"I was guided by something the whole way."

On Jan. 4th of 2001, I suffered a full grand mall seizure which led to finding a brain tumor in my right temporal lobe. Prior to the seizure I exprienced small headaches when I was waking up, 2-3 times per month for almost two years. My doctor did nothing about it.

I was 30 at the time, just starting to advance in my career as a Police Officer, with almost five years on. I was devastated. My only option was surgery. I was told I had to have it immediately. I went to UCLA, went to two doctors there. Decided to get a third opinion. Went to Cedars Sinai. Chose Dr. Keith Black, and I'm still thankful I did today. I was guided by something the whole way. His golden hands are why I'm at where I'm at today..

Feb. 6th 2001, I had surgery with Dr. Black. I was released from the hospital two days later. The tumor was completely removed without causing any injury or loss. A week after that the final biopsy came back on the tumor. It was a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma. Not what I had hoped for. On the scans it looked benign. My options were radiation, then chemotherapy. I just wanted to get back to my life and career. I knew it was going to be a rough road. I was told that most people with my type of tumor don't survive. I decided to prove them wrong, I'm kind of stubborn like that.

Beginning two weeks after surgery I had almost seven weeks of daily radiation therapy which was the worst part of the whole experience. There were days when I would go to radiation and come home doing nothing else but eating, sleeping and resting for the next day. I looked forward to the weekends because there was no radiation. I finished radiation in April, 2001. I was advised that chemotherapy would be a very wise decision in my case. I am a gambler, but didn't want to roll the dice on this one. I chose to go along with the program which is still ongoing. Chemotherpay started in July of 2001 with monthly MRI scans and doctors visits. By this time I had gone back to UCLA for my post care with Dr. Tim Cloughesy. Again guided by something, angels I presume.

The cycle was a 12 month cycle with a drug called Temodar which has only been out since 1999. Currently I'm on month 10 and back to work full time doing what I Love to do.. Sometime around October 2001 my doctor said I was doing so well that they changed my scans and visits to every two months. At the same time I had returned to work by my own efforts working as a desk officer just to get back in the swing of things. I was bored as well, as my family lives in LA and the only other thing that kept me occupied at the time was doing light weight lifting, playing basketball, or walking my dog just to get out of the house.. My family, friends, and second family at the Oxnard Police Department were there with me the whole way. Being around such good people inspired me to get back to my normal life as soon as possible.

Jan. 2002 I was ready to get back in the saddle. I went back to work full time on patrol. Doctors said to do anything that is theraputic and makes me happy. Keeping the brain happy and positive, was the prescription. Being a Police Officer makes me happy, and being on the sidelines for almost a year was tough to swallow. As soon as I went back I resumed my position as a Training Officer. My supervisors and peers saw that I was still the same Kio not lacking in my performance or skills. With the remaining cycles of chemotherapy I opted to take that one week per month off of work for the treatments until I was done. I didn't want to be sidelined any longer. Since my return I have come back with vigor taking criminals off the streets to make up for lost time. I have two more months of chemotherapy to go and every scan has been clean. Again, someone is watching over me.

Two months ago I ran into the doctor that had told I wasn't going to live. He had last seen me in April 2001. After I picked his jaw up from the ground, he told me that I was a "walking miracle", as I showed off the one inch of muscle that I had gained on my arms.

You can go to the best doctors and have the most advanced treatments and medicine, but the rest falls on you.

Where's your heart, where do you want to be?

I chose to fulfill my goals and impress my family and friends. I chose to live.

My story was filmed up until radiation and has been airing on Discovery Health. I want people in my situation, or any other life threatening situation to know that:

You control your own destiny.

Kio Ebrahimzadeh
Oxnard , CA