Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

According to The Express Star today … a young man's open-brain surgery will be broadcast  National Geographic documentary soon to appear on TV ….

The patient will be awake while he and doctors rewire healthy parts of his brain and remove diseased parts. Did you know, by the way, that the brain itself does not feel pain – which is why a patient can be awake to help doctors by responding to what they can or cannot do – as they operate?

Writer Andy Rieger quoted the brain patient after the operation… “It’s amazing to me what kind of stuff I’m getting back. At first, I couldn’t walk or talk. It’s much better now,” Carson said.

Brandon Carson had always enjoyed health and was quite shocked to find a tumor, seizures and trouble keeping his balance. Brandon’s mother, Bobbi Ottis, had luckily met UCLA physicians years earlier and in that way made contact with Dr. Linda Liau – a UCLA neurosurgeon.

During surgery to remove the tumor, “a psychologist kept Brandon awake and drilled him with flashcards so the surgeon could map his brain and carefully avoid cutting into areas that control speech.”

Few people realize how far science has come to return brain functions and Brandon Carson offers hope to others who fall into similar trouble …  “There are resources out there. If a doctor tells you there’s nothing you can do, keep looking.”

This case interests me especially – because it shows the power of science to guide the brain back to healthy operation … pardon the pun … after surgery to remove a part that fails to work.

Not a bad news report – considering this is  Brain Attack Week! Carson’s story and his recovery should encourage anybody who read recent statistics that brain attacks are the 3^rd leading cause of deaths in the US.

What do you think?