Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/137462
Unexpected Company: A Meningioma It was a crisp January morning, and Linda Krywinski had started an ordinary day of work at Colts Neck High School. By 10 a.m., however, her day had become anything but ordinary. L inda, 48, suffered a grand mal seizure and was rushed to CentraState Medical Center for stabilization and diagnosis. A SHOCKING FIND Scans revealed that the cause of the seizure was a large tumor pressing on Linda's brain. Mark McLaughlin, MD, board-certified neurosurgeon with Princeton Brain and Spine Care and on staff at CentraState, diagnosed it as a meningioma—a slow-growing tumor that resides in the membranes between the brain and the skull. Potential Symptoms of Meningiomas • Sensory problems, such as changes in vision or hearing loss • Memory loss • Poor physical coordination, including weakness in arms or legs • Bad headaches • Seizures • Hydrocephalus, an abnormal accumulation of spinal fluid in the brain • Behavioral changes 10 Summer 2013 Linda remembers Dr. McLaughlin telling her that it would be all right, that she could relax. Linda was scheduled for surgery with Seth Joseffer, MD, also a board-certified neurosurgeon with Princeton Brain and Spine Care. "Dr. Joseffer was wonderful, Linda says. "I didn't feel like " I was being talked at. He made sure that I understood what was going to happen. Mark McLaughlin, MD, So did Dr. McLaughlin. By the time they board-certified neurosurgeon would leave, you would have a good idea of what they were doing. " Yet, Linda notes, "I had always had music in my head. I don't know when it stopped. It's back again now, though. My general disposition seems to be that I'm happy again. My handwriting had gotten bad, but it's now improved. I'm doing creative things, like singing and cooking, again. I hadn't realized that I had stopped doing them until I started up again recently. " Dr. Joseffer explains that the slow growth of the meningioma allows the brain to acclimate to the pressure. Divya Menon, MD, "Sometimes, meningiomas cause very subtle symptoms board-certified that,cardiologist in retrospect, have been going on for a very long time for the patients, Dr. Joseffer says. " Healthy Directions