New Mom With Brain Tumor Turns To Boston Hospital For Keyhole Brain Surgery
BOSTON (CBS) -- Imagine giving birth to a premature baby and then being told you have a brain tumor. That's what happened to a woman from Holden. But thanks to a new approach at Brigham and Women's Hospital, this new mom was able to have brain surgery and quickly return to her newborn son.
At 27 weeks pregnant, Bethany Shea was diagnosed with preeclampsia and had an emergency C-section. Then she went blind.
"It was a pregnancy complication due to my high blood pressure," Bethany explained.
Bethany regained her vision, but worried she had had a stroke, doctors ordered an MRI. But instead of a stroke, it revealed a brain tumor.
"I'm a new mom and this thing in my head, what is it?" Bethany wondered, but she was preoccupied caring for her newborn son.
Bethany was eventually diagnosed with a low-grade glioma, a pre-cancerous brain tumor that needed to come out. Due to its location, surgery would be risky and she could lose the ability to speak.
"It's very frustrating because you feel like you can talk, but you really can't, and you're trying to mother a young child," said Dr. Omar Arnaout, a neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Dr. Arnaout has been using a novel technique to remove brain tumors through so-called "keyhole" incisions in the skull.
"The idea is that if you bring your face all the way up to the hole, you'll see little slivers of the room, but if you can somehow get a camera through that hole, and if that camera has angles, then all of the sudden you can really see the whole room," explained Dr. Arnaout.
Keyhole surgery allows smaller, tailored, customized openings for each patient.
"The goal though is not to make small openings," says Dr. Arnaout. "It's really to get the job done with the least amount of disruption to the brain. And the best way to protect the brain is to keep it covered," he adds.
Patients experience less pain, better cosmetic results, and often go home the next day.
Bethany underwent surgery back in February and woke to Dr. Arnaout asking her basic questions like "who's the president" and "what's the year".
"With him asking me questions and answering," said Bethany, "he knew he did it right. And he didn't take away my speech."
She added, "My husband was like he's like the Tom Brady of neurosurgeons."
Bethany was able to quickly return home to her son, John, and both are thriving.
"I know that life is a precious gift and my son is a precious gift and each day is a miracle and I'm just proud to be alive and be here to say that, " said Bethany.
There is a chance Bethany's tumor could return years from now so she'll be monitored closely.
Reportedly, the Brigham is one of only about a dozen hospitals in the country, and the only one in Boston, that performs keyhole brain surgery.
