Craig Miller was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer, or anaplastic astrocytoma, in April 2014 following the biopsy of a brain tumor. His situation remained stable for a few years, despite his prognosis of 2-3 years, but took a turn in early fall of 2017. As the original tumor moved and grew, followed by new tumor sites sprouting in his frontal lobe, the medical team at Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania worked on proton therapy, new chemotherapy plans, and an Optune Device over the past 18 months. Craig's memory, however, began to fail this past month. On April 5, 2019, Craig and his wife, Cristen, drove to UPenn for an appointment and received devastating news. Craig's original tumor resting in his parietal lobe at his corpus callosum, inhibiting his left and right hemispheres from communicating, showed significant growth and activity. Additionally, his left hemisphere was so swollen, it began pushing his right hemisphere over, likely adding to his short-term memory loss. The final blow came with the discovery of new tumor sites in his frontal lobe. The doctors solemnly informed Cristen if there are no signs of improvement by the beginning of May, there is nothing more the medical team can do. Craig's memory has shown mild signs of improvement after being put on a steroid to reduce swelling and hopefully will progress further with the infusions of Avastin at Penn Medicine. Please keep his family, friends, and predominantly Craig in your thoughts and prayers.
