Maria Quiban's Personal Story To Raise Awareness For Glioblastoma

UPDATE (Dec. 30, 2015): We here at FOX 11 are saddened to hear of the passing of Maria Quiban's husband, Sean on Monday, December 28th at 2:42a.m. Here is a link to her Facebook page for more information on the passing of Sean Whitesell along with a personal letter from Maria.

UPDATE (Nov. 19, 2015): Thank you so much for your sweet messages of concern for me and my family….wondering where I've been over the last week.

I'm finally able to update you on why I have been off and why I will be off for some time moving forward. I have decided to stay home to be with my family for now as we enter a new phase of my husband's disease.

Many of you may or may not be aware that my husband was diagnosed with Glioblastoma in June of 2014.

For the last 17 months, Sean has fought hard and was never knocked down for long by the harrowing side effects of ongoing treatments. But now, his fight is getting harder than ever and he needs me and the rest of our family nearby to fight for him.

I am fortunate to have a large and wonderful family here at home with us so we are grateful for their helping hands. I would be so grateful for my TV family's continued prayers and well wishes.

I'm not sure when I will be back to work on the air, but I hope be back as soon as I am able.

Thank you again for all your love and support. For us and for the cause of finding a cure for Glioblastoma.

Previous story:

On June 18, 2014 my life changed forever in a way that I could never have imagined. My husband was diagnosed with Inoperable Glioblastoma (GBM), a highly malignant and cancerous Brain Cancer.

Glioblastomas can grow fast and spread quickly.

The numbers are bad in terms of prognosis and although less than 10% survive beyond 3 years…we're going to work and LIVE very hard to beat those odds!

Since last year, I feel as though we have been on crisis mode. I've not stopped working (as many caregivers know how that is a near impossibility for financial reasons) but I feel, now is the time, after more than a year to take a little time off to spend with my family.

My husband has been doing very well. Well as one can be considering the kind of year he's had with the standard of care given for this diagnosis. We are fortunate that because he hasn't had his tumors taken out, he's had very few deficits. He's still driving, working out and being him!

And that's the reason I'm taking off from work!

We're going to Disneyland, to Hawaii, to a John Cougar Mellencamp concert, 'Phantom of the Opera' and go to so many more places in between treatments!!! I am excited for our upcoming adventures. I will update you as we go.

In the meantime, if you'd like to help. Please check out the UCLA Brain Cancer Research Center & Give to its Research Fund so we can find a cure to this growing disease.

For more information on Glioblastoma and Brain Cancer Research and to donate:

Thank you so much!

All my love & aloha,

Maria

@mariasearth