10 Years After Terminal Diagnosis, Minn. Man Still Beating Odds
MONTICELLO, Minn. (WCCO) -- Doctors gave him 18 months to live when they discovered he had a brain tumor.
Now, 10 years later, Brian Shea of Little Falls is still beating the odds.
Shea celebrated with family, friends and his doctor Saturday night with a Superman-themed party in Monticello.
"Your whole world stops and then you try to figure out what went wrong and how'd it go wrong and why and stuff like that and you can't figure it out," Shea said of the moment he learned he had a brain tumor.
Shea's wife Michelle Shea said the couple and their daughters, Samantha and Sarah, who were 2 and 4 years old at the time, took things day by day and still do.
They have been fighting the same villain for 10 years; glioblastoma.
Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest cancers.
Shea had a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain when he was first diagnosed.
Regions Hospital neuro-oncologist Dr. Richard Peterson has been with the Sheas from the start and also attended the party Saturday.
"It's an honor, it's a privilege. It's a joy to be able to be here and celebrate this with Brian, Michelle and his family," Peterson said.
The two men are both 46 years old.
The Sheas like Peterson so much they have continued seeing him every few months in Minnesota at Regions Hospital even though they moved to Kansas five years ago.
"He never questioned us, and he shot straight. That's what we wanted," Brian Shea said.
Peterson said Brian Shea is in remission and his case is extremely rare because his body responded better than most to chemotherapy and radiation.
Brian Shea still needs checkups every few months with Peterson to see if the tumor has changed at all.
"Typically, we would tell someone that they have months, maybe 18 months to live and now here we are 10 years later," Peterson said. "I think it all goes back to the positive attitude, he way Brian and Michelle approach life, the support that they have."
Peterson said that positive attitude is Brian Shea's superpower, one most people have but may not always use.
"Stay positive," Brian Shea said. "You're given problems in life but just stick with it and be positive about it."
Brian Shea had to give up his job working on railroads when he was diagnosed at 36 years old.
Brian Shea focuses most of his energy each day on his wife and two daughters, saying he has no time to waste on the small stuff.