It was 1994 just a few days before the devastating Northridge earthquake that Audrey experienced her first seizure and subsequently doctors found a benign meningioma brain tumor. At the time, it was thought that it would be a one time occurrence. Surgeons would remove it and that would be that and for approx. 15 years Audrey was tumor free.


Around 2009 after suffering from another seizure, doctors found another meningioma. By all accounts this was not normal or typical of this type of tumor. This was the start of an almost nonstop succession of MRI, brain surgeries, Gama Knife and other radiation treatments for the next 5 years. Through all of this Audrey stayed strong and tough. After her last brain surgery in late 2012, Audrey contracted a very bad staph infection in her skull that required emergency surgery. This left her much weaker and more affected than any previous treatment.

The summer of 2014 dealt Audrey two enormous and eventually fatal blows. The first was the doctor found yet another brain tumor. When asked if she wanted to endure yet one more brain surgery, Audrey simply replied “what choice do I have”? The second blow came when Audrey’s amazing brain surgeon at UCSF asked for a full body PET scan as precaution before surgery. The scan revealed that Audrey had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At this discovery, the UCSF surgeon said that there was no point in operating on Audrey’s tumor as the pancreatic cancer was fatal. We (Shel, Audrey, Steve and Andrew) met one time with an oncologist. He half heartedly made a few treatment suggestions. Audrey was clear she did not want to suffer through any of the treatments, especially since they were not going to help.

In the early morning of August 16th, 2014, Audrey died quietly at home.

Audrey leaves behind her 4 men (Shel, Steven, Andrew and David), two sisters (Deborah and Rhoda) and countless other family and friends. She will always be remembered for her courage and fighting spirit, amazing cooking and kindness. 



Donations are encouraged to further the research of:

UCSF Foundation - (Brain Tumor Center)
P.O. Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145-0339
415-476-2647 • http://neurosurgery.ucsf.edu