Miracle Brain Surgery Saves St. George Boy
Owen Jacobsen needed a miracle, and Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital was there to make it happen.
Primary Children’s highly-ranked neurology and neurosurgery services brought hope and healing to the St. George 12-year-old.
Owen started having unexplained seizures when he was 11 years old.
They started as strange sensations in his left arm and progressed to a tremor.
When he had an apparent grand mal seizure at home, “it was long and it was violent,” his mom Rindi Jacobsen recalled.
Worse, Owen remained conscious. During this time, he thought he was dying.
Brain scans taken in the emergency department showed a common cyst. The seizure was thought to be an isolated incident. But Owen had another one two days later.
“This was the beginning of one of the most frightening experiences of our lives,” his mom said.
The seizures worsened and interfered with the bright, active boy’s schoolwork and activities. He struggled to play French horn, which gave him headaches. Medication made him groggy. Competitive soccer and swimming became too much, as did in-person school. He switched to online classes.
Owen’s dad, a dermatologist, felt something just wasn’t right. He asked doctors to take another look at Owen’s images, and they identified a tumor next to the cyst in his brain.
Owen was referred to Intermountain Primary Children’s in Salt Lake City, where he would meet pediatric neurosurgeon Robert Bollo, MD, from University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.
“Dr. Bollo has been kind, compassionate, and professional from the first moment we met him,” Owen’s mom said. “We were thrilled with the surgical options he offered for Owen, and the way he reassured us as a family that he could help Owen. We immediately felt that we were in good hands – amazingly skilled, surgical, brilliant hands.”
Owen underwent a highly specialized procedure called Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy. LITT is used in place of craniotomy surgery that is far more invasive and has a longer recovery time and greater risk for cognitive problems afterward.
Offered in few children’s hospitals nationwide, surgeons performing LITT use a probe with special fibers inserted through a small hole in the skull and guided by images on an iMRI machine. The technology allowed Dr. Bollo to ensure he would burn away only cancer cells and leave healthy brain structures in place.
It worked.
“Seizures weren’t fun,” Owen said, “and after surgery they were gone.”
Owen was able to start seventh grade with his classmates at Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School. He is on the MATHCOUNTS team, the swim team, and the student council. He rides his bike and is back to playing French Horn in the school band.
“He’s back to himself and doing so great, living a happy, vibrant life,” Owen’s mom added. “He’s better than ever. He’s thriving, and we feel so grateful and so much hope that this experience is in our rear-view mirror. It’s a miracle.”
Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, the pediatric specialty teaching hospital for the University of Utah School of Medicine, has been ranked No. 1 in the country for neurology and neurosurgery patient outcomes for four of the past five years.
“We are committed to continually improving clinical care and helping Primary Children’s patients thrive, and as a result, are recruiting some of the nation’s best physicians to our teams,” said Angelo P. Giardino, MD, PhD, chair of the University of Utah School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and chief medical officer at Primary Children’s Hospital. “This independent national recognition underscores this commitment and our outstanding teamwork to high-quality, compassionate care to children.”
U.S. News ranked Intermountain Primary Children’s in the Top 25 in these specialties:
- Neurology & Neurosurgery, #10 (with patient outcomes ranked first in the nation)
- Cardiology & Heart Surgery, #15
- Nephrology, #22
- Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, #25
Intermountain Primary Children’s is ranked in all other specialties measured for Best Children’s Hospitals, which are:
- Behavioral Health
- Cancer
- Diabetes & Endocrine Disorders
- Neonatal Care
- Orthopedics
- Pulmonology
- Urology
Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital is also tied for No. 1 in the nation for its outcomes in neurology and neurosurgery for the third consecutive year.
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Gallery Credit: Isabel Sepulveda