on a high note
Kristina Kotlus
Facing Brain Cancer With Faith, Family and Friends By Erin Pittman
M
Photos provided by Kristina Kotlus
ay is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, and local author and brain cancer survivor Kristina Kotlus is doing her part to spread awareness of this disease. Kotlus' book, "I Quit: Facing Cancer with Faith, Family, and Friends," was released on Feb. 4 of this year. This part cancer-fighting story/part spiritual and advice book shares her journey through two rounds of cancer diagnoses and treatments and provides hope for those in similar situations.
Kotlus’ Experience In the fall of 2012, Kotlus was experiencing severe headaches. She was diagnosed with migraines and given a medication that she was unable to take because of severe side effects. She pushed through the pain for three more months. In January of 2013, as she was helping one of her sons get ready for hockey practice, she passed out in the hallway. This time she was given an MRI very quickly. “They called with my results the same day, and that’s never a good sign,” Kotlus said. She was diagnosed with ependymoma, brain cancer. “My husband and I decided to grieve for 24 hours. We cried and ate lots of Ben and Jerry’s. Then I put on my big girl panties and trusted that God was going to deal with it,” she said. She chose joy, as she did countless times over those next few years. Even when she was diagnosed a second time in 2017, when the same cancer had metastasized in her spine.
10 |
May 2020 prince william living
Kotlus' book "I Quit: Facing Cancer with Faith, Family, and Friends" is available for purchase at kristinakotlus.com.
