Brain Cancer
Survivor Spotlight: Vania Quiroz
Vania’s first response when she learned she had a brain tumor was, “Cool!” She thought it was fascinating that the doctors would be performing open brain surgery, and she was excited to share her experience with her friends and family. This is the outlook that 17-year-old Vania has on life no matter what comes her way. She is filled with curiosity and a gregarious nature even when facing difficult circumstances.
As her mom Blanca shared, she has always been so excited to meet other people and will talk to everyone she meets. Her bubbly personality, warm smile and energetic enthusiasm for the new experience were evident to everyone around her when she came for her first day of proton radiation therapy for brain cancer.
Vania was diagnosed with a glioma, a rare brain tumor. Soon after, she was heading into open brain surgery which she approached with fascination. After a month of recovery, she made her way to the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute to start her radiation treatment journey with proton therapy under the care of Daniel Indelicato, MD, or Dr. Danny as his patients call him.
As she walked down the hall with the radiation therapist for her first proton beam therapy treatment, her mom reminisced on how Vania had been born a preemie and started her life spending a month in the NICU. Now, Vania is back needing specialized treatment once again, which has been hard for Blanca. However, the support from Dr. Danny has been helpful as they navigate this new journey.
The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts performs its annual piano concert at the Institute each year to bring the holiday spirit to the patients, families and staff. This year, Vania was a member of that ensemble playing as a patient to other patients. On her second day of proton treatment, Vania had the opportunity to perform in the holiday concert right in the lobby of the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute.
Vania is a talented musician who plays the ukulele, the saxophone and piano. She has been playing music since she was eight years old, and her talent has only grown. The program started off with Vania performing a song she had written with a friend called “Hot Girl Christmas.” In this piano rock song, Vania sang about how Christmas in Florida at 80 degrees is a lot different than the cold, snowy Christmases you see in the movies. She also had the opportunity to perform her song again for all the children and their families at the annual pediatric holiday party with Santa Joe in December.
While practicing for her concert, Vania shared that after the brain surgery she couldn’t remember how to play the whole composition of songs that she used to know. However, what she did remember was remarkable to hear. Blanca is concerned about the possibility of a decrease in Vania’s IQ due to the brain tumor and treatments. However, Vania has always been smart and excelled in school, so Blanca is confident she will overcome anything this diagnosis throws at her. Luckily, with the right support from the beginning and evaluating scholastic achievement along the way, young cancer patients can continue to excel. Read about another talented young adult patient who also faced brain cancer.
Vania learned some information about radiation at school and was interested to learn more from Dr. Danny who discussed it with her. She told him she remembered from her science classes that radiation affects the fast-growing cells like hair and nail cells the most. She was excited to share with him all the facts she could recall about radiation for cancer treatment and her amazement that it can help someone like her with a brain tumor.
Now it is a new year, and her proton therapy treatments are complete. Vania is excited to finish high school and see where life leads her next. While she doesn’t plan to do music for a living, her musical talent will always bring joy to those around her like they did this past holiday season!