MARICOPA, Ariz. — A local United States Marine Corps veteran's battle with glioblastoma is shining a light on the rare brain cancer.
Michael Tanner, 32, has spent his whole life serving others, first in Afghanistan with the United States Marine Corps and then as a nurse at Banner Casa Grande Medical Center.
"He has this light about him that just kind of like draws everyone to him," Alexa Tanner said.
It's one of the many attributes his wife fell in love with.
"He's funny. He's incredibly smart and his passion for always wanting to help other people," said Alexa Tanner. "He is the most selfless person I have ever met in my life."
In October 2021, Michael Tanner found a reason to put himself first for a change.
He was diagnosed with a fast-growing and aggressive form of brain cancer.
"He got on his Banner portal and he's like, 'So, I have cancer and it's glioblastoma,'" Alexa Tanner said. "He's like, 'Don't Google it. Don't Google it. You're not going to want to know what it says.'"
According to research, glioblastoma doesn't have a cure and most patients live 12 to 18 months.
"I don't want him to die, like he's going to die," Alexa Tanner said she told her mom after the diagnosis.
She said Michael Tanner went to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Phoenix for treatment, including surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.
The treatment was working until it wasn't anymore.
"One day I just woke up and he was just like not there," Alexa Tanner said.
Alexa Tanner said she noticed her husband was having trouble with his memory and speaking in complete sentences.
Michael Tanner's latest MRI confirmed her fears.
The cancer spread throughout his brain and doctors told them there was nothing more they could do.
Around the same time, they learned Alexa Tanner was pregnant with their first child together. He has four children from another marriage.
A second opinion at MD Anderson in Texas didn't tell them anything different.
“I started crying and he said, you know, 'It’s going to be okay,'" Alexa Tanner said. "I said, like, 'No it’s not. You’re going to miss like the birth of our baby and you’re going to miss like all these things, you know, with your kids.' Like it’s not okay. Why does somebody who fought for our country and you know like continues to go fight for people in the hospital, like why you?'"
Alexa Tanner may never know the answer, but she said she finds peace in knowing her husband isn't scared of the days ahead of him, no matter how few there are.
She said he's taught her that every day counts.
“You have to make the best out of life because you just never know how much time you really have," Alexa Tanner said.
Friends of the Tanners created a GoFundMe page to help pay their bills in his final days. You can donate here.
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