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My Story
Dustin Cook, BSRS, RT (MR)
I am nearly 11 years cancer-free, and man, does that feel good to say. My journey with St. Jude started May 19, 2009. Up until that point I was just your average 12-year-old kid. I loved reading, playing video games, and spending time with family. I enjoyed school and made straight A’s. I honestly don’t remember when things began to change, but I believe it was near the beginning of 2009. I began to be very fatigued and slept all the time. I was moody, began to lose my appetite, and started losing weight. And the worst part of all was the headaches. The mind-numbing headaches were so bad I couldn’t think straight. They were so intense they’d make me vomit, and eventually my grades began to drop. When the symptoms began to get worse, we went to see my doctor. As a child I routinely got sinus infections, and this seemed to be a severe bout of that. When the medication for that didn’t help and the headaches got worse, we next sought help from my eye doctor to see if my prescription had changed. They discovered my prescription had not changed, but I did have raised pressure on my optic nerve. That was a red flag so the next day we saw an eye specialist. His findings blindsided us. He plainly told us that I had one of two conditions. The first was pseudotumorcerebri, which literally just means fake brain tumor, it’s a condition that mimics the symptoms of a brain tumor that is treated with simple medications. The only other option was that I had a brain tumor. Obviously, that news hit us like a freight train. There was no way that could have been true, right? We clung to the hope that it wasn’t. The next day I had an MRI and we went to see my pediatrician to hear the results. That day was May 19, 2009. I knew something was wrong the moment we walked in. They separated my parents and myself into different rooms. After some time, the door opened and my mom, dad, and pediatrician walked in. They all had red, puffy eyes filled with tears, and I knew the bad news was coming. It was then that she told me the news that would change my life forever. I had a massive, softball-sized brain tumor. It was so shocking I honestly didn’t know what to think. All I did was look at my parents and tell them, “I’m going to be ok, God’s got this.”
We had no idea how right I was. That night we traveled to LeBonhuer in Memphis and I had my surgery on May 21, 2009. The surgery was quite risky and my parents were told not to expect the same kid waking up. Side effects could include memory loss, paralysis, impaired motor functions, and so much more. However, my surgery went much better than expected, and I suffered no side effects whatsoever. It was a miracle. Our miracle. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the story, as pathology of the tumor came back and confirmed the worst. The big “C” word. It was cancer. Anaplastic Ependymoma Grade III to be exact. And that is what led us to St. Jude.
It’s such an amazing place. So amazing, my words can’t do it justice. Once we were there, my doctors decided that the best route of treatment for me would be 7 weeks of radiation therapy. Radiation therapy can be fairly harsh and I was told to expect side effects such as nausea, vomiting, weight loss, fatigue, possible stunted growth, and hair loss. Yet again, I performed much better than expected. I don’t remember ever getting sick to my stomach once. To combat fatigue, I was told to drink Mountain Dew to get some caffeine in me. I was apparently not very fatigued, to the point I couldn’t sleep at night and they eventually had to cut my caffeine intake. I also grew more and gained more that summer than ever before. The only side effect I ever really noticed was patchy hair loss from where the beams of radiation entered my head. Next thing you know, I finished my treatments without a hitch and went back to my normal life. Cancer-free.
To this day I still go back for periodic check-ups. I’m proud to say I am a survivor, thanks to St. Jude. The 11th anniversary of the day we found out will be in just a couple weeks. And my how things have changed in that amount of time. I’ve grown up. I graduated high school. I graduated college with an associate degree. Since the last time I’ve been on air I graduated with my first bachelor’s degree, and I’m currently pursuing another.
And here’s the thing. St. Jude has been so impactful and instrumental in my life that it has influenced my career choice. I love St. Jude so much that I’ve decided to someday return, not as a patient, but as an employee. I can think of no better way of giving back to the place that helped save my life, than going back to help save the lives of future patients. The first Bachelor’s I obtained was in X-Ray, CT, and MRI, and I’m currently studying to also be a Radiation Therapist. As a Radiologic Technologist, I can be a vital piece of the cancer treatment process by providing doctors with diagnoses as well as tracking treatment progress, as well as monitor patients well after treatment. And as a Radiation Therapist I can also be the vital piece of the puzzle that directly treats patients. It is my life’s goal and greatest dream to help save lives at the very place that saved mine, and with those who helped save it.
I have been a student at Arkansas State University for about 5 years now, studying Radiology. One important aspect of the educational program is the clinical component. I have had the honor and privilege of being able to experience clinical education at St. Jude. I have already had the great honor of seeing St. Jude from the other side and I can confirm it is just as amazing. It truly is a world-class facility. During my time in the MRI/CT program at A-State I attended clinicals at St. Jude and it was fascinating and surreal. I was taking MRIs and CTs of patients on the same machines I have been imaged in. I was setting up patients on the same tables that I’ve laid on myself all these years. And all while sitting next to some of the same technologists that have run these scans on me. It was amazing. And I was not only honored to have the privilege there, but also in the Radiation Therapy department. I was treating patients in the exact room I received my radiation treatments in 11 years ago! All while doing it with some of the very Radiation Therapists that treated me! I cannot tell you how amazing it was to work among the very MRI and CT Technologists and Radiation Therapists that inspired me to go into the field. It’s truly been an indescribable experience. I will graduate in August and I patiently wait for the day I can accept a job offer there. And all of this thanks to St. Jude.
