Support Brain Tumour Research at St. Michael’s Hospital

It’s hard to put into words what it means to hear ‘you have a brain tumour”, for me there was a wave of emotion, i but there was also a sense of relief. After battling with different “anxiety attacks” and whatever several doctor’s thought it may be for close to a year, I finally had an answer. Dr. Gebremichael at the North Oshawa Medical Clinic referred me for an MRI, following the MRI I met Dr. John Paul, a Neurologist in Oshawa, who confirmed the Brain Tumour from the MRI and an EEG. I didn’t know what was next, but I finally knew what I was dealing with.

Two weeks later, we met Dr. Das, a Brain Surgeon, at St. Michael’s Hospital. After the meeting my Mom referred to him as an angel among us and continues to call him someone “you would like to have in your back pocket for a bad day”. The positive impact and energy he gave to me and my parents was amazing. I was diagnosed with a grade two Astrocytoma, a cancerous low-grade tumour, that could grow to a higher grade later on. I have since had four surgeries with Dr. Das. The first in 2013 to remove the original tumour, a second in 2016 to remove a mass that turned out to be non-cancerous, and a third in July 2021 that turned out to be a grade four Astrocytoma, this was followed by six weeks of chemo and radiation. Weeks later, I developed an infection and Dr. Das had to perform his fourth surgery to clean out the infection. I hold him in the highest regard and his calmness and bedside manners allows me to relax and have zero worries going into surgery.

I have been looking for a way to give back to Brain Tumour Research since my first surgery. Being heavily involved with Hockey I decided the best way was to combine the two things that have had a major impact on my life, Hockey and Brain Tumours. With the help of St. Michael’s, we have created this special event called Helping With Hockey to raise funds for the Brain Tumour Research department at St. Michael’s Hospital.

Kyle Craner