Despite brain tumor, Meyer remains positive

• Meyer tells story

Jeff Meyer, Worthington, honorary co-chair for tonights Nobles County Relay for Life event, stands behind a gift from his girlfriend in their Worthington home. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Above the couch in Jeff Meyer’s living room reads a sign, “Tomorrow is promised to no one.”

Meyer has admired the phrase since he first heard Clint Eastwood say it in the movie, “Absolute Power,” but it has taken on new meaning in the last year.

On May 17, 2008 — a day Meyer said he will never forget — he went about his Saturday just like any other. He started out with a run around Lake Okabena, went home and mowed the lawn, did some weeding and then took his motorcycle out for a drive. The afternoon was spent with his girlfriend, Cindy Elsing, and his brother Tom, and that evening they went to the local Eagles club for a benefit in honor of one of his co-workers at JBS.

After the benefit, Meyer and Elsing took their motorcycle to a friend’s house, and they gathered in the garage to play their music and sing for a group of friends and family. Many of Meyer’s siblings were there, as well as his mom.

“After the second song, my sister asked me if I was feeling all right,” Meyer recalled.

He told his sister he felt fine, but when his speech started to noticeably slur during the third number, they knew something was wrong.

“I was outnumbered,” he said. His family insisted he go to the local emergency room.

Not long after they arrived, Meyer had a seizure — “a bad one.”

A CAT scan revealed a growth on the left side of Meyer’s brain, and within a half hour he was airlifted to a hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

It was Meyer’s first flight — not exactly the type he would have wanted as he laid flat on his back on the stretcher.

After landing in Sioux Falls, Meyer said he went through a battery of tests Saturday night and again on Sunday before hearing the prognosis — the tumor had to come out.

“It was putting pressure on my brain,” Meyer said. “That’s why it affected my speech.”

The surgery was performed on May 21, and Meyer spent most of the next day in recovery.

“The doctor came in and talked to the family on Friday, and that’s when we found out the tumor was cancerous,” he said. “I asked if they got it all out, and he said no.”

The tumor had progressed to the point that “feelers” were already embedded in Meyer’s brain. Doctors removed as much as they could safely — a mass about the size of a “Little Smokie Weenie,” Meyer described. “It wasn’t that shape. It was more mush.”

Meyer’s next question for the doctor — what’s the life expectancy?

He was told three to five years.

“We’re going to beat it, though,” he said, looking over at his girlfriend. “We’re going to beat the odds.”

Course of treatment

To remove the tumor from Meyer’s brain, doctors made an incision from just above Meyer’s left ear, to the top of his forehead and down to the top of his right ear. A small piece of his skull had to be removed for the surgery and was later reinserted with four titanium screws.

Meyer was left with a scar that looked like a nightcrawler had sprawled out across the top of his forehead, but the line is barely visible today.

Several weeks after his surgery, Meyer began the first of 31 radiation treatments at the Southwest Minnesota Radiation and Oncology Center in Worthington. He also took chemotherapy pills as a course of treatment.

“The radiation was great — I got to sleep,” said Meyer, who brought out the mask specially fitted for his head for the radiation treatments. The mask was placed over his head and screwed into the table to prevent any movement as direct radiation treatments were applied at several points around his head.

On the day of his last radiation treatment in early August, Meyer’s two sons, Clint and Justin, took him to the center. After he was finished, he returned to the waiting room to find about 20 members of his family. His mom, girlfriend, two brothers, three sisters, nieces, nephews and daughter-in-law all had wanted it to be a surprise.

“To me, that was like just another day going to treatment,” said Meyer. “It was a very emotional time (to have the family there).”

Meyer had his first MRI in October, allowing the radiation that lingered in his brain to settle. The test showed that the tumor is still there, although it hadn’t grown any — a good sign. A second MRI was conducted on May 6.

“Everything looked good,” said Meyer. “Nothing had changed since October. I don’t have to go back (to see the oncologist) until December.”

Attitude is everything

Meyer was off work for two and a half months because of the surgery and radiation treatments, but what bothered him more was that he didn’t have the energy to run and he couldn’t drive his motorcycle (he lost his driver’s license for six months because of the seizure).

He only put about 400 miles on his motorcycle in 2008 — compared to about 10,000 miles the year before.

As for the running, Meyer had competed in the Turkey Day 10K in Worthington for about 10 years and feared that he would miss the contest in 2008 because of his inability to adequately train for the foot race.

“I kept telling everyone I was going to run it,” he said. “That was one of my accomplishments.”

Meyer finished the race in 58:30, about 12 minutes slower than his pre-cancer pace.

“It was my worst time ever, but I had a good reason for it,” he said with a smile.

Earlier this month, Meyer ran in the Buffalo Days race in Luverne, and he plans to compete in the race in Fulda this weekend.

First, however, he will take the stage at the Nobles County Relay for Life tonight as a cancer survivor and honorary co-chairman.

“For years, we’ve gone out to the Relay for Life,” Meyer said, and with a quiver in his voice, “I never dreamed that I would be out there, seeing my name on so many of them (luminaries). That all changed last year.”

While doctors say Meyer will never be cancer-free, he isn’t about to let it change his life.

“I don’t know how long the tumor was there,” he said. “I hope I was born with it, then it took 48 years (to affect me). If it takes another 48 years (to flare up), I’ll be 96 — I’ll be ready to go then.”

It is Meyer’s upbeat attitude that has helped his family get through the last year.

“A lot of times, the tears that were shed were not shed around Jeff because of his positive attitude,” said Elsing.

Meyer said it was prayers, attitude and the support of family “through thick and thin” that helped him — and they’re still the things he relies on today.

And as for that saying he proudly displays in his home: “I hope people look at that in a positive way, because we just never know.”

Tags: state and region, jeff myer, relay for life, news