SHERWOOD, Ark. — Brain tumors, a subject that gets real serious real fast. But, there's a new attitude in the medical community producing a new level of hope.
Brain tumors have long been associated with the word curse, but there's a new word: nowadays.
“You know nowadays when it comes to comes to brain tumors, it's not the doom and gloom,” Dr. Ali Krischt said, director of the CHI St. Vincent Arkansas Neuroscience Institute.
Dr. Krischt has spent is career fighting tumors — all types.
“It could be inside the brain tissue, it could be on the surface of the brain or sometimes it even could be coming from somewhere else in the body to the brain,” Dr. Krischt said.
No matter the type, there is confidence because of nowadays.
“Nowadays, compared to like 40 or 50 years ago, we're way advanced,” Dr. Krischt said. “We can, in detail, know exactly where the tumor is and we can map it.”
Even with aggressive tumors inside brain tissue, there's a positive nowadays message.
“We follow these patients very closely and we network with all the radiational oncologists and the oncologists in the state,” Dr. Krischt said.
“So that if the tumor is trying to come back, we will know before the patient knows,” he said.
Dr. Krisht may seem low key and kindly, but he is aggressive.
“Kind of aggressive approach to deal with aggressive tumors pays off in a large number of patients,” he said.
A word the doctor never utters: inoperable.
“We don't look at it in this way,” he said. “We never give up on a patient. If there is a way, we can safely remove it and we're gonna chase it.”
And nowadays, tumors are no longer simply benign or malignant — it's a spectrum.
“But there is no tumor, at least in our clinic and our program, that goes untreated,” Dr. Krischt said.
This attitude you look for in case you face the challenge of a tumor.
“Because sometimes, you may sweat it for no reason” Dr. Krischt said.
Anxiety is no longer accepted in a brain tumor waiting room. The power of nowadays.
“We do not give up on patients that's for sure,” Dr. Krischt said.