My Thank-you to Dr. Laura Oppenheim

For some time, last summer, I had been experiencing ‘pins and needles’ in both my hands and feet and sometimes in the left side of my head. I mentioned it to Dr. Oppenheim, thinking it probably wasn’t anything serious. She said, “Let’s get an MRI of the brain for you.” I thought, “Oh-h-h, darn! My BRAIN now?!” I’d already had MRI’s and X-rays for other parts of my body that year. “And now, my BRAIN??” I decided not to rush to get the appointment set up.
After a couple of weeks, I thought I’d better get the MRI over with and scheduled the appointment. On the afternoon the MRI was performed, Dr. Oppenheim called me and, gently but firmly, told me that something had been spotted and that it needed immediate attention. She quickly referred me to University of Pennsylvania’s ER and then phoned ahead to alert them to my condition. Someone in the Neurosurgery Department at Penn was to assess my situation. I didn’t hesitate to act this time.
Dr. Jan-Karl Burkhardt, head of the Neurosurgery Department looked at my MRI’s and labs and later talked to me on line. He scheduled a cerebral angiogram -- a fascinating process. A wire was introduced into my body through my right groin and threaded up through my body into my left nasal cavity and then on to the left side of my brain. Photographs were to be taken and I was to be instructed to hold my breath each time a photograph was taken to assure accuracy.
In a second on-line appointment, Dr. Burkhardt stated that I would need surgery on the left side of my brain where I had a blockage. Veins and arteries had created alternative routes around it and created quite a snarl. I made an appointment for the surgery.
During the month I had to wait for he surgery, I tried to keep my focus on the fascinating part of the procedure (which was to be similar to my cerebral angiogram) to try to keep my fears at bay. This time, I would be completely anesthetized.
A month later, I underwent the surgery and it was a success! I learned that if the condition of tingling hands, feet and head, had not been diagnosed, I had been a candidate for a stroke. Even death. I am so grateful that Dr. Oppenheim diagnosed my symptoms quickly and correctly, preventing a debilitating event. I’m an artist and I now have a new lease on life.
And I now follow through quickly on instructions from my doctor!