Benefit for Brandi Rokke
This Saturday, March 14, at the Winger Community Center from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., there will be a benefit for Brandi Rokke, who is battling a rare form of brain cancer called Anaplastic Astrocytoma. The cancer is a rare malignant brain tumor.
Brandi graduated from Win-E-Mac in 1997. When she was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 she was a single mother with 3 children, who now are ages 12, 13 and 15 years old.
The doctors told Brandi that they thought the tumor was removable, though unsure as to how much they could remove, but it was the only shot that Brandi had at surviving. She underwent radical brain sugery on April 28, 2009, but the bottom fell out of Brandi’s hopes for recovery when the reports came back that it was cancer. It was a kind of cancer that mimics brain cells and it was impossible to remove all the cells.
Suddenly, Brandi needed help walking, talking, forming full sentences, cooking and even forming personal judgement for herself. She found herself in 6 weeks of rehab before being able to recover enough to go home to her children and life.
After she was home, she traveled daily to Fargo, from Viking, Minnesota, to receive Chemo and Radiation therapy.
In June 2009, there was an MRI done and Brandi’s brain was again very swollen and the tumor had already reformed and was progressing.
She began to have small seizures and tremors which made daily tasks difficult. Accepting her fate, Brandi made a decision to stop the aggressive cancer treatments and focus on controlling the seizures and tremors so to have opportunity to have some sort of a life. A full body assessment during a trip to Mayo Clinic in Rochester gave her hope of more time when the results said that if she could quiet the brain down and control her seizures she could have up to 4 more years of life.
After a few months even being around family and friends became difficult for Brandi as she had a difficult time processing all the people and noise. She stayed almost in isolation, but began to get her strength back.
During the next 3 years she had many set-backs with medications and side effects of medications. She had organs that started to not function properly and had many surgeries for kidney stints, hysterectomy, scar tissue removal, even moles removed due to skin cancer scares.
In 2013, Brandi worked diligently to regain her strength and weight. It seemed her prayers had been answered and she would be able to see her children grow up. She remained positive and pushed through.
Struggle returned in 2014 as seizures became more frequent and weakness on her right-side set in again. In October, Brandi began having trouble with tasks and forming words at times. Major headaches kept her down for long periods of time. A MRI showed changes in the brain, but the doctors wanted to repeat the MRI in December to compare growth of the tumor. In
December, Brandi was told that she was in her final stages and that she should begin to prepare for the worst.
With her large support system, Brandi and her children were able to travel to California, a wish that they had for some time, to “throw their troubles in the ocean,” as Brandi would say.
The benefit for Brandi will have a baked potato bar with all the fixings, a bake sale, there are silent auction items, 50/50 drawings and raffles. Included in the raffle is a one-of-a kind custom fire pit, designed by Adam Nelson of McIntosh.
Proceeds from the benefit will help Brandi with medical expenses and living costs.