Marcia Collins Jackson

Glioblastoma, Grief and Grace: A Memoir of Our Three Close Family Members with Glioblastoma Marcia Collins Jackson

Glioblastoma, Grief and Grace is a story about three wonderful human beings -- all beloved family members -- who died from Glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of malignant brain cancer. Marcia Jackson worked nine years as a registered nurse when her mother-in-law was the first in her family to be diagnosed with GBM. She was not familiar with this type of brain tumor except that it was considered very rare. But then her own mother was diagnosed with the same "rare" disease nine years later. Shocked and devastated by both their mothers suffering and dying from GBM, Jackson and her husband, David, searched for answers. Attending physicians assured them the disease could not be inherited, and the fact that it happened twice in the same family could only be explained as a fluke -- especially since the two women were not biologically related.




Then in 2017, Jackson's husband of 41 years was diagnosed with the same deadly disease.

Since his death, Jackson has tried to find a common thread that could connect all three of her loved ones, such as exposure to second-hand smoke and other chemicals. However, the causal explanations continue to elude her.




By sharing her family's story in Glioblastoma, Grief and Grace, she offers encouragement to those who are experiencing similar situations with terminal illnesses.