North Texan Fighting Brain Cancer Focusing On Life

NORTH TEXAS (CBS11) - Dennis Kothmann does algebra for fun—and if you think that makes him strange—consider how he greeted a brain cancer diagnosis last fall.

"He exhibited a great deal of joy—it's hard to explain," says his wife, Candace, "but, joy, because he said, 'it's so good to be alive'."

Dennis, a retired math teacher, admits that the story is hard to believe—but true. "It didn't bother me… I have so much faith. Things are going to work out. I'm a positive person."

Arizona Senator John McCain's now public battle with brain cancer is raising awareness of a disease that even experts still call a mystery.

Glioblastoma appears to strike at random, with survival rates in the single digits. Symptoms can vary.

"He would walk into a doorway and miss the doorway and hit the side," recalls Candace.

Dennis' symptoms also included frequent headaches and confusion.

"I was standing right to his right and he couldn't see me."

The algebra problems are helping him to regain some cognitive ground lost when surgeons removed his tumor. He is also relearning how to read as he copes with vision loss as well. Still, he has quite correctly calculated that worry is a waste of time. He sent an upbeat video message to friends and family just after surgery, and has joined an international clinical trial to give science a chance to unravel the mystery of glioblastoma.

"Basic questions about, what causes this? What made me get it and not somebody else? We do not know," says Edward Pan, M.D., Kothmann's neuro-oncologist at UT Southwestern's O'Donnell Brain Institute. Dr. Pan says in general, the life span following a glioblastoma diagnosis is about 15 months. But, he says new research called 'immunotherapy' looks to tap patients' own immune systems to fight the disease.

"Absolutely, there's hope," says Pan. "I don't look at him as having a death sentence. I don't know how long he's going to live; but, we are approaching it one day at a time."

And the Tarrant county couple is opting to spend that time staying hopeful—and positive.

"We're really not wasting time with regret, with anger, with fear," says Candace, "that's not good energy and it's a waste of our time together, so why waste our time?"

Meanwhile, Dennis credits "brilliant people at every phase of treatment."  He says,  "Talk to the smartest people. They'll figure out what to do."

And if he could talk to Senator McCain?

"Stay positive and enjoy what you've got."