The story of Brian
Sharing my husbands story. My husband is a MEN 1 fighter a long with our daughter who is 6.
Brian was diagnosed with MEN-1 at the age of 40. They had already found multiple tumors including a 6lb tumor that had grown from the thymus and engulf his left lung. In a 10 hour surgery they removed Brian level lung in August 2021. The tumor was so big that it had pushed the hurt to the right side of the body. They had to stop his heart during surgery and lift the heart up to reach all of the tumor under his heart. 6 months later Brian had the body and tail of his pancreas removed along with the spleen. This left the head of the pancreas which also has several small tumors at this time. Brian received monthly Lanreotide injections to try and maintain these tumors. Brian has also had surgeries removing his parathyroids. Brian has 1/8 of one parathyroid left and it was implanted in his lower arm due to risk of having to go back in and cut on the parathyroid left and the dangers associated with it.
With all this Brian does not let it affect his outlook on life and he doesn’t let it stop him from whatever he wants to do. He still works, stays busy with our small children, coaches them in their sports and even completed a 5k for a fundraiser at his daughter school. There is no cure for MEN1 and Brian and his daughter Finley both receive routine scans and blood work to monitor tumors. Brian has a very positive outlook on life. He does not let the MEN1 define him. We are very thankful to all the doctors, surgeons, and staff that have helped him and Finley on their journey.