Carson City's Rebecca Ostrander overcomes brain tumor, set to graduate from UNLV

Obstacles are nothing new for Carson City native Rebecca Ostrander.

Ostrander, 21, suffered a brain tumor shortly after her 18th birthday. She was forced to spend most of her senior year of high school in hospitals and physical therapy recovery centers.

Despite the hurdles, Ostrander persevered and graduated as class salutatorian. She’s a senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, one year away from earning a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.

“This whole experience changed the way I look at life,” she said. “It helped challenge me to know I can overcome anything.”

Ostrander was medically diagnosed with a brain tumor on Jan. 1, 2017 at Carson-Tahoe Hospital. The search began to find a neurosurgeon across the United States and she was flown by air ambulance to Stanford Hospital located in Stanford, Calif.

“It was definitely eye opening when we first found out,” she said. “We didn’t really know the side effects of something this big. I couldn’t figure out why I had migraines every day or why I was breaking out with hives and things like that for almost 18 years. When we found out those were symptoms of the tumor, it came as a surprise.”

The surgery to remove Ostrander’s tumor took place on Jan. 5. The left side of her body was paralyzed following the operation. Ostrander was forced to adjust and physical therapy appointments were put in place inside Stanford Hospital.

“I remember waking up from the surgery with no movement on my left side,” she said. “It was a scary feeling not being in complete control of your body, so physical therapy needed to be done.”

Ostrander was flown to Northern Nevada Medical Center in Sparks, Reno for more patient rehabilitation. There, she went through grueling physical therapy sessions to re-learn how to walk and use the left side of her body. She also met with physical, occupational and speech therapists for three hours a day to help speed up the process.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect going into it, so I just kept pushing myself. All I wanted at the time was to meet someone my age who was going through something similar, but I just couldn’t find it anywhere. That’s my biggest thing where I am now, I want to be that person for somebody.”

Along with the excruciating pain to get back to her feet, Ostrander had difficulties balancing class work without the social aspect of high school.

“I had to write health insurance company appeals because they were denying my physical therapy. They were saying it wasn’t necessary for me to walk like a normal 18 year old,” she said. “I was doing that while my friends were enjoying their senior year in high school going to prom and things. It was a process for me to endure and I just missed that experience in the classroom, not being stuck in a hospital.”

Ostrander made great strides toward a full recovery. She left the Northern Nevada Medical Center with a quad cane and slowly regained the ability to walk again.

Surgery and recovery didn’t stop her academic drive as a student. She joined the Jump Start college Program during her senior year at Pioneer High School and graduated with flying colors.

Ostrander has made the most of her diagnosis. She used her neurological surgery to spark her interest in kinesiology at UNLV.

“It made me want to learn about the human body as much as possible,” she said. “The science and explanation behind every operation I went through really interested me at the time. I just knew the science supported me in recovery and I wanted to learn.”

College life has also offered a change of scenery for Ostrander as she finishes her senior year.

“It took a lot of getting used to being on my own,” she said. “I didn’t have my family helping me through everything so I needed to do it on my own. But it really helped me in the end.”

Along with her resiliency as a patient and student, Ostrander was reunited with her love for soccer. Growing up in Carson City, she played 10 years of club and indoor soccer to form unbreakable friendships in the process.

“I loved being surrounded by amazing teammates and coaches and being apart of a team,” she said. “Having that foundation was really important for me growing up.”

Ostrander returned to the field following her recovery in March of 2017. She coached her cousin’s 6U soccer team when she first started walking. It was just one month removed from going through rehab exercises in a wheelchair.

“That was my first real interaction with the world after the operation and recovery,” she said. “It was nice to be able to do something else other than my physical therapy appointments and things like that.”

Ostrander still suffers from daily struggles and limitations, but that doesn’t stop her drive and intuition. She has her sights set on getting into a master’s program for athletic training after her senior year is finished. She wants to get into a master’s program for athletic training and return to the field.

No matter what obstacles were thrown at her, Ostrander overcame the odds and keeps pushing herself to new heights.

“You can recover and you will if you try hard enough,” she said. “You just need to believe in yourself and never quit.”