Matt Harper

My name is Matt Harper, and this is my story…

Being 31 years old, you never think something like this can happen to you. I had been experiencing severe headaches that would come and go for months. I also had these strange spells where I would blank out and get a weird taste in my mouth. After each spell, I felt completely exhausted. Later, I found out these were a type of seizure.

January 11, 2014, was the worst day for these symptoms. My wife took me to the local emergency room. The ER physician immediately ordered a CAT scan of my brain. The results came back showing a mass in my right temporal lobe.

I was transferred to Evansville Deaconess Gateway, where an MRI revealed a 4 cm tumor in the right temporal lobe, along with a significant midline shift of the brain. A neurosurgeon came to see us and said surgery would happen the next morning.

So, on January 12, 2014, I underwent my first surgery—and it was brain surgery.

After the surgery, Dr. Cannon explained to my wife, Chelsea, that it wasn’t what we had hoped for. He was only able to remove half of the tumor due to limited visibility. The next day, Dr. Cannon returned to discuss the possible tumor types. He covered several, but told us we were most likely dealing with stage 4 glioblastoma—stage 4 brain cancer.

Then the treatments began.

From February to March, I completed 42 days of radiation. After that, I started taking a chemo pill called Temodar. Throughout the year, I had regular MRIs to monitor the tumor’s response to treatment. In December 2014, my MRI showed no signs of a tumor. Thank you, Lord! I continued on Temodar until May 2015, which marked my last chemo treatment.

Now fast forward to August 2016—my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby! After experiencing two miscarriages over the years, this was the greatest blessing we could have asked for.

But in December 2016, an MRI revealed a spot on my brain again. Our oncologist, Dr. Browning, referred us to Vanderbilt for a second opinion. In January 2017, we met with my neuro-oncologist, Dr. Clark. He didn’t think it was anything serious, but to be safe, we restarted Temodar since my body had responded well the first time.

After one round of Temodar, we did a follow-up MRI—which showed disease progression. We stopped the treatment, placed a port, and started a new chemo combination: CeeNU and Avastin.

Then, on May 9, 2017, the best day of my life arrived—I became a dad. Our son, Paxton Lee Harper, was born weighing 8 lbs, 4.5 oz, and measuring 21½ inches long.

I continued chemo treatments every three weeks, but unfortunately, the MRIs kept showing worsening results. I returned to Vanderbilt in October 2017, where Dr. Clark decided to run a perfusion scan to check blood flow to the tumors.

The first test was performed incorrectly, so I had to return for a second scan. This time, the test was done correctly—but the results weren’t what we had hoped. It showed multiple tumors.

Dr. Browning and Dr. Clark decided to discontinue CeeNU and continue with Avastin, adding a new chemo called Camptosar (Irinotecan).

That brings us to today.

I’m currently on Avastin only, while we wait for my platelet count to build back up before starting the new chemo. I’m living one day at a time, spending every moment I can with my wife and son. Some days are harder than others, but I keep going—for them.

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