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They Throw Lemons at You, You’ve Got to Make Some Lemonade
Grade 4 brain cancer is a diagnosis that can send a patient and their family reeling. Yet Stephanie Bialecki has embraced the opportunity to use her experience as a platform to make a difference for others.
“When somebody tells you that you have grade 4 brain cancer, there’s nothing that could prepare you to hear those words,” she shares. “The shock—the disbelief—you think it must be somebody else. Utter fear overcomes you because you realize that you only get one brain. So, it’s extremely scary.”
After she began to experience symptoms in November 2021, Bialecki’s road to Jefferson was a long and circuitous one. Different facilities diagnosed her with vertigo and a mini stroke. “There were a lot of missteps,” she says. “Another facility said that I had a small brain aneurysm and not to worry about it.”
One day, while driving to a tap dance class in May 2022, Bialecki received a call from a girlfriend. “She started talking to me, and I responded,” she recalls. “In my head my words were fine, but she said, ‘What is happening to you? I don’t understand a word you’re saying. You’ve got to get to a hospital.’”
After arriving at a local hospital, a helpful EMT saw that she was in distress and brought her into the ER. “That was on a Friday,” she says. “Sunday, they gave me the news that I had grade 4 brain cancer and told me that I was being transferred to Dr. Kevin Judy at Jefferson. The neurosurgeon said, ‘I’d send my mother to him. You’re in good hands.’”
Bialecki raves about her neurosurgical care team at Jefferson’s renowned Brain Tumor Center, who have been by her side throughout her entire journey. “Obviously, going to a research institution like Jefferson, you know they’re going to be on the cutting edge,” she says. “You’re going to be able to tap into all of that research or any clinical trials—because they know what’s happening around the world. The special thing about Jefferson is that your care team has your back.”
In particular, she credits Dr. Judy, her surgeon, and Dr. Nina Martinez, her neuro-oncologist. “Dr. Judy will always have a special place in my heart,” she says. “He saved my life. He’s kind, and an extremely skilled surgeon. I can’t say enough about him and I wouldn’t be here today without him. Dr. Martinez is so compassionate. It’s the two of us, trying to navigate what the next step is going to be. Because of that, I can tell her that I’m going to be in the win column.”
I could sit here on the sidelines and do nothing, or I could get in the game and try to do something to move this forward. Research is expensive. No amount is too small. As I go through my journey, I tell people, ‘whatever you can give, it adds up.’
Giving back is never far from Bialecki’s mind. She says, “My husband and I are looking at what we can do in the near term, but also someday when we’re both gone, what we can do to let the legacy and the research continue so that we can wipe out this deadly disease.”
The pair are also holding their own fundraisers for Jefferson. “I felt, ‘What can I do?’” she says. “I could sit here on the sidelines and do nothing, or I could get in the game and try to do something to move this forward. Research is expensive. No amount is too small. As I go through my journey, I tell people, ‘whatever you can give, it adds up.’”
For Bialecki, sharing her story and her positivity are paramount. “I want people to know that a lot of it is on you,” she says. “None of us know what tomorrow brings, but that doesn’t stop us from living our life today. I’m here today, and I’m going to live my life today and do what I want to do. I think that’s the most important thing. You need to thrive. You need to live.”
“They throw lemons at you, you’ve got to make some lemonade,” she says. “I always say, ‘The cancer is not going to tell me what to do. I’m going to tell the cancer what we’re going to do.’ That’s why I think it’s important to share my story. If you believe you can do this, then you’re going to do this. You’re the front line, and you have got to get the strength and the courage to say, ‘I will not be defeated.’ And that’s what I want to get across to people, that they will not be defeated.”