{"id":261619,"date":"2026-04-22T19:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/261619\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T19:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:56:13","slug":"my-brain-tumor-journey-finding-faith-and-strength-at-ut-md-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/261619\/","title":{"rendered":"My brain tumor journey: Finding faith and strength at UT MD Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

In May 2024, I had just started my summer internship at\u00a0a bank\u00a0and was preparing for my senior year at Texas A&M University. I began experiencing intense\u00a0headaches<\/a>\u00a0that only eased when I drank lots of water or took pain medication<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I tried to push through my daily routine, but the pain never went away. From late June until late October 2024, the headaches persisted. I was taking five in-person classes, but soon I could not get out of bed. I barely ate and often threw up anything I did eat.<\/p>\n

I visited several doctors; most thought it was allergies<\/a> or a sinus infection. Eventually, my older sister, Maria, came to pick me up and take me home. I left everything behind\u00a0 \u2014 my truck, my classes and my friends \u2014 without saying goodbye.<\/p>\n

Once home, my dad took me to see a local doctor who ordered an MRI<\/a>. The scan revealed a 7-centimeter brain tumor<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My sister\u2019s friend recommended UT MD Anderson, and we scheduled an appointment right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arriving at\u00a0UT\u00a0MD Anderson<\/p>\n

My first appointment at UT MD Anderson was on Halloween. The nurses were dressed in costumes, a moment of light in a very dark time. Even though I was out of it, I felt a sense of relief: \u201cI am here. Let\u2019s get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctors, nurses and staff at UT MD Anderson are angels. They make sure you know everything is going to be all right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My team included neurosurgeon\u00a0Dr. Ian McCutcheon<\/a>,\u00a0neuro-oncologist\u00a0Dr. Barbara O\u2019Brien<\/a>\u00a0and radiation oncologist\u00a0Dr. Gohar Manzar<\/a>.\u00a0My entire care team\u00a0played\u00a0an important role\u00a0in my recovery, but Dr. Manzar had the greatest impact. She reassured me and kept my entire family calm.\u00a0She was one of the best parts of my journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Undergoing treatment\u00a0for a brain tumor<\/p>\n

I had brain surgery on Nov. 1, 2024, and woke up in the ICU the next day. On Dec. 30, I began 36 proton therapy treatments<\/a> at UT MD\u202fAnderson\u2019s\u202fProton Therapy Center<\/a>. Proton therapy is similar to\u202ftraditional radiation therapy, but it uses a different type of energy and is much more accurate at avoiding normal tissue while targeting tumors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On March 6, I started four rounds of\u00a0chemotherapy<\/a>. The radiation treatments left me\u00a0tired<\/a>\u00a0and nauseous<\/a>, and chemotherapy was even tougher. Some days,\u00a0I would\u00a0travel six hours to Houston,\u00a0only to\u00a0find out\u00a0that my blood counts<\/a> were too low for treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before treatment, I was physically\u00a0active, regularly\u00a0playing sports and lifting weights<\/a>.\u00a0During treatment, I\u00a0put everything on pause. The hardest part was\u00a0the isolation. I had to be extremely careful<\/a> not to get sick while finishing my economics degree remotely.<\/p>\n

At the end of my proton therapy treatment, my family celebrated with Dr. Manzar. She gave me an origami crane of my radiation plan and played a song on her ukulele about the closing of this chapter and looking forward to a new beginning. My family and I were so touched. We all cried because we had grown such an attachment over this tumultuous period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life\u00a0after\u00a0brain tumor\u00a0treatment<\/p>\n

Today, I am a proud graduate of the Texas A&M Class of 2025 and starting my career at the bank where I interned. I\u2019m very thankful not to have any lingering side effects. Physically, I sometimes get tired, but it\u2019s nothing a little caffeine<\/a> and rest cannot solve. Mentally and emotionally, I stay strong because my family never left my side, including my mom, dad, sister, brother and sister-in-law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My mom prayed over me every night in the ICU, softly playing worship music. My dad,\u00a0brother\u00a0and sister all sacrificed their own routines to be with me through every step.\u00a0A\u00a0year after surgery,\u00a0radiation\u00a0and chemotherapy, I feel back to normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Encouraged by my\u00a0good results\u00a0from treatment, I arrived\u00a0at\u00a0my last follow-up appointment with a stuffed ukulele for Dr. Manzar. It makes her day to see me and my family thriving after treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My\u00a0advice to\u00a0others<\/p>\n

People often say that life moves too fast. During treatment, it slowed down more than I ever imagined. My dad always\u00a0says, \u201cDon\u2019t be in such a hurry.\u201d I finally understood what he meant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keep a positive mindset and never lose faith. On hard days, step outside, take a\u00a0walk<\/a>\u00a0and breathe deeply<\/a>. Remind yourself that life is still moving forward. Surround yourself with\u00a0a dedicated support\u00a0system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No matter the challenges\u00a0I\u00a0faced,\u00a0my\u00a0faith was what carried me through. There were moments when the path ahead felt very dark, but I\u00a0did not\u00a0walk it alone. At\u00a0UT\u00a0MD Anderson, I had the right team of doctors by my side every step of the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online<\/a> or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n

Close-up of the origami crane Dr. Manzar created with Alberto’s radiation treatment plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In May 2024, I had just started my summer internship at\u00a0a bank\u00a0and was preparing for my senior year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[78480,86921,1145,1142,56,58,57,75671,1148,97922,2822],"class_list":{"0":"post-261619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-brain-and-spine","9":"tag-brain-tumor","10":"tag-caregivers","11":"tag-family-friends","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-headlines","14":"tag-houston-news","15":"tag-patient-caregiver-stories","16":"tag-patients","17":"tag-proton-therapy","18":"tag-survivors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}