the Canadian Institutes of Health Research says<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nHis aggressive Stage 4 cancer got worse after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. At one point, he lost the ability to speak and was in a wheelchair. He said he was at his worst in early December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We had gone through all the drugs, all the treatments. It was horrific at that point. I couldn’t talk to you …\u00a0 physically, I couldn’t move. It was terrible,” Colosimo said. <\/p>\n
Then his wife, Shauna Colosimo, who is a radiation therapist, found the Optune Gio device.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s a wearable technology that treats glioblastoma with electric fields that help slow down or stop cancer cell division, the company’s website states. The company says the device, which was approved by Health Canada in 2022, might destroy some cancer cells completely. <\/p>\n
Chico Colosimo started taking a new medication and began using Optune Gio in late December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778556069_752_default.jpg\")
Colosimo says he ‘couldn’t move’ before he started using the Optune Gio device, which has improved his quality of life. (Submitted by Shauna Colosimo)<\/p>\n
“All of a sudden, I’m back on my feet. I can hear you. It wasn’t instantaneous, but it was progressive,” he said. <\/p>\n
Shauna said Chico’s tumour has “shrunk,” and swelling and inflammation have reduced.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he’s able to have conversations with his 13-year-old daughter again and spend time with his 15-year-old son on the golf course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778556070_82_default.jpg\")
Colosimo says he is now able to have conversations with his daughter and go to the golf course with his son. (Submitted by Shauna Colosimo)<\/p>\n
“It’s been a blessing,” Chico Colosimo said. “We’ve bounced back to a really healthy place where we can spend time together.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The time that I’ve had with the kids and Shauna, we just keep extending it, we just keep doing whatever we can,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
British Columbia began covering the cost of the Optune Gio device in February. Here in Manitoba, the Colosimo family has been paying $28,350 per month out of pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shauna said a GoFundMe campaign raised about $160,000, thanks to support from their family, friends and community. But she says Chico doesn’t have much time left, and the money is dwindling.<\/p>\n
“These patients don’t have a lot of time, and Optune [Gio] can give them that time. They can improve their quality of life, give them more time with their family,” Shauna said. <\/p>\n
She said they’d like to see the provincial government cover Optune Gio so Manitobans can access the device without having to worry about the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement Optune Gio is “currently going through Manitoba\u2019s standard review process for new technologies,” which is being led by CancerCare Manitoba. <\/p>\n
Experts are assessing evidence, patient outcomes and how treatments fit within the broader cancer-care system, Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
Shauna said the family appreciates that the province is assessing the device for coverage, but she stressed glioblastoma patients don’t have the time to wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Sometimes things can be in the works for many, many, many years \u2014 and unfortunately, we don’t have that,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If there’s an option out there, why wouldn’t we try to push for it?”<\/p>\n
Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada CEO Nicole Farrell said her group wants patients across Canada to have the same level of access to treatments. British Columbia is the only jurisdiction in Canada to cover the cost of Optune Gio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We want to make sure that \u2026 you don’t have to be a resident of British Columbia if your particular case would benefit from this treatment,” said Farrell, who lost her mother to a brain tumour.<\/p>\n
She said the device might not benefit every glioblastoma patient the way it has for Chico, but her foundation wants everyone to have “equitable access.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-663595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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