Supporters of Heroes of Hope will make their inaugural walk next Saturday to raise money for brain cancer research.
Karla Miller, Grand Forks, organized the first-ever Heroes of Hope walk in Grand Forks to help raise money for brain cancer research. Mike Miller, her husband, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor on June 3, 2009. Mike Miller along with Matt Malm and Rachel Lund, also of Grand Forks, have been chosen as local heroes for the May 15 walk and will head teams. Malm and Lund, like Miller, have been diagnosed with malignant brain tumors.
Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer death in men under the age of 39 and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women under the age of 39, according to the Heroes of Hope website. Brain tumors cannot be prevented because their cause isn't known, the website said.
Mike Miller, a private insurance agent and investment broker, had no prior symptoms when he woke up on the morning June 3, 2009, and could not read the newspaper. A CT scan that day showed a mass on his brain. An emergency MRI showed that he had a glioblastoma multiforme tumor, the fastest growing kind. Miller had surgery to remove the tumor and followed it up with radiation and chemotherapy.
The tumor recurred in November 2009, but Miller has had clear scans for the past six months.
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Giving back
Karla Miller, an Altru Health System nurse, wants to raise money for brain cancer research because she believes that the research has benefitted her husband. Avastin, a type of chemotherapy drug that recently was approved for brain cancer, is responsible for putting her husband's cancer into remission last November, she said. Avastin formerly was used to treat other types of cancer such as colon cancer, until research showed that it also was effective on brain tumors.
"Without the Avastin, I really don't know where we'd be today," she said.
Another reason Miller wanted to organize a Heroes of Hope walk is because she wants to do something for others. The goal of Heroes of Hope is to have a walk in every state in the United States and there was not one scheduled in North Dakota, she said.
"Everybody has been so good to us. I thought it was time to pay back if we could."
The minimum distance for the Heroes of Hope walk, which will be held in Lincoln Drive Park, is 1.3 miles. Participants also can walk or run a 5K. Registration for the walk begins at 9 a.m. The cost is $25 and participants will receive a free t-shirt.
A signup for the walk is on the Web at ww.walktoendbraintumors.org.
Bailey writes for special features sections. Reach her at (701) 787-6753; (800) 477-6572, ext. 753; or send e-mail to abailey@gfherald.com .
