"It was a massive tumor," Dr. LaQuaglia vividly remembers. "It was wrapped around his aorta and pushing against his vena cava."
As a result of the tumor's size and sensitive location, Houston's regular doctors determined that any attempt to remove it would present too great a risk.
After his own review of the case, Dr. LaQuaglia decided Houston's tumor could be surgically removed -- a decision founded upon the years of experience shared by the Center's Pediatric Disease Management Team, for whom stories like Houston's are not unusual.
Dr. LaQuaglia explains: "The team approach is essential. We're all available here in one place. He can be seen by three or four different doctors from three or four different specialties -- all at the same time. I think that the understanding of the biology and behavior of the tumor, and the kind of x-rays and other diagnostic tests that a patient can get here at Memorial make all the difference. It's a team approach that requires an assessment of the whole patient, not just the tumor."
But all the experience in the world wouldn't have helped Houston if Diane Moore, Houston's mother, hadn't sought out a second opinion. When asked about Diane and her role in Houston's recovery, Dr. LaQuaglia doesn't hesitate: "They were telling her he was going to die. They wanted to do a bone marrow transplant that wouldn't have done anything at the end because the tumor was the size of a basketball. She had incredible advocacy skills, incredible persistence, and incredible love for her child."
Even with Diane's advocacy, persistence, and love, Dr. LaQuaglia still had to inform Houston and his parents that the surgery might not be successful, never an easy task. "You go through so much together with them," he says. "To tell them they might not live through the operation…You have to do that as their doctor." It is precisely these moments that often make the bond between patient and doctor more than a merely clinical relationship. "In many ways," Dr. LaQuaglia admits, "the surgery is secondary to the personal relationships you develop."
And the feeling Dr. LaQuaglia gets when he now sees former patients like Houston, who remains in remission more than two years after his surgery? That's easy. "It's one of the most rewarding aspects of this field, to see patients who are in complete remission, who are growing up and doing well."
"It's fun to see him now," Dr. LaQuaglia adds. "I've tried talking him into being a pediatric surgeon, but he wants to be a ballplayer when he grows up."
