Scott, a retired sales manager and high-school baseball coach living in Westby, Wis., experienced a rapid onset of memory loss and difficulty thinking of words while speaking during a family visit in November 2024.
“It was fairly sudden. Originally, we feared he might be having a stroke,” said his son, Todd Hall.
Instead, Scott was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Seeking another opinion, Todd, a UW graduate, suggested his father go to UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center based on his family’s support of Garding Against Cancer. UW Men’s Basketball Coach Greg Gard and his wife, Michelle, launched this initiative in honor of Gard’s father, who passed away from glioblastoma in 2015.
Garding Against Cancer has raised more than $9 million for Carbone Cancer Center research and patient care, as well as other community-based cancer support services. Their signature fundraising event will be held May 2 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Todd had met retired Carbone Director Dr. Howard Bailey through Garding Against Cancer and reached out to him for advice. Bailey suggested a meeting with the Neuro-Oncology Clinic at Carbone to explore options.
Dr. Mustafa Baskaya, a specialist in complex brain tumors, reviewed Scott’s scans and saw the tumor, an aggressive high-grade glioma, was growing very close to the speech center in Scott’s brain. However, Baskaya believed Scott was a good candidate for surgery and that it would improve his quality of life and life expectancy.
Baskaya’s confidence and expertise in the field helped Scott and his family feel at ease with the path ahead.
“It was amazing how quickly (Baskaya) got involved, and how confidently he made this decision. The bottom line is he does this all the time and the tumor was operable,” Scott said.
In Scott’s case, Baskaya said the neurosurgery and anesthesiology teams planned for Scott to be awake during the surgery so that he could be asked and respond to questions. Because the tumor was so close to the speech center of Scott’s brain, Baskaya removed the tumor piece by piece to make sure Scott’s ability to understand and respond were not affected by what was removed in each point.
“It was a direct feedback function,” said Baskaya. “If he was doing well, we could remove more.”
Baskaya completely removed the tumor and some surrounding tissue where the cancer may have spread and could form new lesions. Because of that risk of new spread, Scott also took oral chemotherapy and underwent radiation treatments five days a week over the course of six weeks.
While he could do these additional treatments closer to home, Scott preferred to continue his care with Carbone’s team.
“I was feeling very satisfied with the way things were going and confident in my care team. It was an easy decision to stay at UW,” he said.
Todd said their family is grateful for the friends who have stepped up to support his dad, including finding him a place to stay in Madison during his frequent radiation treatments and providing transportation to and from Westby.
Todd urges anyone with a cancer diagnosis to contact Carbone to provide an expert review and explore all treatment options available.
“I think my dad’s story is about being your own biggest advocate,” he said. “I know a lot of people get second opinions, but some don't.
“It’s important to understand the type of cutting-edge services that we have within our state and the incredible work that's being done here at Carbone. Had we simply accepted the original diagnosis, I'm not sure my dad would be here right now. I don’t think he would be.”