Tammy Fears makes comeback from two brain aneurysms

WOMEN AT HIGHER RISK THAN MEN

At age 39, Tammy Fears is slender, has never smoked, and leads an active life. She appears to be the epitome of health. Last December, when she began having headaches and pain on the left side of her head, she assumed it was allergies. But when she told her allergist about the numbness she’d just begun feeling in her face, he insisted she have further tests.

Two imaging scans confirmed that Tammy had a brain aneurysm. Two of them, in fact. Aneurysms are weak spots in arteries that balloon out and may rupture. If the aneurysm ruptures, it allows blood at high pressure to pump into neighboring tissues, causing what is called a hemorrhagic stroke.

Tammy immediately began researching the treatment of brain aneurysms on the internet, discovering the Neurovascular Surgery Service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Neurosurgeon Robert Singer, MD. “I was prepared to go to Boston if needed,” she said. But then she found out that Dr. Singer was now right here in Nashville.

A nationally recognized neurosurgeon, Dr. Singer is among the nation’s first neurosurgeons to use the newest minimally invasive technologies being developed for treating brain aneurysms, including intracranial coils and stents. In addition to bringing new hope for people who cannot tolerate major brain surgery, these new procedures make it easier to treat most aneurysms.

“I was so comfortable, even after being in his office for only a couple of minutes. I was ready for surgery,” she said.

In the past, doctors could only fix aneurysms with major surgery which involved removing part of the skull. But now, a new approach using metal coils allows physicians to repair the damaged vessels without cutting through the skull. The procedure involves feeding the coil through a catheter in the leg and up to the brain. The material fills the entire aneurysm cavity, preventing any rupture. Then a special stent is placed at the end of the aneurysm to create a permanent seal. The minimally invasive procedure means there’s a lower chance of complications and a shorter stay in the hospital.

However, people like Tammy whose aneurysms had a wide neck haven’t been able to be treated with the coil technology until just a few months ago when a new stent was introduced by Boston Scientific.

“The Neuroform2 Stent is an intracranial stent that can be used to help bridge wide-necked aneurysms that previously we couldn’t treat with a coil,” Dr. Singer explains. “In order to use a coil, the neck of the aneurysm has to be small enough to secure it. A broad-based neck allows the coil to fall back into the parent vessel. Prior to the development of this new stent, these patients would have had no other treatment option but major brain surgery.”

Tammy’s surgery was on January 6, and she went home two days later. A third aneurysm found in her neck was treated a couple of months later.

“Dr. Singer said that my case was very unusual, especially since I have no family history and no risk factors, like smoking,” she said. “I am so grateful for Dr. Singer and the staff at Skyline. If not for them, my situation could have turned out a lot worse. I felt so fortunate to have found such a great doctor so close to home.”

Tammy is back to doing everything she was doing before, including horseback riding, but on a smaller scale since she’s under doctor’s orders not to overexert herself. And, she has a great attitude, wanting to use her experience to help others ... and moving on to enjoy life without fear. “Every second you spend worrying is a second of your life gone,” she says. When I get up in the morning, I’m thankful to be here and I want to live each day to the fullest.