How CTR helps patients and families.

Hi, I'm Hernán Barangan, Director of Cancer Rebellion and proud partner of Teen Cancer America.

I had leukemia when I was 15, and even back then I was acutely aware of how complicated it was to navigate the whole world of treatment, healthcare, and cancer.

Fast forward to now and it's only become crazier.

So I could not pass up the opportunity when Candy asked me to produce and direct this short piece we're about to watch.

Stories of how Cancer Teamwork Response makes an impact in our communities.

Together, we can build a stronger healthcare community,

One where every patient's voice is heard and supported through their journey.

Started with migraine headaches I knew there was something wrong but I couldn't get any answers

From anybody I think it was mostly vision issues I was having my husband's a firefighter and he

Started getting sciatic pain. So I took him to my work and we did an x-ray. He

Started having pain in his shoulders. We did blood tests, we did specialists and

Nobody could give us answers. I went to the hospital, they kind of looked at my

Lungs, did a liver biopsy and then about a week later I get a phone call. January

4th I got a call that it was an alveolar sarcoma and of course I had done

Researched and known that this is a very deadly cancer and so you know my heart just sank.

Ultimately I ended up in the emergency room on Christmas night and was told that I had a massive

Brain tumor. We were at a pivotal point and didn't know really what to do you know. glioblastoma is

Such a scary scary thing. You know being a caregiver or just not knowing what to do. What's the right

Thing you don't know I sat in that for about two and a half weeks it was it was I would say

Devastating just because I didn't know the scans were taking a long time the doctor appointments

Are taking a long time the follow-ups and now panic is starting to build they showed me the

Scan I had no clue what I was looking at but the doctor said all those spots that are lighting up

That's all cancer there's too much cancer and there's nothing we can do I've been a nurse for

26 years and I know when someone's gonna die and when I was looking at my husband

He was like he was dying and no one was listening to me. I thought it was a death

Sentence. I was scared to death did not know where to turn where to go. We went

Straight into okay like you can't help us we need to find somebody who can

Because we're not gonna give up. We got connected to CTR through friends of

Friends. They said you have to get in touch with a lady named Candy. I was

Introduced to CTR because I just wanted to get him out of that hospital. Candy

Gave us hope. She was like, all right, and she just kind of handled it. It was a

Friday afternoon. We had been, you know, trying to get a hold of this other

Hospital organization all week, not getting into appointments, and Candy

Answered the phone and was able to get us an appointment with the top oncologist

For the next Monday at 8 a.m. We literally got discharged at 6 a.m. And

Were in front of our current now who's now our oncologist within two hours.

Because of her I was able to see someone in two and a half weeks versus a lot longer.

She was able to get me an appointment and within a month I was operated on.

Candy just holds your hand and I think brings you peace and like walks you

Through really hard steps that unless you know what to do you don't.

She helped me navigate on what to do and then she kind of guided me on how to push, how to press, you know, who to talk to.

You know, it was a long recovery and I have to say Candy was with me checking in on making sure that I was okay.

So it's great to have someone like Candy that can kind of help you navigate the system and feel like you are doing the right thing.

You are doing the best you can do.

And it just makes all the difference in the world.

I mean, I honestly can't imagine going through what we went through without Candy.

I know a lot of people don't know that this is here for them, but this is a great resource.

Where we go matters.

And who you have matters.

Everything that's meaningful to me and all my friends and loved ones,

It gives me an opportunity to be around them and be grateful for their friendship.

I feel pretty good now. This, in a few months, will be three years since the transplant, which is crazy to think about.

Sometimes I could go a whole day and I don't even think. It's nice that it's getting out of my head more.

He's still here two and a half years later.

Hang in there. Keep fighting.

You know, don't hesitate to reach out and get the help you need.