Getting Back To Living Life. Brain Tumor Survivor Story: Rick Rutledge

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07/03/23

Rick Rutledge is no stranger to brain cancer. He’s had family and friends diagnosed with the disease. He just never thought it would happen to him.

Through an amazing support system and the expertise of doctors and nurses at Wake Forest Baptist Health, Rick is now able to get back to living life and following his passion - running.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Health: http://www.wakehealth.edu/Cancer/

Request an appointment: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Req....uest-an-Appointment-

Find Us:
Comprehensive Cancer Center
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC 27157

Request an Appointment: 336-716-WAKE

TRANSCRIPT: RICK RUTLEDGE/CANCER SURVIVOR Brain Tumor Survivor Story: Spring 2012, I’d run a 5K race- I wanted a gift card for a Road I.D. which my wife had always wanted me to have. And at the bottom it had a place for two lines and I put the Jimmy V. quote: Don't give up. Don't ever give up. Little did I know a few months later I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and I would need that quote.
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October 25, 2012, I was at work. I passed out. Seizure-like activities. I was transported to Alamance Regional Hospital where I was air-lifted to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. I woke up about two o'clock the next morning. I had a broken collar bone, skull fracture, three broken ribs, and an unusual place on my brain they couldn't figure out what was. January 3, 2013, had MRI, come back, I had a brain tumor. It was devastating. We'd lost family and friends to brain tumors. And I mean, it was like just the end. Once they found out that out, it was devastating. But then as I talked to the doctors, his attitude made my energy better.
GLENN LESSER, MD/HEMATOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY: Mr. Rutledge got a six-week course of radiation along with a drug called temozolomide or Temodar. And he also got a six-month course of monthly temozolomide afterwards. Other than getting in the way of his running a bit, he really tolerated the treatment quite well and in some respects, he and... he was always fun to see because he and his wife would always bake before all of his visits. I got to see him recently as well and had another scan and he's doing well. His scan looks great and he's getting ready for another marathon, which is really just a wonderful thing to see in our patients that not only have they gotten through a really terrible diagnosis and a lengthy and difficult treatment, but then they're able to return to what he would consider a fairly normal life.
RICK: He didn't have a three-month plan, we talked about a two-year plan, a ten-year plan, and seeing how long this will go. He said, I don't expect nothing less than that. And he talked about the future- he didn't talk about next week, next month what we're going to do- he talked about two years down the road. That helped my attitude a lot.
Everybody was so great. Helping out. Making you feel at home. Making you understand what was going on and just talking about anything other than cancer. After you went in for the initial visit and they told you what you needed to know, they’d want to know about you and your family. How are you coping with the cancer?
My support during this was my family, friends, and my faith. My wife Donna, she was there for me the whole time. I mean, she was at every doctor's appointment, every radiation treatment- she was there. Even though I was a handful as a patient, she got me through it. My son had an opportunity to move back home and he was here to help out and do things. My daughter, she'd come home every weekend to help out, be supportive, do things, give Donna a break. And when you're going through something like this, you need your family around you just to support you.
I have a running partner, Marty Lemmons. We started running as soon as the doctor said it's okay to run. Even though he's a great runner- I mean- he'd run in college at Pembroke. And he's about a minute-a-mile faster than me- but he waits on me. He stays with me and drags me along and encourages me.
When I thought I was strong enough, we have a 5K measured off from here to Walnut Cove, and I said, Okay Marty, we're going to run the 5K- just to see if I can complete it. I said- but don't tell anybody my time. That night, he puts it on Facebook, my wife was mad because I had run. My daughter was really upset because she had run cross country and she knew my time and it was good and she said- Daddy, you're not supposed to be doing that. I said, the doctors say it's okay to run. And I think that was part of the recovery. And I've worn the bracelet ever since. I used to just wear it when I run. Now I wear it everywhere I go.
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