How Maria Overcame a Meningioma with ONS

This past May, Maria experienced the most disorienting week of her life, culminating in an emergency room admission, followed by surgery to remove a cranial tumor that she didn’t know existed. 
 
The month prior, her husband, Louis, noticed that Maria was not acting like herself. “He kept telling me something wasn’t right,” recalled Maria. She followed up that it wasn’t just him – her mother and brother agreed that something felt off. 
 
According to Louis, when he would ask Maria a question, she wouldn’t reply right away. Then she would say that she had already answered, when she actually had not. Maria developed a dull ache in her upper back, as well as new incontinence, and was even walking oddly by dragging her feet.  
 
Since she was in the midst of some personal events that were causing her anxiety, Maria attributed her behavioral abnormalities to stress. 
 
The week before her unplanned surgery, she attended an out-of-town wedding with Louis where other guests also noticed her different behavior: “I kept telling everyone, ‘What are you talking about? I’m fine!’”  
 
The next day at brunch, Maria felt like she was in a fog, and would stare instead of reacting to others. Louis immediately took her to the emergency room. All tests came back normal, so the providers there attributed the symptoms to menopause or anxiety and discharged her. A few days later, Maria visited her primary care physician who recommended a psychiatrist Maria was able to see that Friday. 
 
“I don’t even remember some of the appointment,” Maria explained. Both Louis and the psychiatrist noted that Maria was constantly tapping nervously, and was counting things to try to relax. When the psychiatrist asked questions, Maria stared out the window, unresponsive. 
 
After 10 minutes, the psychiatrist told Louis this was not a psych issue, and that Maria needed to get a brain scan immediately. She also took Maria’s blood pressure, which was sky-high. Script in hand, they went straight to Greenwich Hospital’s emergency department for the CT scan. 
 
“Honestly, it was like an out-of-body experience,” said Maria, who is grateful to her husband for managing the whole process.  
 
The next thing Maria remembers is waking up with Dr. Marc Otten, neurosurgeon at ONS, above her bed telling her that she had something growing inside of her skull. “He said it was a meningioma that was the size of a small fist, and was 99.99% benign,” said Maria. 
 
A meningioma is a primary central nervous system tumor that grows from the membranes around the brain and spinal cord, and is the most common type of tumor that forms in the head. Fortunately, it is very rare that they behave like cancer. 
 
Later, Maria’s family members would tell her that she just responded to Dr. Otten with a simple “okay,” which surprised them due to her past feelings towards medical procedures (Maria describes herself as a “doctor avoider”). 
 
“Dr. Otten told me that he was going to take it out, and that I’d be just fine,” said Maria. The surgery was performed three days later, and she was instantly herself when she woke up. Dr. Otten reported that the surgery was a success, and that everything went smoothly in the operating room. 
 
“As a surgeon, my goal is to help patients return to what matters most in their lives,” said Dr. Otten. “For Maria, what was most important was ensuring she could continue to be the person she’s always been.”  
 
Now, Maria is recovering well. She doesn’t feel any discomfort, and all her previously unexplained symptoms have disappeared. 
 
“Dr. Otten has such a calming presence, and he made me feel confident that everything was going to be okay with the way he explained things. I felt like I was in such good hands. He is kind, calming and beyond efficient, just making me feel at ease,” said Maria. “I feel very fortunate and blessed to have crossed his path in this situation.”