Her doctors, however, warned her that removing the tumor would require invasive surgery that could leave her with brain damage or blindness.
Wanting relief from the pain, but not willing to take the risk of permanent physical or mental damage, Scott along with her husband, began searching for an alternate procedure that could treat the problem without the potential danger.
“The sad thing is that people don’t know there are other options than what their small-town doctor is telling them,” said Scott about the procedure.
Scott was diagnosed with a benign tumor that started in the covering of the brain and grew into the bone. In Scott’s case, the meningioma grew into the bone behind her left eye, close to her optic nerve. To reach the area, traditional surgery would have involved removing part of the skull and getting to the underside of the brain to get to the tumor. The danger to the patient in these cases is high.
Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Skull Base Brain Surgery had a startling solution. Instead of working from the top of the head, they would go in through the eyelid. This procedure is still rare because there has to be a specialized team gathered that has experience in both brain and eye surgery.
Additionally, the size and location of the tumor have to be taken into consideration, but when all of the variables work out, the procedure can be much better for the patient.
“The nice thing about it is, we have to saw off much less of your head,” explained Dr. S. Tonya Stefko, UPMC’s director of orbital and oculoplastic surgery, to the Clinton Herald. Dr. Stefko was part of the team that operated on Scott’s brain.
The procedure to remove the tumor took longer than usual because of the conditions the surgeons had to take into account, but Scott was back at work in her psychotherapy practice within two weeks.
“I feel like a walking miracle,” Scott told the Petoskey News.
