February 10, 2012
Place Your Bets to Beat Brain Cancer
By Josh Goldstein
If you know the name Garo Yepremian, it likely brings to mind the great Miami Dolphins’ teams of the 1970s, but probably not brain cancer research.
These days, however, the former pro-bowl NFL kicker is dedicated to raising money to beat a tougher opponent than the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Oakland Raiders of any era: brain tumors and brain cancer.
Yepremian came to the cause when the young woman his youngest son was dating was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at 19 years of age. Despite a prognosis of just six-months, Azad and Debbra-Lu got engaged and married.
“She could barely walk down the aisle,” Yepremian recalls.
Together the young couple and their families would fight the disease. With Azad constantly at her side, Debby was treated at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, her team was led by neurosurgeon David W. Andrews, MD, director of Jefferson's Division of Neuro-Oncologic Neurosurgery and Stereotactic Radiosurgery.
The Brain Tumor Center of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson provides a multidisciplinary approach to treating brain tumors that combines the expertise of radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, neurosurgeons, and other brain tumor specialists, which gives patients access to care by one team in one place.
“I saw the care that Jefferson hospital gave,” Yepremian says, “it was unbelievable and that is why we are trying as hard as we can to bring awareness to brain tumors and brain cancer.”
Six years after her diagnosis, Debby died at the age of 26.
After living through the devastation of this disease on his son and daughter-in-law, and both families, Yepremian felt that perhaps “we would be able to help in a small way.”
The Garo Yepremian Foundation was formed to fight brain tumors and brain cancer in Debby’s memory. And on February 17 at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern the foundation is hosting the second annual Casino Night encouraging anyone to “roll the dice” for a good cause.
Proceeds from the event support the brain tumor research program at the Jefferson Hospital for Neurosciences. For more information visit on Casino Night, and to learn more about the Garo Yepremian Foundation visit the website: www.yepremian.org.