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Methodist Dallas Medical Center
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Summer 2015
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Wide awake during
brain surgery?
Wrap your head around this: Methodist Dallas
Medical Center is now removing brain tumors while
patients are awake.
Yes, you read that correctly. Michael Oh, MD, PhD,
with the Methodist Moody Brain and Spine Institute,
performed the hospital’s first awake craniotomy
last October.
During the procedure, patients feel no pain and
are able to communicate with the neurosurgeon.
Using probes, the surgeon is able to map out specific
language areas of the brain to determine if a portion
or all of the tumor can be removed safely without
affecting the patient’s speaking abilities.
“We ask the patients a series of questions that
become progressively harder, starting with ‘What
is your name?’ and potentially working up to math
equations,” Dr. Oh says.
This new surgery at Methodist Dallas signals a
healthy and hopeful departure from former methods
of tumor removal — and that’s something to
talk about!
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Watch Vanita Currin, RN, as she describes
her journey from excruciating pain to—after
surgery at Methodist Dallas—playing with
her kids again and regaining her hope for
the future.
had a great support system through it all, especially fromMethodist.”
Today Vanita is cancer-free and loves that she can still keep
up with her children. She’s also making plans to further her
nursing education.
“I knew someday I would hear that I was cancer-free, but when
I finally did, it was like, ‘Wow. Now what do I do?’” Vanita says.
“Then I realized, the sky’s the limit.”
Vanita Currin (second from left), says
“the sky’s the limit”
after surviving cancer and a collapsed vertebra with the
help of Methodist Health System. Now she can be there for her husband, Nikolas Smith, and keep up with her three children.
