Maria Popovac

Welcome to our CaringBridge website.  We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.  We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.  Thank you for visiting.

Around the third week of January 2017, I started getting a headache that would not go away.  After ruling out everything I possibly could -- sinuses, chiropractic, dental, vision, etc. -- I finally had an MRI on my brain.

On March 10, I was diagnosed with a very rare tumor on the base of my skull called a clival chordoma or chordoma of the clivus.  Only 1 in a million people get this.  It's that rare!

Over the past two months, I've seen many doctors, done several tests, and experienced a whole lot of different emotions.  I could not have gotten through everything with out the loving support of Brian, my husband, and Anna, my oldest daughter.  They have been to every appointment and test with me.  My younger daughter, Sara, has also been very supportive.

On May 10, exactly two months to the day after my initial diagnosis, I will be undergoing surgery to remove as much of the tumor as safely possible at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center.  My medical team includes two amazing surgeons -- my team leader is a Greek neurosurgeon who has extensive experience with skull base tumors -- and my head and neck surgeon has extensive experience in endonasal surgical procedures.  They say I'll be in the hospital for two to seven days and then I will have a month of healing.  After that, I will start some type of radiation treatment.  Chemotherapy is not recommended for this type of tumor.

So, I ask all of my prayer warriors to keep me, my family, my surgeons, and my medical team in your prayers.  With God, all things are possible.