Case Study #16 - David Preparing BBQ Beef Brisket

David Preparing BBQ Beef Brisket. 30" x 24" Oil on Canvas.

Chef David Gladyness has NF but it certainly doesn't slow him down.

David inherited his NF from his mother's side of the family: his grandmother, his mother, and four of his mother's siblings, four of his cousins,  one of his brothers, one of his brother's children and both of her children all have NF. In David's words, "I decided not to have children, I knew I had NF at the age of 5, but was not officially diagnosed until I was 18, I had a tumor removed of of my left hip and it grew back but it doesn't bother me as it had in the past. Two years ago I had major surgery and spent 15 days in the hospital and was diagnosed with Neuroendricine cancer. I had a Whipple surgery, They removed my gall bladder, the head of my pancreas, 17 inches of my small intestine and 20% of my stomach. Growing up my major issues was a speech impediment."



Prep Sketch for oil painting

David is a culinary trained chef. He got his love of cooking from his father who was born and raised in Louisiana. As a child, he watched his father prepare family meals which including the cooking of wild game and domestic animals. It is not surprising that David's favorite cuisine to prepare is Cajun or Creole. His love of cooking had him return to school, as an adult, to link his passion for food preparation with his natural creative spirit. Prior to culinary school, he had always enjoyed cooking and would attend food fairs and how-to seminars. At some point, his wife finally encouraged him to attend. While there, he had the opportunity to travel to France to cook for the stars in the American Pavilion at the Cannes International Film Festival. It proved to be an amazing time. People always ask David what he likes to cook. His reply is simply, "I enjoy the Savory more than the Sweet."

Besides going to Washington, D.C. to lobby for fund for NF research, David is also very instrumental in running and organizing several different NF camps for kids, one in Michigan and one in West Virginia.