“I was very tired and didn’t have the energy of a typical kid my age,” Brenner said.
Brenner, of Vandalia, began years of cancer treatments, starting at Dayton Children’s where he received several types of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. At age 4, he was admitted to the Almost Home Unit – which was for long term leukemia patient care.
“By the time I was 8, I had relapsed,” Brenner said. “My dad (Tom Brenner) and I moved to Columbus for my next phase of treatments.”
Brenner underwent radiation treatment to prepare for a bone marrow and stem cell transplant. He received his bone marrow transplant in 2003.
“My dad stayed with me the entire time while trying to keep things running for our family of five and maintain his job,” Brenner said.
The transplant is what saved Brenner’s life. By Christmas of 2003, he was able to return home for the holiday season.
“I remember feeling very isolated,” Brenner said. “My dad and I became best friends.”
After nearly a year of treatments, Brenner was stable but had missed a year of school. He had to play catch up on academics and develop his social skills.
“It was a change for me to go from this crazy world of doctors and appointments to normal kid life,” he said.
Then in 2006, Brenner’s dad was diagnosed with malignant Melanoma. He ended up passing away in 2008 when Brenner was a sixth grader.
“My dad’s death affected me a lot emotionally,” Brenner said. “The one person who was my rock and my hero was gone.”
Brenner said he felt the light suddenly go out in his life. He was angry about his own cancer and even more about his dad’s disease.
At the age of thirteen, Brenner buckled down and focused on passing high school. He graduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 2014. He took two years off to figure out his life, mostly working retail jobs.
“I noticed I was getting passed over for promotions because I didn’t have a college degree,” Brenner said. “I went with my uncle to visit my cousin at OU (Ohio University) and decided to apply.”
Brenner initially thought he wanted to be a scientist and find a cure for the disease that so affected his life. But he also loved to write and has a passion for music that he shared with his dad.
“I packed up my life and moved to Athens,” Brenner said. “I was desperate to find out who I was and to make my own mark.”
In 2020, Brenner graduated from OU during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his time on campus, he joined a stand-up group to help himself get over stage fright. He also found another passion in the world of virtual reality and learned to create interactive experiences. But during his time in Athens, he lost another family member – his beloved grandfather.
“I was right back at square one,” Brenner said. “I was that 8-year-old boy and felt scared and alone again.
Brenner and his classmates worked on a documentary about living through the pandemic. The class learned about the Walt Disney Company’s storytelling process and Brenner was hooked.
“I was able to go to Florida to see how Disney did this firsthand,” he said.
Brenner applied for and was accepted into the Disney College Program in 2021. But after just three months away, his anxiety and depression became debilitating, and he returned home to Ohio.
“After I got back home, I was working at a restaurant and I was frustrated,” Brenner said. “My sister Liz was working for Montgomery County and told me about the paraprofessional program. I started working with kids with special needs.”
Today, Brenner is 20 years post-transplant and in good health. He loves his job as an educational assistant with the county and recently graduated with his master’s degree in special education.
“I started writing a book after my grandfather passed away,” Brenner said. “I remember being back home after my treatment and people didn’t really understand what it was like to be a cancer survivor. People always think you live happily ever after if you beat cancer. But it isn’t like that.”
Cancer treatments took a toll on his body. He is 5’1” at his full adult height and struggles with PTSD, anxiety and depression. It took him ten years to write his book – “The Life After: A Family Journey,” which chronicles his life after cancer. He not only included his perspective but also that of his dad, who left journal entries of daily thoughts while coming to terms with his son’s cancer. It was published in electronic form earlier this month and will be available soon in paperback.
“I don’t claim to be an expert,” Brenner said. “I’m just a person trying to fit all the pieces together and make sense of this crazy 30 years I’ve lived so far.”
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