Grapefruit-sized tumor won’t stop BHS student

Geeky Swedes Ballard

Although John Dane, “JD” has baseball on his mind these days, things were much different just a few months ago. His touching story is the cover piece for Northwest Hospital‘s Med Info magazine for March and April.

Back in October, JD, a junior at Ballard High School, was dealing with a slow-growing grapefruit-sized tumor that was taking over the left temporal lobe of his brain. Northwest Hospital neurogsurgeon Dr. Daniel Lazar told JD and his parents Christine and John, that surgery was the only option. “The temporal lobe may be one of the most important parts of our brain with respect to language, memory and the ability to understand,” Dr. Lazar says.

As a catcher for the Beavers team, JD was worried that he wouldn’t play baseball again. “Don’t worry, you’ll play ball again,” his dad assured him.

Shortly after the surgery in early November 2009, JD was passing all his assessment tests with flying colors. His speech, which is often affected by this type of brain surgery, was the most difficult for him. It didn’t take long to overcome those issues, Northwest Hospital speech pathologist Kara Baringer says.

After going through out-patient therapy, JD is back at Ballard High School right along with the other students and training for spring baseball. “I may have only half a brain but I am still smarter than most people,” he jokes.

You can read the entire story about how JD’s tumor was discovered, his fears and recovery here (.pdf).

(Photo courtesy: Gary Benson Photography)

Geeky Swedes

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5 thoughts to “Grapefruit-sized tumor won’t stop BHS student”

  3. Good stories like this are why I still find the will power to read My Ballard. They more than make up for all the mud slinging.

    Congratulations on your recovery JD, and grats to your parents for living through the stress. Batter up!

  5. We love reading community members comments and hearing that JDs story was as much an inspiration to you as it was to all of us here at the hospital. Thank you so much!

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