Matthew's story

Matthew’s journey started after finishing his sophomore football season. Matthew started getting really bad headaches that just wouldn’t go away. When his parents took him to the emergency room, they found out their son had a brain tumor. He had a shunt put in the next day and the headaches went away. Matthew had no other symptoms of a brain tumor, but his doctors made the decision to start with chemotherapy. When the tumor didn’t shrink, he had surgery to remove part of it.

After surgery he had complications. He was in the hospital for a month. He was on a ventilator for a couple of weeks. He had to have a tracheotomy because his right vocal cord was paralyzed and he couldn’t talk, swallow or eat. Then they put in a feeding tube. After a couple of weeks in a drug-induced coma, he started physical and occupational therapy. Then he had to have radiation for 6 weeks. In addition to physical therapy, he started vital stimulation therapy to re-learn how to swallow and eat. Eventually, Matthew could eat, began to walk and had most of the tubes out and machines gone.

Since then Matthew has attended college and got his degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education. He coached football all 4 years at college. Matthew went on to get a job at a high school as the ACT/SAT math and science prep teacher. He also helps coach the football and basketball teams.

Matthew remembers that when his family was trying to choose a hospital for his treatment, he was uncomfortable at the first one they visited. The doctors spoke as if he wasn't in the room and implied that the surgery to remove the tumor would leave him incapacitated. He is grateful for the respectful and supportive attitudes they found at the Brain Tumor Center at Advocate Children's Hospital. His health care team treated him like an individual and worked with him all through his treatment and recovery to enable him to live the full life he has today.