We were very fortunate that Jason always had the best of the best…’The A-Teams’. From the Children’s Hospital Neuro-Oncology and Neurosurgery team…. to the Radiation Oncology team at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Clinic….. to the Radiation Therapy team and the Neurosurgery Team at the Ottawa Civic Hospital…. each one of these places becoming like a second home to us. Everyone was in Jason’s corner and made a difficult journey as best as it could possibly be. The combination of the team’s expertise and compassionate approach with Jason was admirable.  Jason felt very secure and at ease with his Doctors, often exposing his infectious sense of humour to them. They all would quickly realize that Jason didn’t come by himself, he came with his Mum! The Doctors accepted and recognized my role and I would become part of the team. I am forever grateful for that.

Jason’s case was very complex. At age 21, Jason was referred to Dr.B’s office..the Chief of Neurosurgery at the time. From the very first meeting, I knew that this brilliant neurosurgeon was Jason’s ticket. Jason also felt the confidence of Dr.B. right away but most importantly Jason ’ liked the guy’. I know that Jason would not have fared as well as he did had he not found Dr.B. and his assistant Sarah.  Jason’s trust and fondness for them both was a huge factor. They became part of our lives over the nine years . I have the utmost respect and regard for these remarkable people.

No award or medal would be worthy enough to acknowledge what Sarah did for us. For me, Sarah was my lifeline. Unbeknownst to her, she was one of the most valued persons in my life.  I told Sarah many times that she was like my angel, always there, offering to help in any way she could. I could not even try to imagine how it would have been had Sarah not been there. There was a mutual respect for one another. Sarah understood that yes, I was first and foremost Jason’s Mum, but I was also Jason’s advocate and I had made it my mission to know as much about NF2 and brain tumours as I could to ensure that Jason had the best treatment possible. Sarah trusted my judgement, would go to bat for me and speak to Dr.B. about my concerns. Sarah was very professional and efficient, always promptly answering my emails about Jason and I never took that for granted as I knew how busy she was. Over the years Sarah remained constant and I was comforted and reassured knowing that Sarah was at the end of my keyboard. It was as if I was alone standing on a stage but right behind the curtain was Sarah and Dr.B. ready to assist when I needed their help. It was such a comfort knowing that they were always there in the background.

Jason had a special relationship with Dr.B. They would joke at times and Dr.B. would call him Jay, which only a small number of people had that privilege. Jason loved it when Dr.B would say “Well Jay, I see you still have the same red-headed mother”. Jason would grin and shake his head playing along.  In a typical appointment, Jason would sit beside me sipping on his diet coke while Dr.B. would be showing me the MRIs on the computer; the tumours proudly showing themselves like illuminated beacons. Jason had all the confidence and faith in the world that these two people in front of him looking at the pictures of his brain would sort it out and let him know if anything was close to his seeing eye.

Jason was always very positive and brave going into the OR. Jason had unconditional trust in Dr.B. Jason knew that this man was on his side and would do everything in his power to help him. Jason would also be at ease and reassured as long as I could stay constantly at his side until the transfer to Dr.B. I was permitted to accompany Jason as far as the other side of the OR doors where Dr.B. and his surgical team would take over. This made all the difference for Jason. I was so thankful for this.

With each additional surgery, risks of morbidity and mortality were raised. There were only so many times you could safely dip in the well and they had to be chosen carefully.The whole approach with Jason was to put out the fires as they happened and to decide at what stage to do this. In Montreal it was said to us “no more surgeries for this kid, he is going to run out of luck.” I greatly appreciated that this was the safe conservative approach and maybe this would be the case for a ‘regular’ patient but this was Jason we were talking about. This would not have been acceptable to him, he had life to live no matter how great the challenge. I am sure there was luck involved at times but Jason had the courage of a lion and it was contagious to all around him.

Jason went on to have four subsequent brain tumours removed by Dr.B.

Dr.B. told me that Jason’s positive attitude going into the surgery was a key part of the outcome; it wasn’t just the skills of the neurosurgeon and team. It was evident to me that Jason and Dr.B had a partnership in the OR, each one relying on the other one. This extraordinary trust Jason placed in Dr.B’s gifted hands enabled Jason to stay in the stream of life and to do the miraculous feat of striding across his graduation stage.