Team takes to streets to raise brain tumor awareness

NAHANT – Christine Titus said before her father died of a brain tumor five years ago, she didn’t think she knew anyone who had been touched by such a tragedy.Then she learned that the mother of a close friend also died of a brain tumor, a friend lost her husband and yet another friend lost their young son to the condition.”Once the word got out, we realized how many people are affected by this,” she said.Titus along with her sister Lainey Titus Samant were speaking from a fundraiser held to raise money for Team Noggin, which will be participating in the Boston Brain Tumor Walk on Oct. 26.This year marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Gerry Titus, father of Christine and Lainey, husband of Ruth, who was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumor in 2000 and died in 2009.The family and assorted friends have participated in the walk for four years, but Samant said they wanted to go bigger and better in honor of the fifth anniversary, which has had bittersweet results.Christine Titus said it was odd to come home one afternoon and see the large electronic sign board at the end of the causeway lit up with her father’s name. It was advertising the fundraiser. She was prepared because her mother had called to warn her, but Ruth Titus had been caught a little off guard.”No one warned her,” Christine Titus said.Holding fundraisers and taking part in past walks has been for the most part inspiring, said Samant.”But it’s also obviously emotional,” she added. “It brings things up each year.”Christine Titus said it’s been nice to see that after five years people still remember and love her dad. She said the support from residents and town officials alike has been tremendous.Proceeds from the walk will fund research initiatives aimed at finding new therapies for both adult and pediatric brain tumors. The walk also raises awareness, gives hope and provides information and support for the brain tumor community.Samant sounded almost exasperated when she said there have only been four new treatments for brain tumor developed in the last 30 years. Funding is an issue ?”we need more,” she said – but so is the fact that the brain is extremely complex. Finding ways to treat the tumor without destroying delicate tissue has been difficult, she said.Samant is up on much of the latest information regarding the research because she now works for the National Brain Tumor Society.After the family participated in the walk in 2011, Samant began to get involved with public policy and advocacy for the group.”Because that’s what I did for work so I thought I’d be good at it,” she said.Then just days before her 2013 wedding, a friend sent her a job posting from the society, and although she wasn’t necessarily looking to make a job change, she did. Samant is now the associate director of public policy for the society and spends her time speaking to Congress about the needs of the brain tumor community.”With the brain tumor community, people don’t get involved until they know someone,” she said.”I’d just love to get the word out about the walk and raise awareness,” Christine Titus added.