlines. It was a dream just to be living in paradise. I was strong and in good mental and physical condition. I lived in Hawaii for five years. Then in September of 2004 I was offered a job with Northwest Airlines that would take me to Minneapolis Minnesota. On October 28, 2004, my plane had just arrived in Minneapolis, where I would begin my new job with Northwest airlines. I checked into my hotel, went out to eat and went to bed for what I thought would be a good night sleep. At approximately 11:15pm, I awoke, experiencing a grande mal seizure. I couldn't talk, was barely able to breath, and was conscious but very confused. I was rushed to the emergency room where the doctors asked me all sorts of questions. The questions were “easy” and I knew the answers, but could not come up with them. I was scared. Why could I not answer these easy questions, but everyone else could? I was given a CT scan and next a MRI. Then they said the doctor was calling in a neurologist from home. I thought to myself, “Why?” “This can't be that serious, or can it?” The neurologist finally arrived and delivered the news no one wants to hear, "Greg you have a brain tumor." Two days later I returned for a biopsy of the tumor. A few days after that, the results were in. It was a Stage IV Glioblastoma Multiforme. I could tell in the neurologist’s eyes and tone of voice that the chances I would survive were extremely slim. I thought to myself, “Did I hear him right?” “I have a brain tumor?” “Why me?” That was the only time I ever felt sorry for myself. From that point on I was positive and knew I was going to beat this cancer no matter what the statistics or doctors said. My son was one year old at the time. I thought to myself, “I have to be here for him.” “I want to see him go to school on his first day, play sports, have his first girlfriend, graduate from high school, get married, etc.” “I have to be here for all that and I am not going to die!” I buckled down for the fight of my life. I met with my oncologist, who explained I had a 5% chance of surviving one year. He gave me three options for treatment. 1. Have surgery but do nothing to aggressively fight the cancer and enjoy the limited time I had left with minimal medical intervention. 2. Have surgery, do minimal radiation and chemotherapy to hopefully extend my life a year or two. 3. Have surgery and go all out to fight this cancer with everything that medicine had to offer. This option would make me the sickest, require many different treatments but would hopefully give me the best chance of long-term survival. Given this information, I had a lot to think about. On the positive side, I was strong both mentally and physically and had the will to want to beat this. I decided that I would take option three and was scheduled for surgery two weeks later. My decision was not made lightly. No one not even the doctors knew if the treatment would work or at least extend my life. Adding foreign objects into the brain after tumor resection raises the risk of infection. After the six weeks of radiation in conjunction with Temodar. I once again chose to deviate from the standard of care. I understood the risks of the Intra Arterial treatment plan – this is where a catheter was inserted into the artery in my groin and threaded up into my brain where Carboplatin was released. The risks involved with this procedure included bleeding, blood clots and even stroke every time this procedure was preformed which ended up being 12 times. In addition to that I was given two rounds of Cytoxin and Etoposide through a port put in my chest. There were so many unknowns but I thought to myself, I am to young to die, there is so much I wanted to do with my life and most importantly I had to be here for my son. I accepted t Greg’s Mission is a nonprofit that provides support, HOPE, education, current resources, advocacy and awareness to patients suffering from brain tumors - especially Glioblastoma Multiforme (a grade 4 primary brain tumor). Sometimes, doctor's will only tell you about the treatment options that they specialize in. We want you to know about all of your treatment options prior to and after surgery, so you can make the best choice for you and your family. Doctor's appointments can be confusing and overwhelming. When you have cancer, you may face many unknowns. Greg; a Glioblastoma Multiforme survivor, will help you understand your diagnosis. He will also inform you of all of your options so you can make the best educated and informed decisions about treatment. He will even go to the doctor with you!