Picnic Set to Celebrate Brain Tumor Awareness Week

May 09, 2003

Brain tumor survivors and their families, friends and medical staff will celebrate Brain Tumor Awareness Week with a picnic from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, May 9, at Brighton Town Park. The event is sponsored by The Adult Brain Tumor Network at Strong Memorial Hospital.

The Adult Brain Tumor Network is a support program for brain cancer survivors and their families.

The theme is "Thriving and Surviving" and the event is sponsored by the network and The Brainstormers, a support group for parents.

More than 186,000 brain tumors will be diagnosed in the United States this year. Of those 186,000 people, about 36,600 people will be diagnosed with a primary brain tumor; about 150,000 will be found to have a metastatic brain tumor. Primary tumors are tumors that begin in the brain and tend to stay in the brain. Metastatic brain tumors begin as a cancer elsewhere in the body and spread, or metastasize, to the brain.

For more information about the event, contact Barbara Guttman at 275-4631 or Carla LeVant at 273-5445.