Jonna Beauregard was diagnosed with terminal Glioblastoma Brain Cancer in April of 2020. Jonna is the mother of 3 children, 2 stepkids, a loving wife and all around the best person I know. She is currently battling this disease, and kicking it’s butt.

We were beyond shocked when what we thought was a migraine, ended up being two brain tumors. As shocking as this all was, nothing was worse than my mom having to go through this emergency surgery completely alone. Due to COVID-19, ZERO of her family members were able to visit her in the hospital while she waited for the surgery. It was the hardest thing watching her in the hospital alone during the scariest time in someone’s life. Take note, my mom is a complete badass and refused to sit in a hospital bed alone, so she started walking, some may say Forest Gump style. I don’t know a single person who has walked a full marathon inside the hospital- 26.2 miles- while awaiting brain surgery, but she did. That’s just the kind of person she is, a fighter, always proving people wrong.

She received brain surgery on Monday April 6th and they were able to get 95% of the tumors out, thanks to the amazing staff at MGH and her surgeon, Dr. Nahed. While we are thankful she got the best possible care, the diagnosis has not been what we had hoped for. The doctors diagnosed the tumors as glioblastoma- the highest grade brain tumors that are very aggressive. It was a blow to our family when the doctors said the average life expectancy is 18 months. She underwent treatment of radiation and chemo for 6 weeks, then chemo alone for 9 months after that. She also entered a clinical trial at Dana Farber for an investigative drug for about 6 months. She is now out of that trial for health related issues. While I fully expect my mom to live more than 18 months, as she is anything but “average”, this diagnosis has shifted our entire family’s perspective. We have been getting busy LIVING!

My mom has been a caregiver for nearly 30 years- a physical therapist at Newton Wellesley Hospital. As her brain surgeon said right before her surgery: “Only nice people get brain tumors, Jonna”. In the days post-surgery, she asked me to drive her to MGH and Newton Wellesley Hospital to drop off food for the nurses and doctors who cared for her and started talking about how she wants to raise money for brain cancer for other people going through this. This is a woman who just got the worst news you could ever get medically- terminal cancer- and she’s still thinking about giving back to everyone else. She’s my inspiration every day. She deserves much better than brain cancer, but we can only control what we can control. Welcome to Jonna.org, the brain child (pun-intended) of Jonna’s children in her honor, inspired by this battle she and we are going through each day. We have created this website and foundation for her to focus on what matters most to her- bringing awareness and support for families going through what our family is going through. There is strength in community, welcome to this one! #JonnaStrong