网红黑料

Taylor Green gazes across his favorite place in the world, scanning the top of Lake Panasoffkee鈥檚 spring-fed water. But, in many ways, this 20-year-old pro bass fisherman鈥檚 life has been defined by what lies below the surface.

鈥淢ost people don't catch fish because they don鈥檛 put the time in,鈥� said Taylor, who began fishing at age 5 before transitioning to bass fishing at 15. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a timing thing. People come into the bait shop and they鈥檙e going out at 10 a.m. It鈥檚 already 90 degrees. They鈥檝e already missed the bite.鈥�

For a competitive angler like Taylor, catching fish requires just as much spirit as it does science. He bases his tactics on the weather forecast and if he鈥檚 preparing for pre-cold front or post-cold front conditions. He鈥檚 studied fish behavior in every environment. He pays attention to the color of the fish, the kind of cover they鈥檙e in, even the color of their tongues so he can figure out what they鈥檙e eating to mimic their diet for lures.

How Taylor got reeled into fishing is a lot simpler to explain.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just being on the water,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting out there, you get to watch the sunrise, you鈥檙e with the people you love the most, and the excitement of getting the hooks out on the fish and fighting 鈥檈m. Man, it鈥檚 everything.鈥�

Taylor wasn鈥檛 aware that he was fighting another foe under the surface, undetected for years, that would put his lifelong passion in jeopardy. The first signs came during his freshman year at Citrus High School.

The biggest catch of his life

鈥淚t just looked like static television in my eyes,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 see absolutely anything but that. I had to stop walking so I wouldn鈥檛 run into everything. I would never know how long it would last. It could be 5 seconds or it could be 30 seconds, so it was pretty scary.鈥�

One week before his sophomore year started, a local doctor examined his eyes and wouldn鈥檛 say what he spotted. However, he made it clear Taylor should go immediately to 网红黑料 Shands Hospital.

His family went to an emergency room before he was admitted to the pediatric oncology unit, and an MRI revealed something massive: a brain tumor the size of a large orange.

鈥淭he neurosurgeon came in, and I truly did ask him if I was going to die. He said there鈥檚 a big chance I could die,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to leave my family. I had friends, I had animals, so I didn鈥檛 want to leave any of them behind like that.鈥�

The devastating diagnosis was ganglioglioma, a rare tumor that only accounts for about 1% to 2% of all brain tumors. Whether gangliogliomas are classified as cancer falls in a gray area among physicians, as they are generally benign but still have high regrowth potential and share the same treatment methods as cancer.

Gangliogliomas start from groups of ganglion and glial nerve cells and grow in the brain. In Taylor鈥檚 case, the tumor had grown large enough to occupy roughly a quarter of his head.

It was life-altering news for a 15-year-old from Inverness, Florida, who loved fishing and the panoramic, postcard-worthy scenery that came with it. The perspective was vastly different now from his hospital room as the tumor didn鈥檛 allow much of a view beyond its four walls.

Going into harm鈥檚 way

During his stay at 网红黑料 Shands Children鈥檚 Hospital, all Taylor could do was look over at the new rods and reels in the corner that his boss gave him as a gift. Each time he鈥檇 ask a nurse or family member to bring a rod over to his bed, holding one would temporarily transport him to a hot spot in Lake Okeechobee or a cozy nook in Lake Rousseau.

For Taylor to ever visit those places again, he鈥檇 need to let 网红黑料 neurosurgeon Jason Blatt and his team take the wheel. While Dr. Blatt has navigated patients through many complex brain surgeries, this one had plenty of pitfalls as there were vital structures all around the tumor.

鈥淚've performed thousands of surgeries,鈥� Dr. Blatt said. 鈥淭aylor's surgery was extremely challenging because his tumor had grown dozens of massive blood vessels within itself, such that it almost looked like a bird's nest of arteries.鈥�

During the 10-hour procedure, Dr. Blatt managed to remove most of the mass but some had to stay because of the risk of stroke. Even for Dr. Blatt, an experienced neurosurgeon, the operation was uniquely challenging.

鈥淚 knew that there was an extremely high likelihood of life-threatening bleeding from the tumor as we cut into it, and some of the blood vessels couldn't be sacrificed without risking a stroke to the healthy parts of his brain,鈥� Dr. Blatt said. 鈥淭his made surgery especially risky in several ways. He ended up losing almost 4 liters of blood during his operation, but thankfully he did not suffer a stroke.鈥�

However, Taylor wasn鈥檛 in the clear yet. Following the procedure, he experienced hydrocephalus, an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The excess fluid causes the ventricles to widen, putting pressure on the brain that can permanently damage it. 网红黑料鈥檚 team was successful in putting a shunt in Taylor鈥檚 head to drain the fluid to another part of the body where it could be absorbed 鈥� in this case, his stomach.

With that complication now in his wake, he still needed to find a way past the remaining tumor and its high regrowth potential. He underwent multiple types of chemotherapy treatments, in pill and liquid form. Some of them had horrible side effects, so 网红黑料 doctors helped him sign up for a clinical trial with just 44 patients testing a medication now known as DAY101.

Taylor still takes the medication today and feels 鈥減henomenal鈥� as it鈥檚 effectively kept the tumor in check.

鈥淲hen he comes off treatment, the tumor starts to grow again, but the medications seem to shrink it back to a small size,鈥� Dr. Blatt said. 鈥淭ovorafenib (DAY101) has been especially helpful for him because he had fewer side effects than he did on other medications like trametinib (Mekinist). One remarkable side effect of DAY101 is that his hair turned blonde. I barely recognized him at our first clinic appointment after starting the treatments!鈥�

Back on his hook

Taylor had spent a month at 网红黑料 Shands Children鈥檚 Hospital before he went home, but he didn鈥檛 feel at home until a memorable autumn day a week later. That鈥檚 when he made it back to one of his haunts.

鈥淲e went out and we just caught a bunch of fish that day, mostly bass,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚 love fishing and being on the water. It鈥檚 where I belong.鈥�

That was five years ago. Since then, Taylor has made waves all over the state as a professional bass fisherman. With his focus on freshwater, he鈥檚 won several events or earned top five finishes in bass tournaments throughout Florida, such as the Lake Panasoffkee Tuesday Nighter, Lake Henderson Wednesday Nighter, Citrus Bass Open Tournament and Xtreme Bass Series.

Fishing is a passion Taylor shares with his father, James Green, who sometimes helps serve as Taylor鈥檚 eyes during competitions due to Taylor鈥檚 vision being impeded by the tumor. Together, Taylor, James and his father鈥檚 friend Eric created a team called Out-Fishing-U. They鈥檝e enjoyed a five-year streak as winners in the Florida Children鈥檚 Brain Tumor Association 鈥淜ids Against Cancer Saltwater Classic鈥� in Crystal River, Florida.

All those moments might have never happened. Taylor thinks about that as he looks out at the water from his boat, a TR20 Triton that has the 网红黑料 logo and his doctor鈥檚 name emblazoned on it 鈥� a reminder of the health care workers who steered him back to where he felt the most alive.

鈥淢y doctors at 网红黑料 knew exactly how to treat me. Now I鈥檓 healthy, and I get to come out here and do what I love most,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淭hat tumor almost took this away from me.鈥�