ATLANTA — Months after two masses were discovered in her brain, Channel 2 Action News Anchor Jovita Moore asked us to share that she has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
The WSB-TV veteran anchor underwent surgery in April days after doctors discovered the masses. We now know those tumors are a cancer called glioblastoma.
Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer and doctors say, at this time, there is no cure, only treatments to slow it down.
This is tough news to learn and tough news to share with all of our loyal viewers.
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Jovita has felt the love and prayers that people across the country have shared with her over the past several months. She is grateful for all the support and asks that you stay positive as she continues to focus on her health, her treatments and her family. Jovita is tough and ready for this fight.
“Our girl is strong. Our girl is a fighter and she’s doing great every day,” WSB-TV Community and Public Affairs Director Condace Pressley said.
Condace and Jovita have been friends for more than two decades. She spoke with Channel 2′s Justin Farmer about how Jovita is holding up during this battle.
“We laugh and you know sometimes we talk about stuff and we may cry a little bit. but at the end of the day, she is a fighter, and she is surrounded by love and prayers and positivity,” Condace said. “She’s a very strong woman and is raising three very strong kids who are, as we all are, right there with her.”
What is Glioblastoma?
Jovita gave Justin Farmer permission to talk with her doctor about her diagnosis and share that information with all of you.
Jovita is being treated by the best of the best at Emory University Hospital. Her surgeon, Dr. Edjah Nduom, said prayers and positivity are a critical part of the next phase of Jovita’s health journey.
After removing some of the tumor from Jovita’s brain back in April, Emory pathologists ran tests and learned the diagnosis.
“As a neurosurgeon, we like to pride ourselves with our skills and what we can do with our hands. (Glioblastoma) is not something I can cure with surgery alone. The reason for that is that gliomas, and glioblastoma in particularly, they have these tentacles that go beyond the lesions that we can see on a scan and beyond what we can see with our operating microscopes,” Nduom said.
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Nduom says glioblastoma, which is the most common type of brain cancer, is not hereditary and has nothing to do with a patient’s diet or lifestyle, unlike smoking, which can cause lung cancer.
“A glioma is a type of tumor that comes from the support cells of the brain. It doesn’t come from anywhere else in the body it starts there and they’re very aggressive,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m so desperate to continue to work on better treatments for these patients. They didn’t earn this. They didn’t bring it upon themselves they’re just in a tough situation and we’re trying to find the best way to make them better.”
What are Jovita’s next steps?
Nduom’s life’s work is specifically glioblastoma, and he says Emory is constantly studying the latest treatment, so Jovita is in the best possible hands to fight this.
“We know that our treatments do work. Radiation and chemotherapy certainly slow down lesions like this, but they don’t cure them. So that means we have to look for new options,” he said.
Jovita has the benefit of being at Emory, where they’ve developed treatments and clinical trials for her specific cancer to try and find a cure.
[READ: A message from Channel 2′s Jovita Moore]
She is now undergoing radiation and chemotherapy to slow the cancer’s growth. Nduom says Jovita continues to be a model patient.
“She’s done fantastic. I was actually able to see her in clinic a couple of weeks ago. She was in good spirits, she was with friends and family as always,” he said.
Nduom says Jovita’s healthy lifestyle and supportive family are not just good for her spirit, they’re a critical part of her treatment.
“All of these things play into patients who do better when they face a disease like this and I got to tell you, Ms. Moore’s got one of the best teams I’ve ever seen,” he said.
That team includes her wonderful family, friends, Channel 2 family and all of you.
“The love, the prayers, the positivity is welcomed. She feels it and we need to keep it coming,” Condace said.
How can you support Jovita?
Loyal viewers have sent tens of thousands of notes for Jovita on our website. She is reading those messages and that kind of prayer and positivity is exactly what she needs.
If you’re interested in supporting her, Jovita asks that you consider donating to Our House Atlanta and The National Brain Tumor Society, two organizations that are very important to her.
If you would like to send Jovita a card, you can send them to WSB-TV, 1601 W Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, Ga. 30309.
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