Calgary couple turns to TikTok to raise $200,000 for brain cancer treatment: 'Miracles do happen'

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Scrolling through TikTok, you might come across the story of Geoff Boc and his girlfriend Lauren Anderson. Unlike the scores of couples who become content creators to dance and play pranks on each other, the Calgary couple’s videos are something else; part love story, part call to action as they rally to raise funds for potentially life-changing treatment for 32-year-old Boc, who is currently living with brain cancer.

In October 2022, after years of friendship and two years of dating, the pair decided to take the next step in their relationship and move in together. Although moving comes with a certain amount of stress, things took a turn when Anderson began noticing changes in Boc’s behaviour.

“All of a sudden Geoff became super forgetful,” Anderson told Yahoo Canada. “He was having these headaches and I was unpacking everything and getting so frustrated. I was like, ‘What is going on? As soon as we move in together, you’re like a different person.’”

Boc’s doctor had prescribed him medication for migraines, but when the debilitating headaches continued, the couple went to the emergency room at Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary for answers. After a CAT scan, the then-30-year-old knew something was wrong when a nurse directed him to a separate area of the hospital, away from the rest of the patients.

“They put up the CAT scan and I’m not a doctor, but I immediately see this mass — and it’s massive. My stomach dropped,” Boc said. Although they could identify the lime-size mass in his brain, Boc was sent to nearby Foothills Medical Centre for an MRI later that night.

The next morning, Boc was awoken by his surgeon to learn the mass was a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer that accounts for approximately two per cent of all brain tumours. Boc immediately called Anderson to share the devastating news.

“He said, ‘The brain surgeon just left me. I have a brain tumour. It’s not good news. He’s given me three months to live if I don’t do anything. And then maybe 18 months after that if we do surgery,’” she recalled. "I had to stop the car to gather myself. I was such a mess."

Anaplastic astrocytomas, also referred to as high-grade gliomas, are formed from a type of star-shaped glial cells in the brain called astrocytes that make up a majority of cells in the central nervous system. According to the Canadian Brain Tumour foundation, anaplastic astrocytomas have “tentacle-like projections” that make them difficult to completely remove.

In November 2022, Boc underwent a nine-hour awake brain surgery where doctors were able to remove approximately 99 per cent of the tumour, located near the language centre of the brain.

Dr. Rolando Del Maestro, the William Feindel Professor Emeritus in Neuro-Oncology at McGill University, who did not treat Boc, told Yahoo Canada that awake surgeries are particularly useful when tumours are located close to parts of the brain that control vision, speech or movement. Because the brain has no pain fibres, Del Maestro, who also founded the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, says surgeons are at an advantage when performing an awake brain surgery.

“You can ask the individual while you’re operating to move their hand or to move their leg or ask if anything is affecting their vision in any way,” he explains. “There’s all kinds of different ways we can try to maintain as much intellectual function as we possibly can during an operation.”

Facing the unexpected together

Although the procedure was uncomfortable, Boc said his recovery process was painful. A month later her began radiation and chemotherapy, all the while knowing that the tumour would come back — he just didn’t know when.

Boc, who has a nine-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, kept his diagnosis close to his chest. The affable and self-effacing restaurant manager was eager not to draw too much attention to himself or his struggles and did his best to remain optimistic in the midst of treatment. The pair strikes a balance between levity and solemnity, with Anderson giving Boc space to reflect on the seriousness of their situation. Anderson said there have been many times where the fear of their uncertain future became overwhelming.

“I think you identify loss and grief with someone passing away, but there’s a lot of loss in life and grieving without death,” she said. “We’re going through the motions and figuring things out. It’s a loss of us being so excited to move in together, or being able to plan for a future. That’s been the hardest part for me.”

Boc, now 32 and Anderson, 27, are at an age where their friends are moving into a different phase of life of planning weddings and having children. The couple feel as though they’ve skipped several steps, and have been thrust into dealing with issues before their time.

“My parents keep saying they want to switch places with me,” Boc said, adding that his parents have played a pivotal role in helping him with treatment and care after surgeries.

By June 2023, just as Boc felt well enough to return to school and work, the tumour returned. Boc’s chemotherapy was upped from weekly to daily, with MRIs booked for every two months to monitor the tumour, which didn’t appear to be growing. The path forward was unclear; should Boc have another surgery or wait to see if the tumour grew bigger?

According to Del Maestro, it’s not uncommon for patients to have multiple tumour resections, however there are important factors to consider. Depending on where the tumour is located, it may not be possible to take out more of the tumour without risking vital functions. Unlike most cancers, brain tumours almost never spread to other areas of the body. However, they can spread to other parts of the brain, which may make it difficult or impossible to remove. The key, Del Maestro said, is developing personalized medicine not just to target the tumour and its genetic mutations but for the patient and understanding their wants and what’s important to them.

Without a definitive suggestion from his doctor, Boc and Anderson tried to find a new sense of normalcy until January 2024, when they learned that the tumour had grown faster than expected — and had spread.

“It falls on us as a patient to decide what we should be doing,” Anderson said. “It’s hard not to look back and think that maybe we should have taken it out in June or July, and gone back to school and have done all of those things. It is what it is — we had the surgery regardless.”

In need of time

On Feb. 5, surgeons removed only 70 per cent of Boc’s tumour. With limited options available to treat the remaining tumour, the pair made the decision to look into clinical trials in the United States for what has developed into a glioblastoma, an advanced kind of brain tumour. The trials utilize CAR T-cell therapy that uses the patient’s own T-cells to target and kill cancer cells.

“You develop a virus that will sort of target the abnormal mutation that’s present in tumour cells but not present in normal cells,” Del Maestro, who is not affiliated with the trials Boc has applied to, explains. “In glioblastomas there are multiple different mutations, so there are many different cells that have different mutations. And if you have a virus that is only going to attack one type of mutation, it mostly is involved in slowing down the tumour rather than eradicating it… it’s important — it could certainly extend your life a substantial amount of time.”

There was one hurdle that stood in the way of Boc receiving treatment in the clinical trials: money. With the help from Anderson’s sister, Alida, she set about creating GoFundMe and TikTok accounts to help raise money to offset the costs that come from traveling living expenses. Videos sharing the couple’s story have amassed more than 1.5 million views, and helped the couple raise $81,000 of their $200,000 goal.

Although Boc admits he was hesitant to set up the GoFundMe, the couple needs more time together.

“It really got to me,” Boc said. “It made me cry a lot. It’s just so generous what everyone’s giving. It’s so nice.”

“I'm literally blown away,” Anderson agreed. “I’m overwhelmed with the support we've received from loved ones and strangers and creating a community around us that has really rallied and wants to follow our story. The biggest thing I've learned is that you should always give a helping hand…I just would hope that one day I can repay that favour.”

In a March 27 update to GoFundMe, the couple announced that they were in the stages of applying to trials in North Carolina and Houston, Texas. The consultation fees alone have been quoted at $29,000 USD.

Despite the obstacles, Boc’s greatest ally is Anderson, who remains determined to make their dreams of marriage and finishing school come true.

“Miracles do happen. Remembering that has given me a lot of hope,” she said.

Click here to learn more about Geoff Boc and Lauren Anderson and donate to their GoFundMe.

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