Olympic swimmer with acoustic neuroma finds connection and healing at MD Anderson
Clark Burckle Jr., now 36 years old, is no stranger to adversity. Clark represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics, competing in the 200-meter breaststroke. He’s been a successful entrepreneur with an athletic lifestyle ever since then.
But in 2022, he started feeling unwell. “I had bad fatigue, I lost the desire to work out, I felt very tired and overwhelmed,” he recalls. He noticed a ringing in his left ear – tinnitus...
Multiple myeloma and spine cancer survivor: ‘Always think about a second opinion’
In 2022, Emily Shults, then 47, had recently moved to Magnolia, Texas, from California, to be closer to family. During the move, she remembers...
Metastatic breast and spine cancer survivor: ‘I’m living into the cure’
“I have an illness, not a terminal diagnosis,” says Lisa Ordmandy. Despite her metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, Lisa remains optimistic...
Young adult astrocytoma survivor grateful for MD Anderson's expertise
“Other doctors felt they could not operate,” says Sean O’Brien, an astrocytoma survivor. But MD Anderson neurosurgeon Frederick Lang, M.D., successfully removed Sean’s brain tumor.
During Sean’s sophomore year of college, he began experiencing intense headaches and other symptoms. “I couldn’t sleep properly, I stopped going to classes, and if I moved too quickly, my vision would go out,” recalls Sean, now 30. “I’d get tunnel vision...
What is astrocytoma, and how is it different from glioblastoma?
Astrocytoma and glioblastoma are two types of brain tumors. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed how these tumors are classified...