gamma knife

Aretha Graham is Brooklyn-born tough. At age 50, she looks many years younger and exudes a quiet, Zen-like energy, even though she navigates everyday life with a cluster of noncancerous brain tumors.

Since opening in 1998, Roswell Park neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists have performed the advanced radiosurgery on nearly 9,000 patients from across the country and around the globe.
“I owe my life to Roswell, and I give my doctors all the credit. For some reason, cancer likes my body, but I have to get through this. I don’t have any other choice."

I was diagnosed with an aggressive, stage IV breast cancer in 2013, after finding a lump. The cancer had already spread to five organs, including my brain. I was therefore immediately considered a terminal case.

Last winter, I had a sudden-onset headache. My primary care physician sent me to a specialist, who ordered multiple scans, and the next thing I knew, I was being told I had a meningioma, a benign brain tumor.