The Bruce Kaye Brain Tumor Foundation seeks to change the outlook of brain cancer and lead efforts to find a cure, delivering support and hope to patients and their families along the way. The BKBTF was founded following the journey and death of Bruce Kaye to provide patients and families with every possible advantage in the fight against this dreaded disease, shedding light on the power of a multi-faceted approach to treatment incorporating nutrition, supplementation, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), conventional medicine and the mind-body connection while also supporting promising research pursuing a cure for brain cancer.
The Kaye family and their friends lost a husband, father, and best friend on January 28, 2006 after a courageous 15-month battle with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumor. Diagnosed just five days after his 50th birthday, Bruce took his disease as an opportunity to teach everyone around him one last lesson: to listen to the wisdom each of us has inside if we pay attention and to ignore those who say “impossible.” His attitude, courage and determination that he was going to do everything in his power to beat his disease were awe-inspiring, particularly when he heard from expert after expert “there is nothing we can do for you.”
Preparing for the inevitable was simply not an option. The Kaye family did not give up, and in the course of their journey discovered some of the world’s best treatment options for a devastating diagnosis. Specifically, they were forever changed by experiencing the power of “food as medicine” and the intersection of traditional and complementary treatments.
Pursuing a holistic approach astounded the doctors in its effectiveness but ultimately the very treatments that saved Bruce’s life in the days following his diagnosis weakened his body to the point it could not continue to fight. He died without regrets, knowing he had supported his body and mind in the fight of his life and that his experience would help others.
The only possible choice in recovering from such devastating loss was to take all that they had learned and “pay it forward” while pursuing new research to stop the course of this disease and change the inevitable outcome for other families. The BKBTF is actively developing relationships in the integrative oncology world to fund future research studies, provides one-on-one mentorship to patients wishing to pursue a holistic approach, maintains a robust website to broaden the reach of its important message, and financially sponsors need-based patients pursuing alternative treatments.
We realize that each patient and tumor is different (there are over 120 different types of brain tumors), and that only through education and access to information can patients make decisions about which course of treatment is right for them. We are not doctors and do not profess to be medical professionals but are a group of rational human beings committed to the idea that there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” approach and that there are promising treatment options outside of mainstream medicine. We seek to provide cutting-edge information and resources for patients unsatisfied with the limited effectiveness of the current “standard of care.” We have a lot of work ahead, but with your support we can continue to inspire hope for families where so often today there is none. Thank you for joining us on this most important journey and helping in any way you can.