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Methodist Richardson Medical Center
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Summer 2014
Two sisters are grateful for advanced
aneurysm treatment that saved their lives
DISCOVER THE NEW METHODIST RICHARDSON
Methodist Richardson now features advanced neuro
suites for elective coiling procedures. Find a physician
to refer you to the Methodist Brain and Spine Institute
a
On
a June day in 1990, Suzanne Grayson,
Melinda Kianpour, and John Harvey drove
their mother to the airport and wished her a
safe journey to Scotland to visit family.
Unfortunately, those goodbyes were
their last. During the vacation that kicked
off her retirement, Rosemary Harvey had a
ruptured brain aneurysm at age 61.
“For 24 years, this hung over our heads,”
Kianpour, 50, says, knowing that aneurysms
can be hereditary, especially in women.
Even migraine headaches brought on fear.
“My mother had migraines occasionally,
so every time I got one, I thought, ‘Uh oh,
this might be it,’” says Grayson, 54.
That’s what happened in February 2013.
Her headache was so bad that she went to
the emergency department at Methodist
Melinda Kianpour (left) and Suzanne Grayson, pictured
with their brother, John Harvey, have a bright future
ahead of them. Because they had aneurysm coiling at
Methodist Dallas, they no longer have to live in fear.
Richardson Medical Center, where she
works as director of cardiopulmonary,
neurodiagnostic, and rehabilitation services
and as stroke coordinator. Neurologist Ron
Bell, MD, ordered tests that confirmed
Grayson’s worst fear.
An easy fix for an aneurysm
Dr. Bell referred Grayson to neurosur-
geon Ben Newman, MD, on the Methodist
Health System medical staff and among the
few neurosurgeons in the Metroplex who
perform an advanced procedure called
aneurysm coiling.
“While the alternative, surgical
clipping, is safe and effective, it requires
full brain surgery,” Dr. Newman says.
“With coiling, we make only one small
incision near the groin and navigate with
X-ray imaging to the brain. Recovery
is shorter, and Suzanne didn’t need to
have her head shaved or deal with facial
bruising and swelling.”
While Grayson was having the coiling
procedure at Methodist Dallas Medical
Center, her siblings were being tested
for aneurysms.
Three weeks later, Kianpour learned
that family history had struck again: She,
too, had an aneurysm — twice the size of
her sister’s.
“Melinda is five years younger than
me with children in grade school,”
Grayson says. “The coiling procedure
saved her life and helped those children
keep their mother.”
A family free from fear
Grayson says she and her sister have
done extremely well, and they were
relieved to learn their brother did not
have an aneurysm.
“It’s a total game changer,” Kianpour
says. “The worst fear of my life is gone.
“Anyone with a family history should
get tested. It’s remarkable what they can
do now, and Methodist was incredible.”
Now accessorized with “brain bling” —
as Kianpour calls the platinum coil —
the sisters are enthusiastic about coiling
now also being available at the new
Methodist Richardson Medical Center.
“I lived with worry from age 26 to
49,” Kianpour says. “Knowing that
coiling is available and convenient and
that my kids won’t have to live with the
fear that I did — that’s priceless.”
ANEURYSM
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Brain
bling
