To catch a tumor

A twitching in 16-year-old Josh Prochotsky's foot alerted his physical trainers that a bigger issue might be at hand.

They urged his parents to take him to the doctor right away, who discovered that the Libertyville High School sophomore had a brain tumor.

"I was incredibly thankful to them to bring it to our attention," said Mary Prochotsky, Josh's mother. "It's huge that they were able to identify it."

She said the family otherwise might not have noticed anything unusual in Josh until he started having seizures.

Mike Gattone, owner of WCS Sports Performance in Buffalo Grove, said Josh had just come in for regular strength and speed training, like many other high school athletes do.

"We started to notice that he was not able to keep his left foot synced up with his right," he said. "When he tried to balance on it, it was basically impossible."

Gattone said he, Josh's physical therapist, Ryan Stover, and Justin Adkins, the strength coach, sat him down and noticed twitching in his foot.

"That's where all the alarm bells went off," he said.

He said he had to make the uncomfortable phone call to Mary to make sure she took Josh to the doctor right away.

"You're always looking for poor movement patterns and lack of flexibility, but this was so pronounced," Gattone said. "It really stood out."

Gattone initially thought the problem was related to a nerve or a hurt disc, but doctors soon found out Josh had a brain tumor.

Mary has taken Josh to Florida to receive treatments.

"The key for us is that these people found it," she said. "If it was another six months, it would have been worse."