2 brain tumor survivors share stories of hope with lawmakers
May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month and according to the American Brain Tumor Association, about 90,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumor every year.
Some women from Montgomery County just returned from Washington D.C., where they shared their stories with lawmakers, and News Center 7′s Xavier Hershovitz caught up with them.
Billi Ewing is a brain tumor survivor. It was 10 years ago this year that she found out she had a tumor. “For people that receive a brain tumor diagnosis, everything comes to a screeching halt. And, you literally do not even know what to say or do next.”
Leslie Lovelace is a 15-year survivor. She said, “It’s just me wanting to take it a step further and be a part of something bigger than myself.”
It’s that shared experience that brought them together. “She was the one person that I can actually pick up the phone and have a conversation with about this life-changing news that I had just received,” Ewing said.
Only knowing that “one person” inspired Ewing to share her story, doing that connected her with the National Brain Tumor Society and their annual Day of Advocacy “Head to the Hill,”
Ewing said, “We are Ohio delegates and advocates for the National Brain Tumor Society.”
They spent three days in the nation’s Capital, first connecting with other brain tumor survivors and the families of those who lost their battle.
“It was an amazing experience. For me, it was very emotional. But meeting with families who have lost loved ones, to these brain cancers who wish that their child or their husband could look like me versus be, you know, in the ground right now. Like it was just very humbling,” Lovelace said.
Ewing and Lovelace also spent time meeting with legislators and their staff sharing their personal stories and advocating for things like more funding for brain tumor research.
“It helps them to remember when said bill or resolution comes across their desk that I need to say yes to this, or depending on what it is. I need to say no to this because it’s going to do more harm than good,” Ewing said.
Both Ewing and Lovelace said it’s about sharing their stories to let others know they are not alone. To help raise awareness, they were gray in May for Brain Tumor Awareness Month.
