A.J. Strong: A Battle with Glioblastoma

If you haven’t already met my brother, I would like to take the time to tell you a little bit about him.  He is “that” guy who when he encounters a veteran, will stop what he’s doing and build a conversation to interact with this person and actually learn a little about this person’s story.  He is also “that” guy who will run and hold the door open for a complete stranger in need.  A.J. Ortiz is a genuine, passionate, intelligent, 33 year old, young man.  To say that he is a driven and ambitious individual would be an understatement. 

Eight years ago, at the age of 26, his world/our world was turned upside down.  He was a full time business student and employed at Costco Wholesale.  While on a trip with friends in Denver, CO, he suffered what would be his first seizure and was diagnosed with a grade II oligodendroglioma brain tumor.  I remember the phone call like it was yesterday.  As you can imagine, receiving such a phone call, while your loved one is out of state, is absolutely chilling.  Our closely knit family traveled to Denver and remained with him until he was released to return to New Mexico.  Upon our return, he underwent a craniotomy for excision of the tumor, just one week later.  It is at this time that he was first prescribed antiepileptic medications.  Despite this troubling diagnosis at such a young age, he recovered, and completed his undergraduate degree shortly after.  He set his mind and soon after embarked on his dream to become a pharmacist and applied to pharmacy school.  As you can imagine, entrance and participation in such a program is very competitive and rigorous.  Despite the fact that the antiepileptic drugs are known to adversely affect cognitive function, mainly impaired attention, and psychomotor speed, he persisted.  

He was accepted into the UNM College of Pharmacy Class of 2017.  He was diligently managing full time pharmacy school and working.  AJ was driven and working harder than ever.  In March of 2017, he was diagnosed with a grade 3/4 glioblastoma brain tumor that required a second brain surgery, which was an awake craniotomy.  The increased tumor grade required a combination of one year of chemotherapy and 31 treatments of targeted radiation therapy.  His educational dream was put on hold yet again, with his primary focus becoming his health from April 2017 through June 2017.  It is also at this time that he had to stop working.  After bouncing back from the extensive post-surgical treatments and receiving promising MRI imaging results, AJ was able to return to the classroom to finish out his education.  He ultimately graduated in May of 2019 with his Pharm. D.  

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “wow, what a determined young man….he reached his goal, after all.”  Unfortunately, the day before his graduation ceremony, we lost the matriarch of our family.  This emphatically put a damper on the much deserved celebratory events.  If that wasn’t enough, just one week after his graduation in May of 2019, he received news that his brain tumor had relapsed, he now had two lesions in his brain that required immediate attention.  Yet again, his studies for the NAPLEX/MPJE had to be put on hold to focus on his health.  Shortly thereafter in June of 2019, he began making trips to the Christus St. Vincent Cancer Center in Santa Fe, NM where he began receiving IV infusions every two weeks until December of 2019.  In addition, he also had to undergo a Gamma Knife radiation procedure on July 26, 2019 to treat the two new lesions that he had in his brain.  Since then, he’s had follow-up MRI’s to confirm the effectiveness of the infusions and radiation and has been working hard on his  NAPLEX-prep for the past couple of months.  On Monday of last week, he returned to Santa Fe to learn that his condition has upgraded in severity to glioblastoma, stage 4.  The lesions have spread to both his left and right frontal lobes with multiple lesions.  Our family has made the decision to have him visit MD Anderson in Houston, TX, for a second opinion and possible treatment.  

As you can see, my brother has quite the story and has endured so much, for his young age.  I can use many words to describe him, but I think the impression that would describe him most is “He is loved by anyone who meets him.”  A great guy with a big heart and an unending flame and desire to live.  No words can do justice to put into perspective what my brother has already been through, nor what he is preparing to face.  He has FAITH and a supportive family.  We are humbly asking for prayers, support, as well as financial assistance, so that we can get him to MD Anderson for a second opinion and/or possible treatment.  We are currently making plans for him to leave in the next day or so. We are making plans for transportation to Houston, transportation while in Houston, accommodations, food, medical expenses, etc. 

In a situation like this, we do not know the outcome, but we will do our best to FIGHT HARD and give him every opportunity we can.  If you are unable to make a financial donation, your prayers are sincerely appreciated.  Either way,  please take a moment to share this post with everyone you know.  If you have any firsthand experiences with MD Anderson and the Houston area, and can offer any insight/tips to make the process a bit easier to navigate, please message me.  During this time, with the pandemic and all of the uneasiness that is already happening around us, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read about my brother.