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Sun-News report
LAS CRUCES - A New Mexico State University student has returned to Las Cruces after having lifesaving spinal cord and brain surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.
Sandra Deming, 22, of Albuquerque, traveled to Phoenix to undergo two risky surgeries to remove a massive spinal cord tumor and two brain tumors that would have caused significant damage and impairment without surgery, according to a press release from the hospital.
"I found out on Oct. 15 that I had these tumors, and I found out a week later or so that I would need surgery. And so it was really tough. I had a rough last semester," said Deming.
After three years of misdiagnosis, numbness and pain, Deming was diagnosed on Oct. 15 with Von-Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a rare condition that causes tumors to grow in the spine and brain. The spinal cord tumor was so large that any further growth would have caused her to stop breathing on her own, paralysis of her arms and legs, and loss of bowel and bladder control.
Her spinal cord tumor was so large that her neurosurgeons did not feel comfortable operating and she was referred to neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Spetzler, director of Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's.
"Sandra's type of tumor was the largest in the spinal cord that I have ever seen in a functioning person," said Spetzler in a news release from the hospital. "Few hospitals in the world would attempt to remove the tumor
Spetzler completely removed the spinal cord tumor on Dec. 14 and six days later, she underwent a second surgery to have her brain tumors removed.
Deming returned to Las Cruces on Jan. 8 and will graduate from NMSU in May. She plans to apply for graduate school next year.
"It was a really scary situation that I've pushed through. It's been two months and things are getting better, so I'm happy," Deming said. "I'm just glad that I got to go to such a good hospital to get the procedures done. I can go back to my normal life now."
