Brad Dahlgren

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Brad ran into some medical challenges while traveling in New Zealand during November 2018. He had some indication of these symptoms in September but tried to push through them since they were intermittent. These problems became increasingly worse and during his New Zealand travel on Wed Nov 21 he and his friends decided he better get to a hospital. He experienced severe headaches, vision issues and dizziness. His friends transported him to a hospital in Whangarei, New Zealand. Following an initial diagnosis there the Doctors decided he should be transported via a 2 hour ambulance ride to Auckland City Hospital.


Brad received further testing including an MRI. He was found to have two masses in his brain one larger and one smaller one. These were causing swelling and inability for the brain to drain ceberal fluid properly. The Auckland doctors diagnosed him with Pineal Germinoma. It is essentially a brain mass. It affects the Pineal gland. The two options, once a biopsy is complete, are most likely either radiation or proton beam therapy. They have now done both a CT and MRI scan to confirm the diagnosis. The best case is, we want Brad to hold off on the biopsy and wait until he gets back to Rochester, MN and Mayo Clinic. If he gets the biopsy in Auckland it will take weeks for him to be able to fly again. We are hoping once his swelling goes down in the next few days,  he would be able to make the trip home to Mayo Clinic for further specialized treatment.


Brad’s Mom Wanda, his Dad Scott and Scott’s wife Diane all immediately left for Auckland. They arrived on Friday afternoon Nov 23 USA time. They will be meeting with Brad’s doctors and consulting with Mayo Clinic doctors to decide how best to proceed. We will update things as we get more information. Brad is being treated with pain meds and is resting reasonably comfortable while he awaits next steps.