Montclair Brain Cancer Survivor Shares Her Inspiring Story

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Heidi Woo still remembers some of the worst news she ever got: the tumor was back. That bombshell – which she received while pregnant with her son – would have been impossible to overcome alone, Woo says. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case for the Montclair resident and her husband, Brad Yankiver.

Woo, 37, recently shared some details with Patch about her harrowing-yet-inspirational struggles with brain cancer, noting that at one point, the battle made her question “whether or not I wanted to be here.”

But with the help of family and friends – not to mention a new medical treatment – Woo and Yankiver are looking forward to a full life together with their child.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the couple. The National Brain Tumor Society – which has praised the family for their ongoing efforts to raise awareness for the brain cancer community – offered some background about Woo’s medical history:

“Heidi was diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma tumor in 2014, just three months after surviving a cardiac arrest … She had a successful tumor resection surgery; however, in 2017 while she was pregnant with the couple’s son, the tumor returned. In the years since then, a new treatment has been developed, in part realized by the research of NBTS, which is allowing Heidi to live a full life and be there for her family and community.”

Woo has dug deep in her quest to share her experience, recounting her healing journey on her website, which features inspirational videos about her coping strategies. They include a heart-wrenching entry titled “Pregnant With Cancer” (watch the video below).

Woo’s drive to heal the world – not just herself – has also manifested creatively via ceramics; she sells small batch home pottery for a variety of social causes via her studio, Woo Ceramics.

Woo told Patch that there have been many low moments in her recovery, but the positive moments definitely outnumber the bad ones.

“I think the hardest part for me was dealing with my grief, that the identity I knew and the life I had imagined were gone,” she said.

Woo said she was 30-years-old when she got sick, and had just started a new career as an occupational therapist after completing her master’s program.

“Brad and I had just moved to San Francisco after seven years of living together in Jersey City,” Woo recalled. “We both imagined spending many healthy, balanced, and sun-filled days in our new California home. Brad had left his former career to grow professionally at a brand-new start-up company – ironically also in the health care industry.”

“I guess we were both pursuing our dreams, or what we thought were our dreams at the time,” Woo said. “We were both at a transition in our lives and so very excited about the possibilities that life in California represented.”

And then came the tumor.

“Being confronted with death, in the scary way we were, disrupted everything,” she said.

According to Woo:

“My cancer diagnosis was preceded by a cardiac arrest which happened while we were in Hawaii for a wedding. A lot happened during that year that was difficult and scary and obviously not planned. There were moments when I felt like a burden to Brad, and the guilt and shame I held about that made me question whether or not I wanted to be here. At the same time, I felt grateful to have such an amazing partner who was willing to go through this really hard thing with me. We also received immeasurable support from so many of our family and friends … family who dropped everything to be at our side, friends who showed up at my brain surgery, and my best girlfriends who let me call them every single day – sometimes multiple times – to help me manage my fear and anxiety. This outpouring of love was amazing to receive. It’s a beautiful gift to learn how truly loved you are. Getting sick and coming close to death gave Brad and I a chance to learn that and experience it for ourselves.”

“We sort of got a second chance to repeat these lessons when the cancer returned during my pregnancy,” Woo said. “By then, we had both grown a ton and learned how to lean on each other and our community more. Managing a diagnosis like cancer while becoming a parent is impossible to do alone. We are very fortunate to have amazing support.”

“Benny coming into our lives amidst so much chaos and uncertainty, while unfair, was a blessing,” Woo said. “We’ve learned to let go of plans and expectations, and just enjoy him and our lives as much as we can.”

According to Woo, a new oral medication called Tibsovo has played a key role in her recovery. As she recalled to Patch:

“Choosing the right treatment plan was really important to me, and my priorities definitely changed when I became a mother. During my first bout with cancer in 2014, I had immediately scheduled a tumor resection (invasive brain surgery) after only three months of recovering from the cardiac arrest and coma that followed. That decision was perhaps in haste as I didn’t give my body a lot of time to recover from the first incident and I was primarily reacting out of fear of another near-death experience. My recovery from the brain surgery ended up being very complicated and traumatic as I experienced mental health challenges caused by the procedure and prescribed medication. Since the cancer returned during my pregnancy in 2018, and my oncologist suspected that tumor growth was connected to the pregnancy, I opted to monitor the tumor instead of undergoing surgery. Keeping in mind this could be my one chance to have and raise a child I didn’t want anything else to happen that could threaten my health or my role as a mother. The mental health challenges following my surgery in 2014 were extremely difficult to overcome.”

“I’m really grateful that I had the option and made the choice to wait for the right treatment for me, and I’m proud of myself for advocating for a treatment plan that was aligned with what is most important to me: my quality of life and my family,” Woo emphasized.

“I am very lucky that Tibsovo became available as a treatment option this year, and that I had the freedom to choose my treatment plan in the first place,” she added. “I’m more than aware that not everyone with cancer can make such choices.”

And that’s a sad reality that her husband knows all too well.

IN MEMORY OF JARED BRANFMAN

Earlier this month, Yankiver took on the New York City half marathon in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the brain cancer community, ultimately earning nearly $6,000 to benefit the National Brain Tumor Society.

The 38-year-old ran with two people in mind: his wife and his friend, Jared Branfman, who passed away from a brain tumor at the age of 23.

When asked to remember his friend, Yankiver painted a picture of a talented soul – and the family who still honors his memory. He told Patch:

“Jared Branfman was an incredibly talented artist, beloved son and brother and a wonderful friend. He was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer at just 21-years-old, and after a courageous two year fight, passed away in 2004. Jared's family has honored his memory by raising money for the fight against cancer. Heidi and I joined the Branfmans in 2010, the year we were married, in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a two-day, 200-mile bike ride to raise awareness and funds in Jared's memory.”

And that’s why he took to the streets to run in the marathon earlier this month.

“I believe charity runs and similar events are so successful because they seize on an innate, almost primal desire to come together and take physical action to help one another – much like helping with relief and clean-up after a natural disaster,” Yankiver said.

After two years of social distancing, running alongside 20,000 other people supporting so many important causes was both inspiring and enlivening, he added.

“It was truly a beautiful moment that reminded us how fortunate we are in so many ways,” Yankiver said.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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