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WALL OF HONOR | Northshore citizens’ lifetime achievements honored at Pop Keeney ceremony [6] LOCAL | Memory of Bothell’s Cullen Rogers lives on at Make-AWish Foundation’s annual fundraiser [Page 7]
FRIDAY, September 21, 2012
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
UW-Bothell student, cancer survivor ready to Walk Hopkins, 21, continues road to recovery after removing egg-sized tumor in 2008 For University of Washington Bothell junior Anthony Hopkins, the opportunity to participate in tomorrow’s Seattle Brain Cancer Walk represents the next chapter in his incredible success story. Four years ago, just after his sophomore year of high school at Bishop Blanchet in Seattle, the Greenwood resident went into surgery at Swedish Hospital to remove a large tumor in his brain. Since then, it’s been a long, hard road to recovery, but Hopkins hopes his story will inspire others similarly afflicted, to believe that they can beat the disease as he did. “Showing that everybody has a second chance, and that anything’s possible,” said Hopkins on what participating in the Walk means to him. “And that once a cure is found, I won’t be the only one walking, there will be tons of people walking, survivors and patients.”
SHOWING SYMPTOMS
Hopkins’ symptoms of the tumor began at a very young age.
In fact, he was so young, that the diagnosis of brain cancer never even entered the equation. “The first time I started having the symptoms, I was seven years old, and they said it must have been a migraine,” Hopkins remembered. “I came in two years later and they said it was low blood sugar, they told me to eat a bunch of almonds. My whole life I was eating almonds.” As Hopkins progressed through grade school and middle school, however, his symptoms worsened. He would forget how to speak, and have extremely high fevers of 103 degrees or more along with bouts of extreme fatigue and amnesia. “If someone was talking to me, I’d forget everything they said in literally, one second,” Hopkins recalled. Along with the frustration of being misdiagnosed for nine years, the shock of having cancer at the age of 16 was hard to take. “I was like, ‘there has to be some kind of mistake,’” said Hopkins. “I can’t believe it’s this major.” In June of 2008, the neurosurgical team at Swed-
UW-Bothell junior Anthony Hopkins will be participating in Saturday’s Seattle Brain Cancer Walk at Seattle Center. The 21-year-old, who recently was accepted into the school’s competitive Computer Software Systems (CSS) major, had a large tumor removed from his brain when he was 16. Hopkins said he hopes to help raise money for a cancer cure, and inspire others batting the disease. TIM WATANABE, Bothell-Kenmore Reporter ish successfully removed an egg-sized tumor from Hopkins’ left temporal lobe, and Hopkins’ long process of physical and emotional healing began.
HITTING THE BOOKS
After the surgery, Hopkins was set to begin his junior year of high school, the most important year of a student’s
Northshore Schools Foundation awards more than $80,000 for local education REPORTER STAFF
The more than 9,000 students in the Northshore School District will benefit from thousands of dollars being awarded to their schools and classrooms by the Northshore Schools
Foundation (NSF). During last Tuesday’s school board meeting, NSF Director Carmin Dalziel and President Sherry Krainick presented a check for $80,100 to School Board President Julia Lacey and Superintendent Larry Francois.
“The Foundation exists to mobilize and support our students by ensuring they get the education they deserve, our parents expect and the workplace demands,” said Dalziel. “We work to build partnerships between parents, community members
prep education as far as getting into college. While his teachers were understanding and did what they could to help the young man succeed, the memory loss he suffered made being a student much more difficult. “I’d spend double my time studying, and it was really hard, because all the new memory you have goes in and businesses that enhance the efforts of the district and that ultimately result in our students having the opportunity to achieve academic support and excellence in their lives.” The funds were raised during the 2011-12 school year through numerous activities in events including the Phone-a-thon, Pour for Northshore, Light a Fire for [ more NSF page 3 ]
the left temporal lobe, and a giant chunk of that is gone,” he noted. “All I could do is try and push myself.” Hopkins eventually graduated and was accepted into UW-Bothell, where the academics got even harder. But the 21-year-old was ready for the challenge. He took advantage of the school’s many resources and
small class sizes to get the additional help he needed as he pursued a full courseload. “The community and the teachers,” said Hopkins on what he enjoys most about being a Husky at UW-Bothell. “The teachers are really nice here… and you don’t have to fight through 25 TAs. [ more HOPKINS page 2 ]
Northshore Schools Foundation director Carmin Dalziel (far left) and president Sherry Krainick (second from left) present a check for $80,100 to Northshore School Board President Julia Lacey and Superintendent Larry Francois. Courtesy photo
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BY TIM WATANABE twatanabe@bothell-reporter.com