Dr. Peter Townley is a forty five year-old man. I prefer to call him Uncle Pete. He has six children, one son-in-law, and one grandson. He is a shy, funny little man. He doesn’t speak that loud or that often, but when he does you should listen. He is always thinking of what he can do for others. Always trying to find a way to help those in need.
I remember a long time ago I went with him to one of his son’s soccer games. Before the game, we went to an antique shop because his wife enjoys collecting tea sets and he would just always look for them. We went around the building fully inspecting all of the tea sets because he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

He was diagnosed with a malignant stage four glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor in his temporal lobe on June 3rd, 2010. Glioblastoma is a very invasive cancer that is in the brain and top of the spinal cord. He is currently bald thanks to the many rounds of chemo that he has endured. He now has a “C” shaped scar on the left side of his head because of the three surgeries and one gamma knife procedure . After three years of a very good fight, he was finally sent home after realizing the experimental drug he was on was no longer helping him . He is currently fighting strong at his home in Omaha, Nebraska.

The biggest irony I have ever encountered in reality is that he is an oncologist. Pete graduated from Creighton Medical School in 1986. Oncology is the study and treatment of tumors. They really emphasize the tumors caused by cancer. Pete basically knew what was happening to him before he even went to the doctor.

Although you would think that since he has cancer his life stopped as he is waiting for death to come for him, you would be mistaken. Throughout his treatments and trips to the Mayo Clinic, he has constantly been trying to live his life the way he always has. He has received many noble awards and we have done many new things for different cancer societies in the name of Pete. Pete even got a signed jersey from the Cancer vs. Coaches game hosted by Creighton last year. He got to go down onto the court during the game and meet Andre Yates that had Peter Townley on his back. Just last weekend we all went down to Kansas City to participate in the Head for the Cure race to support funding for brain cancer research. We were all in the “For Pete’s Sake” team and even facetimed with him throughout the entire day so he could be apart of the experience with us all. Nobody is surprised at the way his children and wife have stepped up tremendously in helping their father and husband through this treacherous journey as he continues to live his life as he should.