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Methodist Dallas Medical Center
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Summer 2014
STARS
This
was not your typical morning
sickness. At six months pregnant,
Elizabeth Sanchez could neither walk
nor think straight.
Feeling weak, the University of
Texas at Arlington English instructor
lasted only two weeks into the 2012 fall
semester. Her husband, Bill, even had to
carry her to the bathroom on his back.
“I was admitted to the hospital
four different times for dehydration,
because I couldn’t eat or drink anything,”
Sanchez says. “I was pregnant and had
lost 20 pounds.”
Finally, Sanchez agreed to an MRI
scan. Lodged at the base of her brain
was a lemon-sized tumor blocking
a vital aqueduct and causing fluid to
build — a potentially fatal condition
called obstructive hydrocephalus.
It takes a team
Neurosurgeon Richard Meyrat, MD,
with the Methodist Moody Brain and
Spine Institute at Methodist Dallas
Medical Center, called together a team
of specialists.
“Obstructive hydrocephalus is an
emergency,” Dr. Meyrat says. “We do a lot
of complicated cases, so we were ready.”
The teamwork that went into
Sanchez’s successful procedure cannot
be underestimated, Dr. Meyrat says.
While he, assisted by neurosurgeon Ben
Newman, MD, used stealth navigation
technology to remove the tumor with
extreme precision, anesthesiologist Derek
Kieta, MD, and maternal-fetal medicine
physician Juan Arias, MD, monitored
Sanchez and her unborn daughter.
Diligence paid off. After the surgery,
Sanchez had immediate relief.
“The headache was gone,” she says.
“I was like, ‘Thank God!’”
Perfect timing
While the brain surgery was a success,
a biopsy found that the tumor was
malignant, calling for radiation therapy.
This required finesse in timing, because
therapy couldn’t begin until after
Sanchez delivered and her due date
was still three months out.
If they waited too long, the tumor
could grow back.
“We wanted to deliver her daughter
safely, but we also wanted her to be safe to
see her daughter grow up,” Dr. Meyrat says.
Steroid treatments accelerated the
baby’s lung development so that baby
Susana could be delivered two months
early via cesarean section.
While her daughter recovered in
Methodist Dallas’ level III neonatal
intensive care unit (NICU), Sanchez
started radiation treatment at Texas
Oncology – Methodist Dallas Cancer
Center under the supervision of
radiation oncologist Arve Gillette, MD.
Oncologist and hematologist Inna
Shmerlin, MD, was also involved with
the coordination of care.
“Methodist was our home away from
home for two months,” Sanchez says.
“We stayed in the hospital’s hotel until
I completed treatment in January. Every
morning, Bill walked me to radiation
before he went to work. Then I visited
Susana in the NICU until my radiation
session in the afternoon.
“Our experience was amazing. I was
grateful that we could be right there.”
Life is shining bright
Today, Sanchez is cancer-free and has
a healthy, happy baby. She extends “a
million thank-yous” to those who made
her care possible.
“They call this a place where life
shines bright,” she says. “It’s true, because
I thought of these people as stars. I
hope they know that they were God’s
gift to me.”
Elizabeth Sanchez is grateful for the team
that saved both her life and her baby’s
“Our experience was amazing. I was grateful
that we could be right there.”
— Elizabeth Sanchez
Thanking her
LUCKY
