Alana Cook has been NED, which stands for “No Evidence of Disease,” for eight years after her yearly checkup with doctors. Cook was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor in late 2015.
Alana Cook is living life up to normal again after a major health scare nine years ago.
In middle school, Cook was diagnosed with a malignant papillary neoplasm of the pineal gland, which is a papillary tumor near the base of the brain. The news of the diagnosis quickly changed her life. Now 21 years of age, Cook has been NED, which stands for “No Evidence of Disease,” for eight years after her yearly routine checkup with doctors.
A 2021 Columbus North graduate, Cook is ready for life in the real world. She began her senior year at Olivet Nazarene this week and will graduate in May of next year with a degree in exercise science and attend grad school to become a physical therapist in the future.
Cook wrapped up her yearly checkup earlier in the summer at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, but will be doing checkups at Indiana Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis starting next year.
Her diagnosis of a papillary tumor of the pineal gland is extremely rare and make up less than 1% of all brain tumors. At the time of her diagnosis in 2015, she was only one of 44 known cases of it.
Cook said she’s been having residual side effects from all the treatments she’s had. She said she’s been experiencing muscle fatigue and tiredness due to where her tumor was located in the pineal gland, which produces normal growth hormones. The pineal gland is a special gland in the brain, but hers has been damaged due to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
“Mine isn’t working right because of all the chemo and radiation. That’s kind of the downside,” Cook said, “but other than that, I’ve been healthy.”
It all began in fall of 2015 when she was 13 years old when she was hit in the head with a dodgeball while with friends at SkyZone Trampoline Park in Indianapolis. Doctors initially thought she suffered a severe concussion, but further tests indicated a brain tumor.
After getting the tumor removed, Cook had chemo done at Riley, and she spent two months at the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago for 33 rounds of proton radiation therapy.
The sport that Cook loved growing up was basketball. She hoped of one day playing on the North varsity team, but that came to an end following the diagnosis.
At the end of 2015, those closest to the Cook family organized an event called “Alana’s Night of Hope” to raise money and to help out the Cook family with expenses.
They started the slogan “Cookie Strong” to tie into Cook’s name. They started selling t-shirts that had her basketball number 34 and her name on the back. It had a logo on the front that read “One Tough Cookie” and “#CookieStrong” below it.
After a year of chemo and radiation treatments, Cook was finally cancer-free in 2016.
Cook said she isn’t so worried about the tumor coming back but more about the constant side effects of having all those chemo and radiation treatments.
She said her and her family are in search for a pineal gland specialist and are willing go to anywhere in the country for help.
“The MRIs are good to know, but it’s more figuring out these other real problems when we can get to an endocrinologist or somewhere with a pineal gland specialist,” Cook said.
Cook keeps in touch with some of her friends from high school along with her friends at college. She got engaged in November 2022 to her longtime boyfriend Ethan Rouse. They plan to get married next summer.
Despite all the obstacles thrown at her, Cook is still enjoying her life now as a young adult. Once she graduates from Olivet Nazarene, she will look into applying for graduate school programs that she hopes are closer to home. She is always thankful for the huge support she has received from her friends and family.
“(College) went by super fast, but I’m ready to come home,” Cook said. “I hated being so far away from my family. It’s not super far, but it’s still not here. Your family is everything to you.”
