For 23 years a Louisville doctor, the mother of two, lived knowing that a time bomb was ticking away in her brain. That time bomb was an aneurysm that grew so large it was considered inoperable. But as fate would have it, just as the aneurysm began causing symptoms too dangerous to ignore, a new medical procedure offered hope. The procedure, something her primary care physician calls a miracle, is performed at only a few dozen hospitals in the country, including Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville.
Jackie Hays tells us the story of this woman and the highly skilled endovascular surgeons at Norton Neuroscience Institute who gave her hope where there had been none.
A recent study found that one in 15 people in the U.S. will develop a brain aneurysm in their lifetime. In about 30 percent of cases, ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal. Brain aneurysms are most commonly detected in people ages 35 to 60.
