JESSE'S GLIOBLASTOMA BATTLE
Connecting the Dots with CTR
Discover how Cancer Teamwork Response’s expert network “connects the dots” to help patients and families navigate complex healthcare issues. Read about Jesse’s journey from a daunting Glioblastoma diagnosis to hope and recovery, uniting top hospitals.
Cancer Teamwork Response's network of exceptional top-ranked hospitals has been working hard for cancer patients. Our real-time stories of collaboration between facilities have never been more successful than our recent case of a Utah patient on a business trip to Las Vegas. Jesse found himself in severe pain, requiring ER attention, which led to a complex diagnosis of brain cancer: Glioblastoma. Las Vegas was not equipped to provide the necessary surgery for a large brain tumor, so a transfer to UCLA in California was planned. Once Jesse arrived at UCLA Health, surgery was planned for his complex 8-cm brain tumor located within functional language and motor areas, and his loving wife, Rachel, joined him from Utah. In the expert hands of Dr. Linda Liau, a renowned brain surgeon who specializes in Glioblastomas and awake brain surgery, the tumor was successfully removed.
With the removal of a large brain tumor, side effects can be challenging. Jesse required an extra month in rehabilitation, where he regained strength, learned to walk again, and worked eagerly with speech therapy.
As the first stage of his brain cancer transitioned to the next steps, the decisions were daunting. This is where Cancer Teamwork Response stepped in to assist this young family in navigating important choices, including where to receive daily 6-week radiation and begin chemotherapy protocol. With brain cancer, time is of the essence, so the family decided to remain in Southern California for six weeks. Understanding that CTR has expert networks to provide care, the family chose to have the brain radiation and treatment at Hoag Hospital, where they preferred to rent a small home.
Through care in the Las Vegas emergency room, UCLA, and Hoag Hospital, Jesse will go home with his wife and two young sons and continue under the watchful eye of Huntsman Cancer Center in Utah - steps coordinated efficiently and guided by Cancer Teamwork Response.
Jesse and Rachel have learned, through one of the roughest experiences of their life, that healthcare issues can be shocking and daunting to navigate. Expert collaboration among top-ranked facilities makes all the difference in achieving the most successful outcomes. Cancer Teamwork Response was humbled to help through the difficult decisions.
We welcome Jesse home to his family and friends in Utah!
“I don’t know what I would have done had it not been for CTR. You have a hard enough time as a patient’s caregiver just learning all you need to about the particular diagnosis and treatments that when it came to coordinating all that was urgently required, I was completely lost and overwhelmed! CTR worked quickly and helped me make sense of it all when I felt hopeless and confused. They helped connect us with the best care options available and advised me when the hard decisions needed to be made. They were there when I needed them and I will be forever grateful to Cancer Teamwork Response!”
Rachel
CTR extends our deepest gratitude to:
Dr. Linda Liau and the renowned neurosurgical team at UCLA
The dedicated hospital nursing at UCLA for their exceptional care and coordinated rehabilitation
The compassionate radiation/oncology team at Hoag Hospital
Dr. Simon Khagi Hoag Hospital neuro-oncology
Dr. Rachna Malani, Neuro-Oncology at Huntsman Cancer Center in Utah, who will provide Jesse's ongoing care.