Health
A Local Woman’s Road to Recovery after an accidental fall reveals a Brain Tumor
Allison Ostrowski had been noticing changes in her vision but she didn’t think much of it. She assumed it was time for new glasses. Then, one morning, a freak accident changed everything.
Allison was rushing around when she slipped on a puppy pad and fell, hitting her head on a table. She had to be taken to the ER at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. After Allison was admitted to the neuro-ICU and underwent an MRI, neurologists delivered shocking news: she had a brain tumor. The tumor was pressing on Allison’s left optic nerve.
“I was having issues with my vision but had been attributing it to needing a new prescription for my glasses,” Ostrowski said. “You never think that something like this can happen to you until it does.”
Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Associates, Dr. Krish Vigneswaran, said anyone having changes in their vision should check in with their primary care physician to ensure there is nothing more to do than a visual acuity check.
“Some symptoms may alert their physician to looking further into potential causes for the vision change,” said Dr. Vigneswaran.
Dr. Vigneswaran determined Ostrowski’s tumor was located in a deep part of the brain adjacent to the fibers that control her vision. During surgery, he was able to successfully remove it completely.
The road to recovery, however, has its challenges. Allison spent six weeks recovering before returning to work and continues to experience fatigue, brain fog and other lingering effects.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling or sensation of a piece of your skull that was cut out and then placed back in. They said some patients take only a couple weeks to go back to work, but I definitely needed the entire 6 weeks as my vision and the post-op nausea was a real problem,” Ostrowski said.
Now, she wants to share her story with a message she hopes others will take to heart: Don’t ignore changes in your health or assume they’re nothing to worry about. Even when symptoms may seem minor or easy to explain away, they should be taken seriously.
“If something doesn’t feel quite right, get it checked,” she said. “We are the ones who know our bodies the best.”
Ostrowski will continue to do follow-up MRI’s to ensure nothing has started growing back.
Source: Memorial Hermann
