Cancer survivor eyes SF marathon on Sunday Cancer survivor eyes SF marathon on Sunday (July 30, 2004)

by Jeb Bing

T hank heaven that we have recovering brain cancer patients like Janet Thoma of Pleasanton who are willing to put their own concerns aside to buoy the spirits of those facing similar surgeries and to provide support for their families during emotionally charged, difficult times. Nearly four years after her own surgery for meningioma brain cancer, Thoma still lacks her once robust physical stamina. Fatigue keeps her from returning for her graduate degree in Spanish literature at UC Berkeley, but she is still determined to help others. She leaves her Owens Drive home at least twice a week to volunteer at the National Brain Tumor Foundation headquarters in San Francisco. On Sunday, she'll try again to compete in a marathon, registering for the 5k walk as a member of NBTF's Team 9 in the Chronicle's "Cause to Run" marathon, an annual event that gives groups like hers a publicly promoted chance to raise funds for their nonprofits.

Thoma was only 30 when an ophthalmologist, in a routine eye exam, discovered abnormalities that raised concerns. He referred here to neurologist Dr. Lawrence Dickinson of Castro Valley, and a week later, on July 3, she underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. She can thank her husband Bill for making sure she was scanned by the latest, best-performing MRI in the area. He received a doctorate degree in the 1980s and has been involved ever since in the development and marketing of MRIs. He joined the technologist at his newest installation as his wife moved through the closed MRI, his heart dropping when he spotted the lemon-size, sphenoid wing meningioma tumor that was growing behind her left optic nerve. He was at her side when the scan was finished to tell her what they found.

On her 31st birthday Aug. 30, Janet Thoma had an angiogram at UCSF hospital, staying awake during the four-hour ordeal as doctors worked tubing to the tumor where they successfully "glued shut" blood vessels that were feeding it. Two days later, Dickinson and his team of specialists, with the help of 3-dimensional computer models and tracking, successfully removed the tumor. Since then, MRIs and CT Scans at three-month intervals have shown no evidence of cancerous cells, although Thomas knows she faces a lifetime of concern and ongoing examinations.

Thoma participates in two cancer support groups. Even before her surgery, she joined the local chapter of the national Wellness Community, which meets in Walnut Creek and has an offsite program at the ValleyCare Health Library and Ryan Comer Cancer Resource Center in Pleasanton. Of those in her original group, she is one of only two still living. More recently, she joined the UCSF Meningioma Support Group, which provides help to those with her specific type of cancer, which is much more slow-growing than most of the 120 other types of brain cancers. Still, even among the country's 160 brain support groups, including those with a higher number of critical and Stage 4 cancer patients, support from survivors like Thoma who have been through the lengthy, frightening and costly surgeries and treatments, is vital. That's why she is determined to fight off fatigue, a common and long-term after-effect in brain surgeries, to console and support fellow victims. She said it's not unusual for the group to share a good joke and laugh, only to quickly reach for tissues the next minute when tears start to flow. Research and advanced medical techniques are enabling greater numbers of brain cancer patients to survive. Many will join Thoma on Sunday to raise more funds for research, with Thoma also hoping to recover fully to run the full 26.2 mile "Cause to Run" marathon next year.

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