Police officer diagnosed with brain tumor heading overseas for treatment
WAYNESBURG – Less than three months after Waynesburg police Officer Brian Tennant was credited with saving the lives of two children during a Jan. 12 house fire, the 26-year-old local hero asked his doctor, “How long do I have to live?” Doctors diagnosed Tennant with a grade-three glioma on his brain stem on March 17, in Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. Glioma is a type of tumor, and grade-three glioma on the brain stem, according to cancer.net, is a cancerous tumor that is most common in children between 5 and 10 years old.
The tumor grows in a part of the brain stem where it can be difficult to perform surgery, making brain stem glioma challenging to treat.
“(The doctor) told us that what Brian has, it is really bad, and we lost it,” said Jessica McMinn Tennant, Brian Tennant’s wife. “Thinking back, my mind was running in a 100 different directions. I was thinking, ‘Why is this happening? He seems perfectly fine.'”
Jessica Tennant said her husband immediately asked, “How much time do I have?”‘
In January, Brian Tennant began experiencing head pain when he exerted himself, picking up one of their two young boys, Ross, who will be age 2 in June, or 8-month-old Blake, for example. He decided to visit a doctor to figure out the cause of the head pain, which led doctors to perform tests that eventually identified the grade-three glioma. Because most children who have been diagnosed with the tumor do not make it to adulthood, finding grade-three brain stem glioma in an adult is rare.
Jessica Tennant said doctors explained that the tumor grew into the brain tissue, making it inoperable. Doctors said the Waynesburg policeman had five to 10 years to live.
After spending the next few days crying, the young couple decided that this would not be the end.
They began investigating possible treatments, sending scans of the tumor to medical facilities across the country.
However, because of Brian Tennant’s age, he was not eligible for many of the clinical trials, which were reserved for children.
The couple eventually learned of a treatment in China offered by Cellonis Biotechnologies, a medical research company.
Jessica Tennant said the company takes tissue from the tumor and the patient’s blood and creates immune response, which she said basically teaches the body to fight the cancer.
The family contacted the company, which accepted Brian Tennant as a patient.
The Cellonis Biotechnologies medical team reviewed his medical records and encouraged him to receive radiation in hopes of shrinking the tumor prior to the treatment.
Now, in his second full week of radiation at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Brian and Jessica Tennant and their children are living in a temporary apartment. Jessica Tennant said the six weeks of radiation will end June 9, and the family hopes to fly home June 10. They will know the results of the radiation by July 9, and Jessica Tennant said she hopes to be on a plane to China by the following week.
The treatment at Cellonis Biotechnologies will take 12 to 16 weeks and cost over $50,000, not including airfare. Although Brian Tennant’s insurance covers the treatment in Houston, the treatment in China will not be covered.
“I’m 25, he’s 26, and we have a house, two kids and two dogs,” Jessica Tennant said. “We worried about taking kids on vacation, where we would travel when we retired or paying off student loans. Now we just worry about tomorrow.”
She said her children are young, and they do not understand what is happening, which she says is good, but she and her husband are afraid, should the treatments not shrink the tumor, that the children will not remember their daddy.
“To them, he looks the same,” Jessica Tennant said. “They have no idea something is wrong + When we pull into the garage in Houston, Ross calls it home, which proves that the boys need to be with us every step of the way.”
She said her family has not faced her husband’s grim diagnosis alone.
Brian Tennant is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. Jessica Tennant said they have received cards, letters and donations from people they haven’t seen in years, even total strangers.
For Brian Tennant’s fellow officers, the Waynesburg Police Department is not the same without their coworker.
“He has a bright outlook and high arrest numbers, which is good for the department and the community,” said Officer Jason Phillips. Phillips, who has been with the Waynesburg Police Department since 2002, has worked with Brian Tennant for nearly two years. He said when he heard the news about his condition, he was terrified for his coworker and his family. Phillips said Brian Tennant is not only a valuable patrolman but also a firefighter and an emergency medical technician.
Officer Tom Ankrom was with Brian Tennant when Jessica Tennant told him that the doctors found something. Ankrom has known Brian Tennant since they were adolescents.
“We think what we deal with everyday is a big deal, but (the diagnosis) made me realize that there are much bigger things in life, ” Ankrom said.
Ankrom and Phillips – as well as other members and employees of the borough and police department – have organized fundraisers for the Tennant family. Phillips has planned a motorcycle ride, which he named the “Greene Ride.” The ride will be held June 26, which, coincidentally, is Brian Tennant’s birthday.
Registration will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Waynesburg Yamaha. Bikers may participate at a cost of $25 per rider and $10 per passenger.
The registration will include food at the end of the ride. Pennsylvania State Police will lead the ride, which will cover approximately 70 miles of Greene County roads. The ride will end at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Lincoln Street in Waynesburg.
Phillips said ambulances and fire trucks will also accompany the bikers.
Anyone who is not interested in participating in the ride may join the riders at the VFW. Tickets for the meal, which is catered by Hot Rods in Waynesburg, are $10.
For the non-bikers, Ankrom has organized a four-man golf scramble for Sept. 18, at Rohanna’s Golf Course in Waynesburg. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the scramble begins at 8:30 a.m. Teams may register at a cost of $75 per player, which includes 18 holes of golf and lunch. Door prizes, skill prizes and a first place prize will be awarded. Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring a hole may do so by providing a $100 donation. All checks are to be made to the “Brian Tennant Recovery Fund.”
Police Chief Tim Hawfield also announced another fundraiser that is being held throughout the month of May. Residents are encouraged to have the vehicles washed at Stuck’s Laserwash at two locations, High Street in Waynesburg and near Interstate 79 in Franklin Township, Greene County.
Every time a car is washed at either location, the borough police department will donate 50 cents to the recovery fund. There is no limit on car washes.
There will also be T-shirts available. Anyone interested in purchasing a T-shirt or signing up to participate in a fundraiser may contact the Waynesburg Borough Police Department at 724-627-8113.
“It’s nice to see everyone coming together,” Phillips said. “Maybe that will give him more hope.”
Donations to the Brian Tennant Recovery Fund can be made by check or in person at First Federal Savings and Loan in Waynesburg. Checks can be made out to the “Brian Tennant Recovery Fund.”