77-year-old Owatonna, MN, resident Don Matejcekhad just come out of two days of surgery for a problem that began in November 2019 when he noticed some numbness in his left arm and leg. A month later, he started getting weakness on that side. The weakness evolved into paralysis and Don had to use a walker, dragging his left leg along. After an MRI showed a mass where the brain stem joins the spinal cord, Don was referred to the University of Minnesota Neurosurgery Department and into the care of skull base specialist, Andrew Venteicher, MD, PhD.
In a vertical climb to avoid collision with a towering mountain, a plane ejects cargo to gain altitude. Investigators at the University of Minnesota showed that cancer cells perform similar feats in escaping the killing effects of radiation. Their work was published in the May issue of the journal, EBiomedicine.
Nurses who work with neurosurgical patients at the University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) in Minneapolis care deeply about many things – their patients, their profession, and their love of learning. This profile looks at what Nurse Practitioners Suzie Shane and Sarah Heinle and Registered Nurse Mary Speake find so rewarding about being a neuroscience nurse.
Like many patients with glioblastoma, 28-year-old Valerie Galvin had run out of options. She and her M Health Fairview doctors had tried everything, from resection to radiation and chemotherapy to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Her tumor kept coming back and was eventually in a location that made it dangerous to surgically remove. But Valerie – and her doctors – weren’t willing to give up.
Nurse Practitioner Mia Phan joined the department, April 27, in the middle of a pandemic. But that doesn’t alarm her. “My goal is to stay calm and stay safe,” she said. “I will follow hospital coronavirus protocols and engage in virtual visits with patients, when appropriate. My goal is to provide the safest, most effective care for our patients.”
