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Patient Story Blog
Patients' Feelings and Stories About Their Neurosurgery Treatments
The Department of Neurosurgery is committed to providing the highest quality of patient care.
It is an honor and a privilege to share a few of our patients' stories here.
- Learn what others have experienced and the types of treatment they have undergone.
- Understand our patients' feelings about their treatments.
- Increase your understanding of the issues facing your loved ones.
- Submit your story
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Jennifer - Moyamoya disease |
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Aiden - Brain (Sturge-Weber Syndrome) This rare congenital condition affects one in 50,000 Americans. In 4-year-old Aiden's case, a deep purple birthmark on his face and scalp was the first sign that he had this rare syndrome. The birth mark is associated with blood vessels within his brain that with seizures were slowly destroying cortex. Violent seizures threatened the destruction of the other hemisphere. Read Aiden's Story  |
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Mike - Spine I was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord condition at the age of 31. I live in Columbus, Ohio, but was encouraged to find the best medical center for treatment. I began traveling around the country from hospital to hospital (including the Mayo Clinic, Mass General, the Cleveland Clinic, Cedars Sinai...) to see doctor after doctor in hopes of finding a treatment for my condition. Read Mike's Story Read Mike's Case History |
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Lucy - Epilepsy and Tumor Our only daughter Lucy, who is now 12-years old, was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis. For the past ten years, we have treated her with medications as prescribed by her doctors. But the last few years have been the most heart-wrenching years for Lucy and our family. Read Lucy's Story Read Lucy's Case History |
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Robert - Brain Tumor My husband, Bob, was diagnosed with a brain tumor on May 16, 2004. Bob's tumor is located in his right occipital cortex, the area of the brain that controls vision. The diagnosis was made after he began having visual seizures (he would see a kaleidoscope of colors and lights in his right eye). Since he was born blind in his left eye, visual issues with his right eye are taken very seriously. Read Robert's Story Read Robert's Case History |
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April - Trigeminal Neuralgia It all started a year and a half ago, a couple of weeks before a family trip to Las Vegas. I felt dental pain in my left lower jaw and went to the dentist. Dental X-rays did not show any problems, but I had begun grinding my teeth so the dentist made me a bite guard and gave me a prescription for Vicodin. He also sent me to an endodontist, but there was no indication that I needed a root canal. Read April's Story Read April's Case History |
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Diego - Brain Trauma On September 15, 2007, one week before I was to start attending school at UC San Diego, I fell from a moving car and underwent an emergency Craniectomy. Read Diego's Story Read Diego's Case History |
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Andrea - Brain AVM This year was a powerful one. I went from being a perfectly normal and healthy 41 year old gal to undergoing a critical brain surgery. Read Andrea's Story Read Andrea's Case History |
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LaShawn - Brain Tumor For a few months now LaShawn has experienced numbness and weakness on one side of her body. She underwent several tests and all came back negative and so they finally MRI'd her head and the next thing we know they are sending us down to Chico to see a Neurosurgeon. Read LaShawn's Story |
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Lidia - Spine AVM On October 27, 2006, I received a shocking phone call. My neurologist said the results of a recent MRI showed inflammation in my thoracic spine and below. Read Lidia's Story Read Lidia's Case History |
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Hank - Brain Tumor On May 8, 2003 our lives were forever changed. We received a phone call from our neurologist saying that Hank had a brain tumor. Read Hank's Story Read Hank's Case History |
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Jim - Spine Trauma August 28, 2006 is a day that my life changed forever. It’s a day that I have no recollection of. I only know what occurred by what others have told me and by the pictures and news footage that I have seen. Read Jim's Story Read Jim's Case History |
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Cathy - Brain Tumor What could have been the end of my life ended up being a beginning to a new and improved self. On that day, I was diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor on my right frontal lobe. Read Cathy's Story Read Cathy's Case History |
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Nichele - Spinabifida I would like to introduce you to our daughter, Nichele, who will be 10 years old in October. While she is in public school with her third grade classmates, no one would ever guess that she has had 24 surgeries. Read Nichele's Story View Nichele's Picture Gallery |
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Evelyn - Brain Tumor I met a new person on the road to recovery: myself. Awake? Asleep? It was hard to know. So much had happened, and here I was in a hospital bed. My husband, Frank was by my side. Read Evelyn's Story Read Evelyn's Case History |
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Anna - Brain AVM At Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in February of 2006, as a 19 year old being treated for my schizoaffective disorder, it was discovered on an MRI and CT scan that I was born with an AVM (arterial venous malformation). Read Anna's Story Read Anna's Case History |
