Patient Care Roadmap

After reviewing your medical records, we will be able to determine the best specialist(s) needed to start your care. Typically, this can be done through a simple review of your recent MRI scans.

Depending on your particular tumor type and medical history, our inter-disciplinary team will determine what treatment options are available for you.

Based on your anticipated treatment needs, our nurse navigators work with the physician team to design the framework of your care journey and plan for every step of the process.

As long as we have all your medical records, we will be able to effectively plan for your care.

After we know which specialist(s) you should see to discuss your care options, we will schedule your appointments around your and your family's preferences and clinical needs.

A member of our care coordination team will reach out to you to find what date(s) work best for you to visit our care team. We align our clinic schedules so we can do our best to accommodate multiple clinic visits on the same day, reducing the need for you to have to come to campus multiple days in a row.

Our navigators will work with department care coordinators to view all available clinic appointments.

All you need to do is let us know which days and visit times work best for you, as well as any special requests you may have, such as interpreter services.

For many patients, surgery may be the best or first option for treatment.

During this outpatient visit, the surgeon and care team will discuss your medical history, your tumor and imaging scans and surgical options for your particular tumor. We will also talk with you about the benefits and risks of certain surgical options, any clinical trials you may be eligible for and your overall goals of care. In all cases, our care is centered on you, and we want you to be an integral part of the care process, making decisions that best align with your needs and values.

Depending on the care decisions you make with your physician team, the navigators and coordinators will plan next steps accordingly.

At the first visits, please be sure to bring and copy of your medical records, as well as any imaging scans (MRIs or CTs) on a CD. Also, please bring a list of all your medications, your allergies, health insurance information, and any insurance authorization forms (if needed). We encourage you to ask questions with our physicians and providers, in order to help you make the best informed decisions.

Our neuro-oncologists manage the care of patients with primary brain or spine tumors. A potential treatment plan may include chemotherapy for specific tumor types or biologic agents that target molecular features of a tumor – either alone or in conjunction with surgery or radiation therapy. Our neuro-oncologists also provide follow-up care to many patients after their active treatment episodes have ended.

During this outpatient visit, the neuro-oncologist and care team will discuss your medical history, tumor imaging scans and treatment options for your particular tumor. Your care team will also discuss with you benefits and risks of certain treatment options, any clinical trials you may be eligible for and your overall goals of care. In all cases, we want you to be an integral part of the care process, making the decisions that best align with your needs and values.

Depending on the care decisions you make with your physician team, the navigators and coordinators will plan next steps accordingly.

At the first visits, please be sure to bring and copy of your medical records, as well as any imaging scans (MRIs or CTs) on a CD. Also, please bring a list of all your medications, your allergies, health insurance information, and any insurance authorization forms (if needed). We encourage you to ask questions with our physicians and providers, in order to help you make the best informed decisions.

If surgery is the best treatment option for you, there are certain things you can do to help prepare you for surgery and inpatient stay. Your surgeon and care team will discuss the procedure in detail with you, and address any questions that you have.

Our surgeon and care team will discuss the surgery in detail with you, addressing all your questions to reduce any anxieties you may have. We also provide you with educational materials that outline what to do before, during and after the surgery.

The nurse navigator will continue to coordinate your care after the surgery and will plan to see you sometime during your hospital stay.

Please make sure to read through all the educational materials we provide you so that you have a clear picture of how you can prepare for the hospital stay. You can also learn more about the surgical episode on our Brain Tumor Center website.

UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center is the #3 ranked medical center in the U.S., and we provide you with exceptional hospital-admitting services that match our renowned medical care.

Our clinical teams will prepare for your admission and treatment, while our hospital-admitting team will take care of the administrative work needed for your inpatient stay. Admissions and registration counselors will meet you at the hospital to make your admission as smooth and quick as possible.

The nurse navigators may see when you are admitted, and will plan to visit you after your surgery to inform you of next steps of care.

Our neurosurgery instruction packet will have all the information you need for your hospital stay. There are many ways to prepare for your admission, including knowing what items to bring (and not bring) and understanding your health insurance. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center website also has all the information you need for preparation: uclahealth.org/reagan/rrucla-admissions-information

Your surgery at UCLA will be performed by world leaders in brain tumor care. We pride ourselves on the excellent surgical treatment and outcomes we provide to patients.

The surgery will involve a team of physicians, nurses, technicians and other personnel that focus on providing you with the best care possible. Samples from your tumor will also be sent to our pathologists to determine an official diagnosis.

The nurse navigator will review documentation related to your plan for post-operative care.

We want you to be as comfortable as possible during this time, so please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve your experience. If you have any questions about the actual surgery, we encourage you to ask prior to your surgery, during your initial outpatient visits.

Depending on the type of surgery, you will likely stay in the hospital for a number of days. During this time, we will focus on your continued care, recovery and preparation for discharge.

Our specialty and magnet-certified nursing team will attend to your daily care needs in collaboration with your neurosurgeon and physician team. Nurses will focus on helping you recover, building your mobility and providing the direct care needed after surgery. A post-surgical MRI will also take place to evaluate how much of the tumor was removed and to refine the plan for further treatment after discharge.

Within a few days after surgery, the nurse navigator will meet with you in the hospital to see how you are feeling and provide you with information on next steps. We will anticipate the kinds of care you may need after your discharge and we will arrange future appointments with the appropriate physicians and departments.

It is important to be an active participant in your recovery process. By understanding your postoperative and recovery needs through our discussions and educational materials, you will be able to prepare and anticipate certain post-surgical activities.

Our goal is to prepare you for discharge throughout your inpatient stay, so at the day of your discharge you are mentally and physically ready to safely leave the hospital.

We will use one-on-one education sessions and written documents to prepare you for discharge. Based on your care needs, you may be discharged home, to another care facility, or you may need special outpatient services. We will coordinate everything so that the process is smooth and clearly communicated with you.

Upon your discharge, navigators will work to schedule your follow-up appointments. This will provide you with a continued plan of care before you even leave the hospital.

Prepare for your discharge in advance (organizing transportation, arranging a caregiver, etc.) and please let your physician know if you have any concerns about resuming your normal activities.

After you are discharged from the hospital, you will have a period of time to recover before returning to see your physician team. In some cases, we may recommend certain rehabilitation services, such as speech therapy, physical therapy or occupational therapy to help you fully recover from surgery and/or nursing care at home. We recommend that you engage friends or family to help in your care for at least a few weeks after surgery.

During this time, our neuropathologist will analyze your surgically-removed tumor sample to give an official diagnosis, which is critical for how we plan further care specifically for your individual needs. With this diagnosis, a weekly Brain Tumor Board made up of physicians meets to create a post-surgical plan of care for you. Within a few days after discharge, a nurse from the hospital neurosurgical unit will also call to check on you.

The nurse navigator will reach out to you before your next scheduled appointment to see how you are feeling and make sure that you know the next steps for outpatient visits and follow-up care.

By following the guidelines we give regarding your diet, medications, comfort and daily activities, you will put yourself in the best position to recover from your surgery. If you experience any of the problems listed in the discharge educational packet related to post-surgical danger signals and symptoms, call the surgeon immediately.

Roughly two to three weeks after your discharge, you may follow-up with your surgeon or the nurse practitioner for a postoperative visit to check on your wound or remove sutures.

The surgeon or nurse practitioner will speak with you about your recovery, the surgical episode and your next steps for treatment. At or around the time of this appointment, a provider will also remove your surgical sutures.

Postoperative and follow-up visits are coordinated through our navigators. They will ensure that your transition to specific departments for longer-term treatment is seamless.

We want you to be engaged in your care process and in your treatment decisions. We want you to be comfortable and empowered to ask questions about your care. You can do this by reading the educational materials we provide you, taking care of yourself by following the post-discharge instructions and bringing any questions you may have to your follow-up appointments.

Neuro-oncologists help patients with primary brain or spine tumor by planning personalized chemotherapy or biologic treatments, providing tumor management, and determining ongoing surveillance and treatment options. If your tumor needs to be treated with chemotherapy, these visits will focus on the individualized regimens that can best treat the tumors. Chemotherapy regimen schedules vary by tumor type, but typically occur multiple times per month, over the course of several weeks or months. You may also be considered for clinical trials depending on your tumor type during these visits.

Our world class neuro-oncology team will meet with you to discuss the most effective treatment options, potentially including chemotherapy, other pharmaceutical interventions or careful observation.

Postoperative and follow-up visits are coordinated through our navigators. They will ensure that your transition to specific departments for longer-term treatment is seamless.

We want you to be engaged in your care process and in your treatment decisions. We want you to be comfortable and empowered to ask questions about your care. You can do this by reading the educational materials we provide you, taking care of yourself by following the post-discharge instructions and bringing any questions you may have to your follow-up appointments.

If your tumor needs treatment with radiation therapy, the first visit with your radiation oncologist will focus on an evaluation and a plan of radiation treatment. After the initial visit, an MRI may be obtained to validate any previous surgical outcomes, and subsequent CT-simulation will be done to plan a specific course of radiation therapy. Overall radiation therapy is typically scheduled multiple days per week, over a period of one to a few weeks, but some patients may complete radiation therapy in one day.

If you have had surgery, another MRI will be performed during an outpatient visit, as well as a subsequent CT-simulation. These scans provide the basis for designing your specific course of radiation treatment. Our highly specialized team of radiation oncologists and radiation physicists will tailor treatment unique to your tumor.

Postoperative and follow-up visits are coordinated through our navigators. They will ensure that your transition to specific departments for longer-term treatment is seamless.

We want you to be engaged in your care process and in your treatment decisions. We want you to be comfortable and empowered to ask questions about your care. You can do this by reading the educational materials we provide you, taking care of yourself by following the post-discharge instructions and bringing any questions you may have to your follow-up appointments.

A clinical trial is a carefully designed research study, which uses eligible volunteers to answer specific health questions, such as whether a medication, device or other intervention can improve health outcomes. Participation in these trials is completely optional, but they can potentially open up new treatment options that would not be available at smaller medical centers.

Our physicians and clinical research nurses will oversee each step of the clinical trial process. Each step of the carefully designed study will be thoroughly discussed with you.

Since clinical trials follow a very specific protocol, the physician and nursing teams involved in the trial will manage most of the coordination during the trial process, rather than our navigators.

Our team will discuss with you the details of the trial, as it is important for you to be well informed on the type of trial, what it entails and the potential risks and benefits.

After your active treatment episodes of surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, a specific physician will be assigned to you to monitor your follow-up care. The specific physician depends on your tumor type and the kind of therapy you received.

Follow-up care involves less frequent outpatient visits to discuss your health and well-being, along with occasional imaging scans to check the tumor status and how it has responded to previous treatment.

At this point in your care journey, most of your follow-up care will be managed by a specific provider and home department, and will not be nearly as complex as it potentially was during active treatment. While our navigators will still be able to help coordinate care as needed, nearly all of your follow-up care can be handled and scheduled by your home department.

Continue to take care of yourself and see your physician for follow-up care so you can continue to enjoy life with your family and friends.