Kolton Howell09/17/1998

During the fall of 2022 Kolton Howell began experiencing cognitive issues. At work he noticed his typing skills declining and his memory recall was failing. Driving was becoming an issue with increased swerving and not being able to see around him. As the cognitive issues increased headaches became migraines and the pain became intolerable. By October/November of 2022 he began having nose bleeds, nausea, vomiting and the migraines were completely out of control.

Kolton went to Urgent Care where they gave him a shot for the pain and sent him on his way. Within a couple days Kolton decided to go the local Emergency Room. It was at that visit that the on call Physician listened to Kolton's entire story. She ordered a CT Scan and before Kolton was back from that scan an MRI was immediately being ordered. The MRI determined that Kolton had a 7 cm (slightly over 3.5 inches) mass in his brain. The center line in his brain also shifted 9 mm so his entire brain was being affected by the tumor in his occipital lobe. At that time, the medical staff thought the mass was hemorrhaging.  To add insult to injury Kolton was tested for Covid, a standard procedure, and he showed positive for Covid. He was completely asymptomatic.

Phone call to multiple hospitals began by the ER staff and after much convincing it was determined that Kolton would be sent by ambulance to OHSU up in Portland for emergency surgery. Due to the now covid positive test results Kolton was to be isolated from all family. Kolton has Aspergers and the hospital did agree to allow his mom into the room under the title of caregiver. For the next couple days, a surgery plan was made and Kolton was prepared for surgery to occur the day after Thanksgiving 2022.

Surgery was successful and the mass was removed as much as possible without causing irreversible brain damage. A few days later, Kolton was sent home to recover. After a couple months Kolton began a rigorous round of radiation in conjunction with oral chemo. That lasted for six weeks. He was again allowed to heal and recover and began another six rounds of oral chemo along with the introduction of Optune. Optune is a device that attaches to his head using 4 transducer arrays and when in operation hopes to prevent tumor cells from multiplying and growing.

This journey began for Kolton at the young age of 24. He is now 25 and has spent the last year of his life fighting to live. While other adults his age are planning their future careers and family, Kolton struggles with the very real challenge of being given 5-6 years to live. Kolton was officially diagnosed with Astrocytoma Grade 4. This cancer is a very aggressive, fast growing cancer that will more than likely come back. Kolton is fighting to prevent that from happening but will live the rest of his life monitoring, watching and waiting.

It has now been nearly a year, Kolton at times is tired of having cancer and tired of the treatments but is also trying to live his life within his capability. Everyday is a gift at this point, especially knowing how close he came to losing his life in November of 2022.