Glioblastoma Diagnosis Doesn’t Dim This Family’s Faith and Joy

There are moments in life that take your breath away, like seeing your daughter walk down the aisle to marry the love of her life. Such a celebration is all the more poignant if you were unsure whether you’d live to see the wedding day because of a cancerous brain tumor.

That was the case for Silvia Fajardo-Hiriart, M.D., a South Florida pediatrician whose patients call her Dr. Silvia.

Debilitating headaches that she initially thought were migraines prompted her to seek an MRI around Valentine’s Day 2024, which revealed an alarming mass in her right temporal lobe. The tumor was surgically removed a week later at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, but even though the procedure went well, the news was not good. It was glioblastoma, the most common type of brain cancer — and the most deadly.

“If you look at the statistics, if you google glioblastoma, they tell you the mean survival is 12 to 18 months,” Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart says. “So of course, I had that doubt in my mind that I would be able to make it to my daughter’s wedding. But I prayed really hard for us to be able to be there together and to enjoy that special time.” She also sought the most aggressive treatment possible.

(Watch video: Heart from Silvia Fajardo-Hiriart, M.D., a South Florida pediatrician, and Rupesh Kotecha, M.D., chief of radiosurgery and director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis program at Miami Cancer Institute. Video by Alcyene de Almeida Rodrigues.)

Exploring Every Option for Treatment

In addition to praying fervently, Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart made it clear to everyone on her medical team that she wanted to fight for every day, every moment.

“From the very beginning, when Silvia was first diagnosed, she said, ‘I would like whatever treatments are available for me — anything that is new, anything that is coming down the line. As soon as it’s available, let me know,’” says Rupesh Kotecha, M.D., chief of radiosurgery and director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis program at Miami Cancer Institute.

Rupesh Kotecha, M.D., chief of radiosurgery and director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis program at Miami Cancer Institute.

 

The first line of treatment was the delicate removal of her tumor by neurosurgeon Vitaly Siomin , M.D., director of cerebrovascular surgery and co-director of skull base surgery at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute. That was followed by six weeks of radiation therapy, which concluded with a bell-ringing ceremony that was very meaningful for her and her family. Chemotherapy did not go as smoothly, however; following a dangerously bad reaction, it was suspended. Subsequent scans showed her cancer was returning, so she underwent a second brain surgery with Dr. Siomin.

Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart and her husband, Martin, also a physician, tried to view any setbacks as part of the process. “I choose to see the bright side,” she says “It’s a choice that I’ve decided to make —that we decided to make together — that we would take this one step at a time.”

Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart was eventually enrolled by her Miami Cancer Institute neuro-oncologists in an immunotherapy clinical trial that uses a monthly vaccine to help her body fight the glioblastoma. So far, it has helped control the growth of the tumor with minimal side effects.

“Fortunately, she has been enrolled in multiple clinical trials at our institution. In fact, from the time that she was diagnosed until now, she’s been in three different clinical trials at our facility,” Dr. Kotecha says. “This really points to the importance of having multiple clinical trials [available] for such an aggressive tumor so that we have an option every time she faces a challenge.”

A Very Special Day

By the time of her daughter’s wedding at the end of April 2025, Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart was almost 15 months post-diagnosis — and feeling well. It was inspiring for everyone who witnessed her refusal to give up.

Vitaly Siomin , M.D., director of cerebrovascular surgery and co-director of skull base surgery at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute.

 

“Silvia is a warrior. She is strong with her faith and has a strong sense of self and belief in herself, and that has really carried her through multiple courses of surgery, multiple courses of radiation therapy, and multiple systemic therapy agents,” Dr. Kotecha says. “There’s something that I think all of us can learn from that. It’s humbling to be taking care of her.”

Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart is grateful that she was able to share in the special day. “It was really joyous,” she says. “I can honestly say that it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

Although the wedding was spectacular, Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart notes that it was just one of many beautiful experiences since her diagnosis, including visiting Disney World with her grandchildren and whole family. She enjoys going on “dates” with her husband, recapturing the magic when they first fell in love almost 40 years ago. And she proudly reminisces about her family’s missionary work to bring healthcare to impoverished areas of Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

“Every moment should be special and should be appreciated,” she says. “We tend to take things for granted sometimes, take people for granted and relationships for granted. One thing this journey has taught me is to appreciate it all. Life is a gift. Every moment you’re given is a gift.”

The Treatment Continues

The very next day after her daughter’s wedding, Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart was back in treatment for her glioblastoma. Scans had shown there was a small recurrence in the cancer, and treatment was strategically planned so she could enjoy the celebration.

Dr Kotecha administered five treatments on the innovative ZAP-X platform, one of the most advanced forms of stereotactic radiosurgery for treating brain tumors. Miami Cancer Institute and Miami Neuroscience Institute were among the early adopters of this new technology, which uses a gyroscopic linear accelerator that rotates around the patient. With an integrated imaging system, it can adapt treatment to the shape of individual tumors with exceptional precision and deliver radiation beams from many angles.

Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart is grateful that Miami Cancer Institute offered her access to such technology and treatments not widely available, including the vaccine trial.

“I felt blessed to be able to have the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial, given that glioblastoma doesn’t have a cure right now and that a lot of the treatments that are coming are still experimental,” she says. “You know, they offer hope not only to me currently — to have access to a treatment that I wouldn’t have had access to five, 10 years ago — but it also helps me to feel that I’m contributing to other patients in the future and helping them maybe have a better outcome.”

She’s hugely appreciative that her team at Miami Cancer Institute embraced her desire to fight, despite the grim statistics.

“Probably less than 1 to 5 percent become what they call ‘long-term survivors,’ people who live longer than three years. I was determined to be in that group,” she says. She recalls jokingly telling Dr. Kotecha that she was an overachiever and wanted to be at the top of her class. He knew it was no joke.

“He looked at me with a very compassionate but serious tone, and he said, ‘Our team is going to do everything that we can to help you get there,’” she says. “You have no idea how much that meant to me — to have such a qualified, competent team of professionals that were so compassionate that they’d be willing to come alongside their patients and fight with them, not give up.”

Finding Joy When the Future Is Uncertain

Deeply religious, Dr. Fajardo-Hiriart has a favorite motto: “My joy isn't defined by my circumstances.”

She says her faith guides her through everything, and she has come to accept that there is a grand plan she may not understand. She counts her blessings and encourages her family to stay positive. “Every day we wake up, we thank God,” she says. “We go to sleep, we thank God — that we’re here, that we're together, that we're alive.”

She hopes to be around to meet any future grandchildren and to watch them all grow up. She even envisions future medical missionary trips, and dreams of establishing a clinic in another country to serve needy people. At the same time, she’s realistic; she knows her chances of long-term survival. So she puts it all in God’s hands and makes the most of each day.

“I think when you’re given a ‘terminal’ diagnosis, it’s an opportunity to really stop and examine your life — to really examine what’s important. In my case, it’s God and my family,” she says.

By sharing her story — her joy and her faith — she hopes to help others accept the unexpected turns life can take.

“You know, none of us are guaranteed anything in this life. I just happened to have gotten a diagnosis of cancer,” she says. “I feel like it’s important for me to share with others that there is hope, no matter what diagnosis you’re given, no matter what situation you’re in. There’s always hope — you should never, ever just give up.”