Specialty: Orthopedic Oncology
Jake
Jake 1. Tumor 0.
At barely 5' 7", Jake Drucker may be the smallest hockey player in his league, but he plays like a giant on the ice.
But his energy disappeared one morning in 2017. Unlike the usual soreness that comes from five-hour days on the ice and repeated body checks into the boards, Jake’s pain felt like a slapshot to the leg.
I just had the most excruciating, horrible pain around my knee. Just the worst pain possible.
Doctors in the Department of Orthopedics at Montefiore Einstein discovered a tumor was quietly and aggressively eating away at Jake’s femur.
I’m a pretty rough player to play against.
In this instance, the tumor was benign, and he was very glad, but even though the tumor is benign, we have to take it out.
With hockey season fast approaching, Jake had less than three months to get his atrophied right leg back up to speed so he could qualify for his team, the New England Wolves.
Montefiore Einstein basically gave me a mental road map of how I could do it.
Jake was able to rejoin his pack and get back to being a playmaker on the ice—lacing up and facing off with the best of them.
Jake came into our program and has been a key ingredient in our team's making the playoffs. He is the first person on the ice to practice and the last to leave. He takes extra reps and will bike after games for hours until you have to kick him out of the rink. Jake is an incredible young man with a bright future.
Andrew Trimble, New England Wolves Head Coach
It’s been a year since my surgery and I’m on the ice pretty much all day, every day.
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