Kelsey Timothy, 25, has inspired family and friends to take up paddles to compete in two dragon boats Saturday in the Montana Dragon Boat Festival at Flathead Lake Lodge.

Along with raising money for future medical insurance premiums and other expenses, the two teams and Timothy share a larger vision.

“We want to put a face to glioblastoma,” she said. “There needs to be more attention on brain cancer. It’s a terrible, deadly disease. There’s a four percent survival rate.”

Timothy brings a youthful, feminine face to the rare disease that more often strikes men over 50 as in the well-known case of Sen. Ted Kennedy. As a young woman, Timothy gained an edge over older men in her battle to survive glioblastoma multiforme.

“There’s no actual numbers, but they say from the studies they’ve done, young women do actually have a higher rate of survival which is good,” she said.

Timothy remains remarkably upbeat with the prognosis, focusing on positive aspects such as her 100 percent on the Karnofsky Performance Score that rates her mobility and other functions after treatment such as radiation.

“It’s been a crazy journey,” she said. “I think I’ve actually come to terms with it. Now I’m just trying to live every day as big as I can.”

A graduate of Flathead High School in 2005 and Montana State University in 2010, Timothy moved back to the Flathead Valley to Whitefish in January. She thought this area would give her better prospects of finding work with her degree in landscape design.

She had no idea that anything was wrong when a blow to her head from a slip on the ice led to a trip to the emergency room in the early morning of a day in early February.

“I woke up feeling sick,” Timothy recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve got a concussion.”

The imaging at the hospital showed no concussion but possibly something else happening in her brain. It turned out to be a large mass in the right frontal lobe. She was shocked as she had not one symptom to indicate anything wrong.

On Feb. 17, neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Origitano at Kalispell Regional Medical Center performed a craniotomy to remove the mass.

“The tumor was the size of a baseball — it was huge,” she said. “They told me it was a stage 4  gliobastoma — it’s actually the most deadly cancer known to humankind.”

Timothy said it was like someone tells you that you are going to die within the next two to five years, you’re not going to know when it comes or where it’s going to be but it’s going to happen.

But you must stay really positive.

“I’m a naturally positive person, so I haven’t had that much of a problem,” she said. “I had three months of staying in my house and not working and getting treatment.”

She went through radiation and continues taking oral chemotherapy. Timothy has weekly blood draws to monitor her cell counts and recently had her MRI imaging moved up from every three months to every two months due to a change noticed on her scans.

“It could be tumor, it could be radiation effects, it could be just swelling — it could be a lot of things,” she said. “We’re hoping it’s not tumor and that’s kind of where I’m putting all my energy. It’s not tumor.”

Timothy called glioblastoma a totally random disease without any connection to heredity or vices. She prides herself on her healthy lifestyle.

“I hike and run and bike and eat healthy and grow my own food,” she said. “It was one of those things that came out of left field for sure.“

Glioblastoma remains a very difficult cancer to treat.

She was fortunate that the tumor occurred on the right side of her brain that controls the left side of her body since she is right-handed.

Her 100 percent on the Karnofsky Performance Score was almost unheard-of after radiation treatments.

“It hasn’t affected anything. I actually think my balance is better,” she said. My boyfriend said, ‘You were really getting snappy.’ So I guess getting the tumor out made me calmer and have better balance.”

She called her partner Derrick Whitby a great support, along with her mother, Betsy Funk, a teacher at Columbia Falls High School.

Whitby told Timothy that no matter what happens, they would go through it together. That included their hair.

Timothy started the process with long, sandy-colored hair which came out in patches as she went through chemotherapy and radiation. Finally one day, Whitby suggested they get a razor and eliminate the problem.

“We got some wine and giggled,” she recalled with a laugh. “He buzzed me and then I buzzed him. I was actually the one drinking the wine.”

After recovering from surgery and initial treatments, Timothy returned to work at Coffee Traders in Kalispell, where she is a barista and server. She wears a headband over her scar and to contain her hair that has begun to regrow.

Her mother took over raising awareness of glioblastoma and money for Timothy for when she turns 26 on April 9 and no longer qualifies to stay as a dependent on her insurance.

Funk jumped into the cause and arranged for the two dragon boats — christened Gray Matter — and organized the crews.

“It’s a good place for her,” Timothy said. “It’s hard. I feel like we have to be support for each other. We’re best friends.”

Her mother set up a bank account at First Interstate Bank. People interested in contributing may take a check made out to “Kelsey Timothy GBM” to any branch or mail it to Betsy Funk, 990 McCaffrey Drive, Bigfork, MT 59911.

Timothy remains realistic with plans for pursuing treatment options for multiple years. She has some landmark celebrations in mind as well.

“My 30th birthday is going to be awesome,” she said with a smile.

She keeps up her active lifestyle and recently completed a hike of more than 10 miles with energy to spare. Timothy said those things remind her that her life continues to happen every day.

“I love every moment I have because, if it is limited, I don’t want to waste any of it,” she said.

   Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.