Kathy Crandall

Kathy Crandall works for a Minneapolis marketing firm and is a single mother of two children, Anna and Michael. She can't afford to be out of commission. But life has a funny way of throwing curveballs when you need them least. And it threw one Kathy's way in mid-2002.

Kathy was newly divorced, overweight and on the fast track, working 14 hours a day. "I felt like I never saw my kids, who were 5 and 7 at the time," she says.

Kathy accidentally hit her head on a cupboard door and within days started feeling like she had little fireworks going off in her head — painless, warm, always in the same area of her head. She tried to ignore the fireworks until their frequency necessitated she see her physician, who recommended an MRI.

The MRI revealed two brain tumors — both thought to represent relatively small meningiomas. One partly involved one of the main veins that drain blood out of the brain. Her physician advised her to see a neurosurgeon immediately.

"I realized at that moment that life as I knew it would never be the same," says Kathy.

Kathy met with two different neurosurgeons. One surgeon told her he preferred not to operate on her, given the location of the tumor near the vein. The other advised a wait and see approach.

Kathy decided to learn as much as she could about meningiomas and treatment options.

"My instincts told me that the tumors needed to come out. I did not want to wait and see what might happen," says Kathy. "My children need me. I decided to call Mayo Clinic. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be treated the way I was. My call was put right through to the neurosurgery department. I explained my situation to the receptionist, who asked me to fax my radiology reports. She said a staff neurosurgeon would review them and contact me within a few days. He called me the next day with an appointment time to see a neurologist and neurosurgeon within the week."

Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon Michael Link, M.D., recommended Kathy have Gamma Knife radiosurgery. The procedure uses gamma radiation to destroy diseased tissue in the brain and skull while preserving healthy tissue.

"The other surgeons I had consulted hadn't even mentioned Gamma Knife as an option for me," says Kathy. "Mayo Clinic has treated so many brains tumors in people from all around the world. I felt confident that my case was drawing on experience from those thousands of other cases. I was scared, but I had complete confidence and faith in Mayo Clinic and Dr. Link. They never made me feel rushed. In fact, I felt as if I was the only patient at Mayo Clinic at the time."
For the procedure, Kathy was fitted with a head frame, then treated with radiation aimed precisely at the tumors. She went home later that day.

"Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a phenomenon. It is painless and non-invasive and you don't have to stay in the hospital overnight," says Kathy.

While recovering, Kathy decided to read her journals — some of which were 20 years old.

"I had achieved a lot, but I had many goals that I hadn't reached," she says. "I had written in the journals about wanting to revisit mountains, working on my writing skills, having a good relationship. Something in me snapped, reading those journals. The brain tumor became my wake-up call to change my life. I decided to start living the life I wrote about in my journals."

Kathy, who had once been a runner and completed triathlons, lost weight, began eating right and began running again. Within six months, she had lost 60 pounds. She took a writing course and began working on a book. She started dating again. And she visited mountains. She quit her demanding, high-paying job and took a different job in the same field that allows her flexibility and time with her children.

Kathy's MRIs since the Gamma Knife treatment indicate that her tumors have shrunk. Her physicians at Mayo Clinic are optimistic that the tumors will not grow. Curiously, they do not know what caused the fireworks symptoms that caused her to seek help — and that stopped a few days after her brain tumors were diagnosed.

"I think it was a sign to get medical help," says Kathy. "Now the only fireworks I see are on the Fourth of July.

"I learned that life can be pulled out from you without a moment's notice," says Kathy. "I am grateful this curveball came my way so I could reprioritize my life. Mayo Clinic and Dr. Link gave me a second chance. He may not think that what he does is remarkable or brilliant. But to my children, my parents and everyone else who loves me and cares about me, Dr. Link matters a great deal."