American Brain Tumor Association Webinar Transcript

Webinar Title: Securing Your Care Preferences

Broadcast Date: 6/21/2017

Presenters:

Celeste Gallati, MBA, MILR, Life Matters Media

Randi Belisomo, MSJ, DBe, Life Matters Media

ABTA: Welcome to the American Brain Tumor Association's free educational webinar series. Thank you for participating in today's webinar. Today's webinar is on securing your care preferences. The webinar will be presented by Celeste Gallati and Randi Belisomo. If you have a question you would like to ask, type and submit using the question box in the control panel on the right-hand side of your screen. They will answer questions at the end of the presentation. In the next few days you will receive an email asking you to take a survey to evaluate the webinar. Please take a few minutes to share your feedback which is important, as we plan for future webinars. Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a quarterly drawing to win a target gift card. Today's webinar will be recorded. The recording will post to the learning webpage within a few days. Registered participants will receive the recording link in a follow-up email message, once it is available.

The American Brain Tumor Association is pleased to welcome you back to our webinar series. We will discuss securing care preferences. My name is Vince and I'm delighted to introduce our speakers today, Celeste Gallati and Randi Belisomo. Celeste Gallati is a member of the Life Matters Media Board of Directors. She holds an MBA and a master of Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois, and has completed the Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organization Certificate Program at the Northwestern School of Professional Studies. She has actively supported the American Brain Tumor Association since 2002. She is President and Cofounder of Life Matters Media, a Chicago-based 501(c)(3), and dedicated to providing information resources for all involved in end-of-life decision-making. She works as a journalist as well. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame School of Journalism, and received a Doctorate from Chicago’s Northwestern University in 2017. Thank you for joining us, you may now begin your presentation.

Celeste Gallati: Thank you. Greetings everyone and thank you for joining our session. Our session is: securing care preferences. We are thrilled to be in your company and delighted that so many of you registered to join. We recognize your time is valuable, and value is something we are going to talk about today. The focus of this session is on communication-verbal and written. What is being discussed can be overlooked often times, and I know this from experience. Discussions about brain cancer, or brain tumor, or other serious illness often center on CAT scans, radiation, appointments, and such a diagnosis. The decisions that follow, we feel, require reflection on who we are, what our values

are, and what really matters to us. This requires us to go deeper in our dialogues, and I promise this will prove to be mutually beneficial. It's big picture stuff without overlooking details. And to prove that we pay careful attention- we present this disclaimer. To introduce ourselves, my name is Randi Belisomo. My background is in communication (journalism specifically). The primary place I do that is in Chicago as a reporter- which is what I do for a living. What we are doing today is what I truly live to do. I know firsthand the enormous impact of relief, clarity, confidence and alignment of the discussions that we are having today, can have on a patient and family. I also know difficulties that are experienced in their absence. Our organization goes all over the area to patient advocacy groups, senior centers, churches and libraries, to help people have a say in end-of-life care. We hope it is not delivered for decades, but we are all terminal eventually. So acknowledge what that means and move on, to live our lives. We invite you to go to our website if there is something we missed, or to get in touch with us.

We ask you if you've thought about the medical care that you would want at the end of life, and if you have discussed that care with someone else. The ABTA serves a wonderful purpose in helping those diagnosed to live well, and we remind you that is what the discussion and planning is all about when you discuss the care that you hope for. For those of you not living with a brain tumor- you certainly do not have to have one to think about these issues. So we will share now how to get started.

My late husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 31- two years after we were married. Over the next five years he had three brain surgeries, radiation and countless therapies. Despite his treatments, he continued to live life to its fullest, and pursue his passion for travel. We are celebrating renewing our wedding vows off the coast of Italy. We also became involved with the American Brain Tumor Association. This where we met many friends, and attended numerous events, including the patient and family conference. One of the things that I learned from our experience was the importance of pre-creating a quality of care plan- long before decisions need to be made or a crisis occurs. This is true for everyone, whether we are healthy living, or with an illness. In order to do so we must accept mortality, discuss goals of care, and discuss our beliefs and values. I was fortunate that he initiated this important conversation with me. One night after dinner, he sat me down and said that although he felt good and remains full of hope, he accepted that he had a serious illness. He wanted to discuss his end-of-life wishes, and decisions he would want me to make on his behalf, if he was no longer able. I was shocked and resistant, but quickly realized how important this conversation was for him, and ultimately for me. I never felt that having these conversations took away his hope. To the contrary, it seemed to empower him and encourage him to live more fully than if the elephant in the room have never been addressed. One of the things he shared was that he did not want to die in a hospital, if possible. To him, it represented illness, sadness and stress- not the comfort that he valued.

Had we not had this conversation, he would have likely been one of the many individuals that despite not wanting to die in a hospital, ultimately do so. His family pushed to keep him in the hospital, but I think they believed that as long

as he was there, that there was a possibility that something more could be done. They were not ready to confront the reality of the situation. Because of our conversation, I had the confidence to push harder for him to be transferred to a hospice facility, where he was able to pass in peace.

One of the moments I will always remember is him looking up and acknowledging that he was no longer in the hospital, breathing a sigh of relief, and thanking me. His greatest gift was initiating this difficult but vital conversation. Why is it so difficult? There are many barriers to having these conversations. A common one is a fear of the prognosis and disappointing the care team. Doctors are trained to make people feel better, and what if that is not the case? It can be very difficult to bring up a conversation that may be perceived as a doctor letting us down. He also took great pride in being a survivor. What would happen if he shifted his care goal? Would people think he gave up or was being abandoned? Would he still be a survivor? On top of that, he was extremely concerned about hurting his family. While he was alive, everyone was amazed at how he lived full of hope, during what seemed like endless treatments. However, 10 years later almost, I can definitely say his greatest legacy was not how he handled treatments- but how he inspired so many by courageously accepting and discussing his mortality at such a young age. Doctors have barriers as well. Time is a big one. It is hard to open this conversation when there are immediate issues to be addressed and so many minutes left of the appointment. It could cause a conversation that exposes issues that a doctor cannot fix. When they go into medicine, they go to fix people and help them get better, and not give up hope. Medicine, for many years, has denied to address what needs to happen when the outcome becomes impossible.

I would like to share a few statistics that highlight the importance of these conversations. More than 90% of people think it's important to talk about end-of-life, but less than 30% have. 60% say making sure their family is not burdened is extremely important. 70% say they prefer to die at home, but almost the same amount die in a hospital, nursing home, or other long-term care facility. Although sometimes we know that is for the best. 80% of people say if they were seriously ill they would want to talk to their doctor, but only 7% report they have had an end-of-life conversation with their doctor. It has been shown that families that engage in open conversations suffer less complicated grief, which is why it is truly a gift to your family and loved ones.

Finally 82% of people say it is important to put wishes in writing, but only 23% have actually done that.

I will turn it over to our friends to show us how not to have this conversation and then Randi will show us how to do it correctly.

(Video clip)

I want you to read this.

I having just seen the movie the other side of darkness, and not wanting to be in a coma like that lady in the movie, hereby would like Jerry Seinfeld to remove my life support machine.

Can you do that for me?

I don't know if this is a legally binding document.

I'm going to type it up.

Of course, but even so you may want to talk to a lawyer.

He put a restraining order on me. I couldn't even give him his Christmas present.

You took this out of the garbage? Jerry this is a piece of junk. How are you going to be the executor of my will?

See? You can't let go.

Trust me, given the legal opportunity I will kill you.

Do you have some free time tomorrow afternoon? You’re perfect. You are a coldhearted businesswoman and when there is dirty work to be done you don't mind stomping on people.

Oh come on. [Laughter]

Situation number 4, you are breathing on your own, you are conscious but with no muscular function.

Would I be able to communicate?

I don't see how.

Yeah let's pull the cord.

Yank it like you are starting a mower.

Moving on.

You have liver kidneys and gallbladder but no central nervous system.

While I've got to have a have a central nervous system. \

Okay, blind and you are eating through a tube.

That's not my style.

You can eat, but machines do everything else.

Yeah yeah, a stick. I could still go to the coffee shop.

Randi Belisomo: That is an example, to emphasize, how the conversation should not go but too often we think about medical decision-making in those terms. It's not a checklist of crazy medical options because we cannot possibly consider every scenario. If you take a step back and think about preparations that take place when someone is expecting a baby, there are so many things people do. They pack a bag, go to the hospital, arrange maternity leave- everything is in place. These considerations are similar but unlike a childbirth, it is not something people plan for at that level. We think it's easier to think about this conversation as considering what living will means. Some people want to have a baby at the hospital and some people use a midwife. It is their prerogative. It has been shown that most doctors think everyone wants to live longer, but most people really want to live a better. To consider what living better and living well means to you, there are a few things to ask. What things do you do that gives your life meaning? It could be spending time with family, gardening, reading, going to religious services, and outings with friends. The next question is harder. What can you not imagine living without? Of all of the things that gives your life meeting, what can you not imagine living without? The third question- what fears or worries do you have? You can say most people, when describing end-of-life fears, they fear pain more often than any issue, even death. It is different for everyone.

Who or what helps you in difficult times? Is it your family or your faith? Or just getting fresh air? If I were to have this conversation after considering these, and these are hypothetical, I could say Celeste I want you to know something important. I really enjoy spending time with the kids. I really enjoy fresh air and I enjoy going to church on Sunday. What I can't imagine living without. I can't imagine living without the ability to communicate. I enjoy interacting with people and I can't imagine living without the ability to communicate.

I'm really afraid of pain. But then again I'm really afraid of having anything that interferes with my ability to communicate. And who or what helps in difficult times, is someone sitting close to me and engaging and talking to me about current events and treating me like I'm still a part of the world. That could tell Celeste that having companionship really helps me. They should not do anything that infringes on my ability to communicate, and try to keep those things up about what gives my life meaning. If I cannot go to religious services, which are important to know that is important, so maybe you could have the pastor visit me. These are how we can think about what living well means to us.

When we know the answers, the things that are essential to communicate to those closest to us, are likely to be there if we are ill or hospitalized. We have this conversation to enable those to act in our best interest in alignment with our values, if we are unable to speak for ourselves.

How do they get translated? End-of-life care has become very complicated. With patient autonomy or facing difficult decisions, they may not be equipped to make the use of life-sustaining treatments which may be beneficial in some circumstances but not in others. Treatment like CPR, nutritional support, it may arise as one illness progresses. Traces such as when to start or forgo, or how or when to maintain comfort. CPR for example is a treatment we should all decide on but we cannot do that until we learn what CPR is all about. Few are than one in five patients leave the hospital after an average stay of 2 weeks. More than 30% will go to a nursing facility. Less than 3% of older and weaker residents survive that. Whether or not to accept CPR may depend on your overall health and your definition of living well. Some people see the statistics and say those are not very favorable. Others would say that's pretty good odds, let's give it a shot. It is up to you and what your definition is.

A framework exists to assist with medical decisions and we encourage you to think about this whenever you have a decision to make and it does not have to be a life-sustaining treatment or procedure. It is important to have a basic understanding of the treatment being offered whether it is emergent or chronic. Having a basic understanding of the treatment, effectiveness, time commitment and effectiveness is imperative. Understanding the benefits and burdens and exploring the goals of the therapy. Is this treatment going to make the condition better or sustained the condition? It is okay as long as it is aligned with your goals. If you are hospitalized, and your goal is to live an independent life with therapy, is it going to help to achieve the goal or require you to remain hospitalized? Here are the questions to ask yourself. Would undergoing CPR when your heart stops help you meet your goal of living well? Or what outcome would you expect from chemotherapy? What would be an unacceptable outcome of radiation? What fears or concerns do you have about making a decision to go into surgery? Evaluating your goals and wishes, educating ourselves about issues that may arise and discussing those are the basis of the process of planning ahead. To make wishes secure we can translate them into an advanced directive. A legal document that goes into effect only if you are incapacitated or unable to speak for yourself. These help others know what kind of medical care you would want in the case of illness or injury but advanced directives do not let people know what kind of care you want for the first time and it reflects a conversation that you have had about living well with your loved ones and medical providers. And advanced directive allows you to communicate these values and desires related to end-of-life care but it is important to remember that those documents that we call living documents can change as your life changes, your personal life, your religious life, or your family or relationships.

Advanced directives come in various types which is why the topic can be anxiety provoking or confusing because many of us have seen some of these and do not know the difference between them or which one is right for me.

What constitutes an advanced directive? Oral communication counts. If you express your wishes to a trusted loved one and everyone in the hospital room knows this is what John exactly wants, he always wanted to live this way not that way that counts. We encounter people planning sessions that don't feel comfortable filling out an advanced directive, and what we say is to be sure that they verbally communicate to everyone likely to show up when a medical decision is made, so everyone is on the same page. Advanced directives legalize those and they are more secure. You could say power of attorney for healthcare, and these are written advanced directives.

You can also see a living will which often times when we talk about advanced directives people assume the living will is embedded in the state with the power of attorney for healthcare which is when we recommend completing a living will because in the lower left-hand corner it only applies to those who are terminally ill and have a terminal condition. If I were to leave the session and the medical decision-maker comes to the hospital with a living will I am very grateful to having not been doing with the terminal illness, we recommend your power of attorney for health care at the very least. Depending on your state it could be called post form, the most form, medical order for life-saving treatment. It is not an advanced director-- directives, it is an advanced medical order meaning it is to be completed with your physician. It is recommended for those who have been diagnosed with. The criteria for completion is that doctors would not be surprised if the first patient were to pass away within the pet-- the next 12 months. It is also for those who are extraordinarily frail, weak nursing home patients or those with extraordinarily strong preferences that are absolutely certain and who have considered these preferences well, it is a binding medical order and travels with you wherever you go whether it is a hospital, nursing home and the reason why it is more specific and not for everybody it breaks down specific medical treatments. CPR yes or no? Medical intervention, yes or no? Antibiotics yes or no, intensive care yes or no, artificial nutrition and hydration yes or no? It is not for relatively healthy people because relatively healthy people don't need to get that specific because it is impossible for us to predict what is needed if we do not know what we are dealing with. However you call it is the medical order.

We ask you to talk to your doctor about it because updating medical records is what makes that inactive and binding and is not something we can do on our own. We will talk about a few things. Some of you may know about the five wishes for-- form which is an advanced directive and legally effective in most every state. It is more specific than any other advanced directive that we talk about today because it is so detailed. We are not talking about licensing and treatment, we are talking about five wishes. Who makes care decisions for me? What kind of medical does-- do I want or don't want? How comfortable I want to be, how I want people to treat me and what I want my loved ones to know. There are places to write all of these answers and that's why this is great for some people and say it's the perfect opportunity to communicate all of these things and some people see this and say this is overwhelming. It is too much, I'm not doing that. We see that all the time. If you are interested in the five wishes it's a great conversation. You can get these forms from an organization called aging with dignity and is a nonprofit organization that is several pages. They ask for five dollars and will mail you one. It can also be used as an

advanced directive. We don't like them as your only advanced directive because they are cumbersome and paramedics are rushing in and looking for documents and pages trying to figure out medical wishes, who is the medical decision-maker, it is a lot harder than the form we will talk about next. I gave you a little information but you can see I'm sorry for going back and forth but this is the document for people that are recommended for use for those who would not be a surprise if they passed away within 12 months. This is a medical order and a way to communicate end-of-life preferences with your physician.

We encourage people to think about your state power of attorney form. We think this is for everybody 18 and older whether you are living with a brain tumor-- a caregiver or a student in college 500 miles away, we think everyone should have this form. The health care power of attorney appoint an agent and your medical decision-maker, there's a lot of terms that get thrown around. This form talks about your agent. To make medical decisions in the event that a patient loses decisional capacity. They will have decision priority over all other possible people and this proxy has the authority to make decisions and all decisions in which a patient is incapable not only in the case of terminal illness about the proxy is expected to be consistent or express decisions to act in the best interest. This form reflects conversations that you have already had with your decision-maker so we put the name of the patient, the name of the adult, the agent and the address which is less important than the phone number. No one answers the phone anymore. If it is an unrecognized number, put down every phone number you know and when you pick an agent which we will talk about, please let the person know that if they get a phone call they need to answer it because they also have the following roles. This is why it is so important to appoint a healthcare agent because if they accept withdrawals or declines treatment, agrees to admit or discharge you from the hospital home or institution they determine where you do-- receive care and have access to your medical and mental health records and if anyone is familiar with HIPPA this is a big deal. They carry out the plans you have made or have not made, they decide about donations and have one wall that extends beyond death. If you have not already made this decision, the agent has the authority to carry out your plans for disposition.

So the patient is given an option to choose a general statement about their values. These are less general on purpose and used to guide decision-making. They are not specific in your agent may think they are kind of confusing which is on purpose because the conversation part about living well is something you and your agent need to talk about. The choices are in most states, the quality of my life is more important than the length of my life. Or staying alive is more important to me regardless of the quality, the cost, or the burden. There is also space to add text within these instructions. For example no blood transfusions. We talk to people against that, and that is important for people to know. No dialysis. You saw your uncle on dialysis and you decided that is something you fear. That is a place to put that in. Anything else that you want someone to be sure of. Control my pain as well as possible. I don't care if I'm unconscious. This is entirely up to you and requires the signature of you the patient, the date and signature of a single witness. That cannot be your agent, related to the agent, your physician, or the owner or operator of your healthcare facility. There is also room to appoint successor agents. Your agent doesn't answer the

phone? Here's number two. You appoint your nephew to be your healthcare agent, he's out of the country and you put your niece down as well.

The health care power of attorney before we go on anymore, this is an example of our state form. You can obtain a copy of your states power of attorney for health care. They are state sanctioned. They are legal when they are completed correctly and require the person's name and address. However we also recommend, and we will put this up at the end, as far as we can tell the best and only site that we seek that has each states power of attorney for health care listed in alphabetical order online and you can download that so if you are in Arizona, you can be directed to that form and the Arizona Department of Public health Colorado and so forth. This is the Illinois form and they are very similar.

Also a question that we get often, are you sure it is legal? Don't I have to get an attorney? No, they pay $400 to get an attorney to do this with them. Don't waste your money, you do not need an attorney. Here in Illinois they do not need notarization. The American healthcare system and the health department has done something right trying to make the barriers to communicate care preferences as easy as possible. We say it is as easy as possible and by all means do not let anything get in the way. Once you complete this form, what do you do with it? Make copies. Better get taken into your doctor and have your doctor make copies. Once your healthcare agent in your circuit agents, your secondary agents, and make sure the doctor puts one in your electronic medical record. Tell your family members and friends what your wishes are and in many cases we encourage you to give all of your family members a copy of your power of attorney. Is just as important for you to communicate with healthcare agents that you would like them to be that. We think it is equally essential to tell all of those close to you that they are not there healthcare agent and you can do this compassionately, I selected John to be my healthcare agent, I want you to know that he's going to carry my wishes. This does not mean any ill will to you but he is in charge. There is clarity and people are not fighting over power in the healthcare setting. If you go to a hospital separate to where your physician is, if it is not in a hospital setting, give the staff the copy to include in your records. You most certainly can change your advanced directives but please keep track of who receives a copy. Keep a list of who has a copy of your advanced directives.

We encourage you to review these from time to time. We said it was a living document meaning it can evolve-- you may want to revolve-- revise your preferences for care if your life situation were to change. Marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, change in diagnosis, evolution of an illness. If those preferences change make sure everyone important to you is up to date. We think it is important for everyone close to you to know what is in your advanced directives. Many of you may be scenario with the scenario of the mother, hospitalized and her daughter sees her every day and is primarily responsible for healthcare, that daughter is making decisions on her mother's behalf or her best interests. Her daughter calls once a year and Mrs. Christmas and Thanksgiving because she was in LA, flies to California and comes straight to the hospital and says hold it I know what mom wants, stop right there. My sister

is so wrong. Those characters exist and not only in mind. It's important that the person at the center informs everyone and make sure they are on the same page.

Your agent is the one who has to be the most clear on all of this. Sometimes your agent is not your spouse. There are many people who say they do not want their spouse to have that stress that they would rather give the responsibility to someone else or their spouse would want to keep them around forever or they speed up the process, I don't know anyone's situation. They have to be clear on your care and someone who would be there in a crisis and respond. It happens a lot, to have a healthcare agent who does not live nearby. That's why phone numbers are included. It is very beneficial to have someone who is there looking at a patient and talking to the doctor and who could respond best to whatever is happening right there. Geography does matter. It is something to take into consideration so that may mean you do not think your daughter across the country but your son who lives 1 mile away because he's more accessible. It is also important to think through this decision. If not the state will appoint one for you. This is an example of what we call the state health care surrogate act and it is likely similar but not identical in the absence of a living will for the healthcare power of attorney which we recommend. It goes to the guardian, spouse, and adult son or daughter and in reality they will tell you it goes to whoever answers the phone first. You may look at this and say that's okay, I don't have to complete the advanced directive because the default is the person I would select anyway. Then why do we do this?

Only a legally appointed agent in an advanced directive has the right to withdraw medical care. You cannot do that if you are not legally appointed through an advanced directive. We strongly emphasize doing this even though it is and what you want. Just for clarity and legal purposes it makes things so much easier. The powers that they have or the decision that they have to accept, withdraw or decline treatment, decide where you receive care. If you are at the end of your life and is a time for hospice or the ICU? They obtain access to medical records and ask questions and understands the options. The responsibility extends beyond the time of death and additionally to create them and carry them out. Who is your agent and how will you communicate what Living Well means to you? With that we think you and would be happy to take your questions after we mentioned some resources, we have a lot of need to-- we also send out updates and information about this topic of decision-making and you can subscribe the reference that has state-by-state and power of attorney for healthcare forums. They have a wonderful resource on advanced care planning which is the core of what we are doing here today. Aging with dignity provides the wishes form. The great conversation tool they are also websites that you can check out and we are happy to answer that but we would like to turn it over to you. Celeste and I are always happy to help people and we know it's one of the most important things that you could ever do for yourself and your family. If we could ever be privileged to escort you in some of these challenges, don't hesitate to contact us.

ABTA: Thank you both. We will now take questions. If you have questions please type in submit using the webinar control panel on the right-hand side of your screen.

Our first question is, how long are advanced directives valid?

Randi Belisomo: That's a great question. They are valid until the patient dies. However there are many situations where you update advanced directives, change your agent and there is another old advanced directive floating around. I have mom’s advanced directive dated 2015 and if they come in and say we have advanced directives from 2005 are medical providers are going to follow the most recent advanced directives. We encourage everyone to keep track of where the advanced directives go, so you can get them back and destroy them, tear them up and throw them away so they do not produce any more confusion. They are effective upon signature and valid forever.

ABTA: Thank you. What should someone do if they do not have anyone available to act as a healthcare decision maker?

Randi Belisomo: That is a great question. That is something we run into a lot and that we provide education for. The answer is not the same for everybody. One of the solutions that has been provided by this, the medical directive that is very specific but if completed by your doctor considering a whole variety of preferences and becomes legally actionable one of the beneficial things about the form even though that's not the intent is that you don't need an agent in that form. Stating decisions in advanced, there is no decision to be made because most of them were made for you. The other situation, if someone is not ready for that, it is harder and involves trying to determine relationships, people, geographically nearby. Are you willing to be someone's agent in the same situation if they would be your agent as well whether through your house of worship, community group etc., this is a situation that too many people face and is often not until it gets brought up by someone that you realize they are in the same position you are and that's why you don't have to know the patient terribly well. You don't have to be emotionally connected but if you know what the definition of Living Well is it's not like you have to have a best friend that's going to do this for you. Maybe you would do it for them as well. There's a few options.

ABTA: The next question, if the default option would be one’s healthcare decision maker, why is it important to appoint a decision-maker legally?

Randi Belisomo: Right, again without having a legally appointed power of attorney for healthcare, the default option is not to be able to withdraw medical treatment. It's one of the things that makes end-of-life medical care so challenging, because it is a lot easier to never start something then to withdraw something. If some licensed treatment is underway to withhold and pull back from that unless you are a legally appointed agent you cannot do that which is why we encourage everyone to have this.

ABTA: Our last question, in your experience what are some of the common misconceptions that people have about advanced directives?

Celeste Gallati: I would say from personal experience not only with my husband or my mom, who passed from dementia, it's getting the conversation started, and is kind of the feel of I'm really sick. I think it's more of a hurdle to get the conversation started. The other thing I've heard is people feel that it is control being taken away from them, or how they make decisions for them. I think it is understanding that is not the case, and it’s only if you cannot make them for yourself. That's the number one misconception and not wanting to approach the topic because it is difficult as we talked about some of the barriers. The power that you still always have.

ABTA: That is all the time we have for today, thank you for joining us and thanks once again to Miss Randi Belisomo and Miss Celeste Gallati for their wonderful presentations. Aside from our free educational webinars, ABTA has a variety of webinars available to help connect patients and caregivers with resources to help support them in their brain tumor journey, as well as publications and resources for healthcare professionals. For more information please visit www.abta.org or call the Caroline at 800-866-2282.

We invite you to continue to check back on our website, www.abta.org for the any time learning page. A library of free on-demand webinars that feature renowned experts addressing a wide range of brain tumor topics from treatment options or tumor types to quality of life and symptom management. To see upcoming webinars visit our website www.abta.org and click on brain tumor information and click on upcoming webinars. This concludes our webinar. Thank you for joining, and please be sure to complete the evaluation survey that you will receive by email, and to be answered in a drawing for a $50 target gift card.