I am always keeping an eye out for “top stories,” since my research began March 2006. Amazing December 21st will be five years since… I began blogging and in that time Cheryl Broyles would have to be rated TOPS. Is so nice to see Cheryl Broyles sitting on top of the world and recently updating her website and Facebook page. Your story will be the last one I blog for 2016 … Merry Christmas Cheryl !!!! 
🙂
I am ALIVE:
In June 2000, I was told by a really horrible uncaring tech that did my radiation –“Don’t worry about the risks of the radiation, damage from it only come 10+ years later, and you with the GBM will be dead by then.” Not lying, he really said that! Well I guess he did tell the truth, the statistics did predict I would die within a year.
BUT now 16 years later I’m still alive and wondering what else will come along with me being a “long term survivor”. I know that not many people make it this long, so the docs don’t really know what to expect. But hey, I will keep recording my roller coaster ride & will share it with ALL of you other brain tumor fighters ( that will ALSO become “long term survivors” along with me!) YES, there are more and more long term survivors out there. The statistics are looking better and better over time. So plan on being one!
Also In January I will be going through surgery to remove the ugly scalp carcinoma skin cancer, and replace it with some healthy skin form somewhere else. I keep telling myself, “no big deal”, it just comes along with being a long term survivor after radiation. And WELL worth it!!! I do NOT regret having the radiation 16 years ago. If I went back in time, I would choose to take it again! Each day I’m blessed with; it’s well worth the fight. I’m willing to take a scar here and there. Then life goes on!
Thus….. to celebrate the Merry Christmas this year, we are heading south to Arizona!
Yes I LOVE the cacti. So instead of a fir tree here in Oregon for Christmas, we will be celebrating with a little cactus! I always try to NOT let the “things” that come along with the brain tumors slow me down. Well, I do have to admit, it is slowing me down a little, but I keep getting out having fun, just slower. Hey, maybe I’m getting slower, because I’m getting older! YES, this Jan 11th, 2017 I turn the BIG 50 years old. I never thought I would hit the 50s. I was diagnosed when I was only 33 years old, and told I would die within a year.
So you brain tumor fighters, keep planning on getting older and older, it’s possible!
Update 6/19/16It is now June 2016, and I have survived the grade 4 GBM brain tumor for 16 years (dx June 2000)! My last recurrence was August 2015 and was treated with Gamma Knife Radiation. Within four months after the… Gamma Knife, the GBM shrunk down to nothing seen. Since then, my brain MRIs have continued to look the same, no seen tumor! Unfortunately, I’ve started having simple partial seizures, from the radiation damage.
So I have had to start taking anti-seizure meds for the first time since I was diagnosed.
Currently, I am not on any “western medicine” treatments. I continue to fight the cancer by taking many supplements, also some “off label” prescriptions, exercise 5 days a week, eat an organic low carbohydrate diet, leaning on God for strength, and other “alternative” treatments.
You can read about what I do to fight the cancer on my web page at www.cherylbroyles-gbm.com Have HOPE you fellow brain tumor fighters, don’t listen to the statistics. I was told I would die within a year, and now I’ve survived the GBM 16 years! All is possible. And I am still out having FUN with my family. I am over here in Oregon USA cheering you guys on – GO GO GO. https://virtualtrials.com/surv
UPDATE after UPDATE.
I know I’m in a “Win Win” situation. I WIN if God wants me to be on earth longer with my family. And I WIN if God calls me home to heaven. Sometimes I get caught up in fear, when I think about what physical challenges I may get in the future fighting cancer. Like being paralyzed, not able to take care of myself, etc. As soon as I begin to worry about the future, I get sucked down into depression. I always tell myself that I WILL NOT let this cancer “kill” my life, while I’m still alive.
I feel ALIVE while I’m living with my Lord. Day by Day. I feel empty and dead when I take my eyes away from Jesus. So I just always give it ALL over to God. With confidence, TRUE confidence that I am in good hands. I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t have to “earn” anything from God. It’s God’s mercy.
I feel very blessed, whether I stay here on earth, or go to heaven. Again, it’s a WIN WIN situation. So it’s easy for me to pray, “May your will be done”. Then I sit back and smile, living in the moment. Enjoying each day here on earth I have, but also EXCITED about the future, with my eternal life in heaven!!!!
The seizures hit me hard both physically and emotionally. Physically the seizures sucked away my energy and made me feel completely mentally “out of it”. It totally ruined my summer, which is the season I LOVE to go backpacking into the wilderness. It was too scary to even get very far from my home. Talk about an emotional bomb!
I know others battling brain tumors are hit hard both physically and emotionally too. What helped me make it through this struggle was; Determination! (my husband calls it stubbornness) Either way, I was NOT going to let it take me down! (My Lord gives me the strength to work through it).
I always love to include a picture along with any post I make on Facebook. So I went looking through my picture taken this year and found 1 that really seems to speak out to me; a Redwood tree. Redwood trees are HUGE! The massive size of the Redwood trees, seem like the size of the mental and emotional struggles I go through fighting the GBM brain tumor. Completely overwhelming. It’s like standing below the Redwood tree and looking up. WOW.
However it’s inspiring thinking about how strong the Redwood trees are. They make it through pretty much all of the forest fires that have hit them in the past. You can see the dark black scars on their bark, but they still look beautiful. What inspires me most is how long they live! Hundreds of years!!!
I’m determined to be like a Redwood tree; to be long living even with all my physical and emotional scars. Yes, I’m inspired by a tree. I admit it. Now every time I get hit by a seizure, I’m going to visualize a beautiful redwood tree. Telling myself that I will be as strong as they are and able to make it through the fires.
I hope that others out there struggling with the brain tumor battles, will think of the Redwood trees, and be determined to live LONG like they do!
Giant sequoias and California redwoods (and also called coast redwoods) are nature’s skyscrapers. These enormous trees exist primarily in Northern California, and though they have a number of common characteristics, including distinctive cinnamon-red bark, they are different species.
One giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), known as General Sherman, is the world’s largest tree, while a redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) called Hyperion is the tallest.
Giant sequoias and California redwoods (also called coast redwoods) are nature’s skyscrapers. These enormous trees exist primarily in Northern California, and though they have a number of common characteristics, including thedistinctive cinnamon-red bark, they are different species.
One giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), known as General Sherman, is the world’s largest tree, while a redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) called Hyperion is the tallest. Sequoias grow naturally along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, between 5,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level and far inland. That elevation provides these trees with dry mountain air necessary for their cones to open and release seeds. AND The snowpack from the Sierra Nevada provides sequoias with the thousands of gallons of water they drink every day. Sequoias have shallow roots and require well-drained soil.
Because of its brittle texture, the sequoia is not a valuable lumber species. And It was, nevertheless, logged extensively around the turn of the 20th century. Originally, sequoias could be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Today, they are found only in 77 scattered groves in Northern California. Among the places that preserve giant sequoias are Sequoia National Forest, Sequoia National Park, and Giant Sequoia National Monument.
Redwoods
These tallest of trees reach heights of more than 350 feet (107 meters). The tallest tree in the world is named Hyperion, which reaches 379.7 feet (115.7 meters). Redwoods can also achieve a diameter of 24 feet (7 meters), and 1.6 million pounds (725,700 kg). These giants can live to be 2,000 years old and have graced the planet for more than 240 million years. Though they once thrived throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, today redwoods are only found on the coast from central California through southern Oregon. They do not live more than 50 miles inland, and are usually found in long belts, rather than small groves.
True to their name, coast redwoods need a moderate, coastal climate to survive. They require the area’s frequent fog to protect
In contrast to their size, redwoods have extremely small cones — about one inch long. They have appropriately large root systems, however, often extending 100 miles (161 kilometers) and intertwining with the roots of other redwoods. Baby redwoods often sprout at their parents’ base, latching onto their roots for nutrients. For this reason, they often grow in circular clusters sometimes called fairy rings.
The coast redwood’s lumber has been highly valued historically. It is durable, resistant to rot and termites, non-warping, and relatively soft. For this reason, it has been extensively logged. Since logging began in the 1850s, 95% of old-growth coast redwoods have been cut down, according to the Sempervirens Fund. Today, many redwoods exist in protected forests and parks.
Interesting facts
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