Cedar Rapids diagnosee advocates for better brain cancer research and treatment

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - When he was first diagnosed with Glioblastoma, doctors told Chad Winterhof the outcome was grim. Now, two years later he’s still here fighting and advocating for others with the same diagnosis.

”Had to relearn how to, you know, walk and talk,” said Chad.

In March of 2021, the Winterhof’s lives changed forever when Chad was diagnosed with Glioblastoma.

After treatment and surgery, Chad quickly learned there is no long-term, effective treatment

”In 50 years there have been just a few medications in one device, all of which are ineffective, and the result is you still have 98% of glioblastoma patients don’t make it past 18 months. That motivated me,” said Chad.

Chad decided he wanted to raise more awareness for the illness that impacts thousands of families every year.

”I decided from my hospital bed. I couldn’t really walk or, you know, even get out of bed and made a decision to put on a walk,” he said.

The first year, with just their close friends and family Thrive, walk to cure brain cancer raised more than 35 thousand dollars..

But they didn’t know where they wanted to donate those funds.

”Chad, he’s a fighter,” said Calvin Carter, Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa.

That’s when the family was introduced to researchers at the University of Iowa. Now all the funds raised from the annual walk go to help further their research... in hopes of one day finding a cure for the disease that takes so many lives.

”We’ve had some success the first couple of years in making some of this research into reality,” said Chad.

”We’re leveraging science, the absolute most cutting-edge science with the goal of identifying vulnerabilities that are present within cancer and that are not present within healthy cells,” said Carter.

The Winterhofs continuing to work to help change the narrative when it comes to brain cancer and its treatment.

“These little tiny contributions, maybe small in the big scheme of things, but they are going to make the difference and we do think it’s we’re going to find a cure,” said Jennifer Winterhof, Chad’s wife.

This year’s walk takes place this Saturday, May 27th. If you’re interested in taking part you can click here.

Copyright 2023 KCRG. All rights reserved.