HEALTH COACH - Surgeon removes an inoperable cerebral tumor from the young mother

HEALTH COACH -

 Surgeon removes an inoperable cerebral tumor from the young mother  



 


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In November, Stephanie began experiencing random and paralyzing headaches and thought she might have developed migraines. When her head began to suffer every day, she could no longer resist: in January she was at the doctor's.



"I was gone and was crying," said Stephanie, 27, who lives in northern Florida. She requested that her surname not be used for confidentiality reasons. "I called the doctor and they had no idea what was going on."



     



  
 After reading an unusable tumor of a mother, the surgeon offers new hope 

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-  0:49 



  
 After reading an unusable tumor of a mother, the surgeon offers new hope 

 Play Video
 0:49 














Stephanie visited a neurologist, who ordered an MRI from her brain and spotted something about it. There was a mass nestled against its brain stem. The doctor referred to her as a lesion, so Stephanie did not understand what was going on until she saw a piece of doctor's paper and read the words "tumor of the brain".



"It was so surreal. When you have a headache, you do not think you are going to the doctor and find out that you have a brain tumor. I cried a lot, "she said.



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She underwent a biopsy to determine the severity of the tumor.



"We were still hoping that it was perhaps less severe," said Stephanie.



   Courtesy Stephanie 
 Stephanie experienced stunning headaches and learned that she had an aggressive, inoperable brain tumor. But a doctor was able to remove it. On the left, there is an analysis of his brain before surgery; The right shows his brain afterwards. 



The results broke these hopes.



"They said," You have the most aggressive type of brain cancer and we can not take it off, period, "she recalled." That was very scary. "



Stephanie had a grade 4 glioblastoma, a cancer-supporting brain tissue. Often, these tumors involve many types of cells, including blood vessels, and include many different types of cancer cells. Doctors often avoid surgery because cancer cells are infiltrating into the brain and it is difficult to remove them all. Even with treatments, most people with glioblastoma have a median survival rate of 15 months, according to the American Brain Tumor Association.



   Courtesy Ben Keeling Photography 
 After Dr. Michael Sughrue removed most of Stephanie's brain tumor, she focused on her time with her daughter and her husband. 



Faced with such gloomy news, Stephanie and her husband, Michael, turned to their faith.



She had to be strong for her 2-year-old daughter, Sarah. A friend who survived cancer suggested to Stephanie to launch a blog to make it easier for people to update and help her deal with her feelings. She began writing about her inoperable brain tumor and the frustration she felt.



So Stephanie received an incredible message. A neurosurgery in Oklahoma, Dr. Michael Sughrue, said he would like to see his MRI. He noted in his message that "sometimes inoperable", it is inoperative. "



Stephanie sent her MRI exams within five minutes. When Sughrue saw the images, he knew why others refused to perform surgery: the tumor rested against the brain stem and damaging the brain stem could be fatal. But the philosophy of Sughrue is that it wants to give patients the best chance.



"This is not easy," he said today. "This is not terrible, it is feasible".



"I always look at him and say," Is there a realistic way to do something positive? ", He said.



Without surgery, Stephanie can only live for about six months. Cancer is so aggressive and complex that chemotherapy and radiation would not work without removing some of the tumor.



"Surgery can not cause all the cancer, but it can at least reach it at a level where a drug might work," he said.



He told Stephanie if she came to Oklahoma this week, he could perform surgery and remove much of the tumor this Friday.



"Honestly, I thought it was going to be much worse," she remembers.



While Stephanie felt delighted, she was also worried.



"Initially, I was a bit skeptical because we had three neurosurgeons who said nobody would touch this. So why would this surgeon in Oklahoma say," This is not as bad as I The thought, "she said.



But she went and felt relieved after meeting him.



"This man is incredible," she said.



   Courtesy Michael Sughrue 
 After Dr. Michael Sughrue read about Stephanie's inoperable brain tumor on his blog, he asked to see his MRI. He thought he could take it off and he was right. 



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She underwent surgery and Sughrue removed most of the mass on 24 February.



"It 's really a remarkable story. It has a very bad tumor and we have released it," he said.



Doctors normally recommend waiting four to six weeks after surgery to start chemotherapy or radiation, but because her cancer was so aggressive, Stephanie began radiation right away. After a month of treatment, she is at home and takes a chemotherapy drug by looking for local doctors for treatment. She needs more scans to determine the state of her health, so this is not yet a happy ending.



Still, she feels grateful to Sughrue.



"If nothing else, he buys more time," she said. "We tried not to focus on all the negatives around us and we focus on life."