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.

I just had the most excruciating, horrible pain around my knee. Just the worst pain possible. So, I went to one doctor who told me it was bursitis. But the pain was still there for two weeks, so I ended up being referred to Montefiore [Einstein].

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.

I’m a pretty rough player to play against. I kind of fit into the role there of ‘the agitator’. That’s the kind of game I play. I try to get under their skin and be as pugnacious and energetic as I can.

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.

Dr. Bang H. Hoang

When you’re young, you’re invincible and you don’t think that you’re gonna have a problem, ever. And then to have somebody come and tell you that you have a tumor and that you need to have surgery. It’s pretty scary. 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 because that it will help the bone to heal much better and he can go back to playing hockey much quicker and he doesn’t have to worry about subsequent fractures.

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.

Montefiore [Einstein] referred me to a physical therapy company and basically gave me a mental road map of how I could do it. First I had to learn how to walk again, then I had to re-learn how to skate. Then I had to learn how to skate while someone is trying to shoot a puck at me or trying to take my head off.

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.

It’s been a year since my surgery and I’m on the ice pretty much all day, every day. I’m in the gym when I’m not on the ice. And I honestly think that I’m stronger now than I was before this entire ordeal. Doctor Hoang, he saved my hockey career. Without Montefiore [Einstein] I wouldn’t have these opportunities to continue traveling the world and meeting all these great people. So, at the end of the day, Montefiore [Einstein] kind of saved my life.