When Rich Magdelain needed a second surgery for a brain tumor, he looked for other options. Then he read a newspaper article about a new way of doing neurosurgery, without incisions.
How is your health
today?
I’m doing great. I was treated successfully with Gamma Knife
radiosurgery in 2001. I have MRIs every two years, and the brain
tumor is not growing back. Basically all that’s left of it is scar
tissue. Now, I’m
doing everything I can to help Providence bring new Gamma
Knife technology to Oregon because there are so many more
applications that this tool can be used for.
How were you
first diagnosed?
It all started with horrible headaches I was having in May of 2000. I
first thought it was a delayed concussion from a snowboarding accident.
Then I thought I needed to get my eyes checked for glasses. It was the
ophthalmologist who suggested an MRI. Two days after that scan, I had
an appointment to see a neurosurgeon. They had found a racquetball-sized
tumor in the middle of my head.
What did the neurosurgeon say?
He said that if I hadn’t sought help, he would have given me less
than two weeks to live. Then he said, “Take this medicine and do
nothing that will get you excited, because a burst of adrenalin could
kill you. If you live until Sunday, we’ll take it out surgically.”