When Dr. Kassam and his team learned of Schaeffer’s situation, they began working to get her transferred from Pennsylvania. But there was another problem: her insurance was refusing to coordinate and approve transportation.
Thankfully, Schaeffer’s partner found Angel Medflight, which coordinated an air ambulance to get Schaeffer to Chicago. Once she arrived, they stabilized her in the ICU and assessed the issue.
As it turned out, Schaeffer had been born with what’s called a vascular malformation in her brain — a group of irregular and tightly packed small blood vessels with weak, thin walls that can be prone to bleed, as had happened to Schaeffer.
“Dr. Kassam told my family, ‘We’re late to the game, but we’re still in it’,” recalled Schaeffer.
Of Dr. Kassam’s many revolutionary accomplishments in the field of neurosurgery, he pioneered the development of “conscious surgery,” a technique that is exactly what it sounds like: brain surgery performed while the patient is conscious.
“We didn't know if it was going to work,” explained Dr. Kassam. “Ideally, we have to intervene within the first day.”
The day after Schaeffer arrived, Dr. Kassam went in to remove the blood clot that had formed on her brain. “The surgery was surreal,” said Schaeffer.
“The brain has no pain receptors, so we don't use anesthesia,” explained Dr. Kassam. “We use a sedation method that ensures the patient’s consciousness is never sedated at any point.”
It’s important that the patient remains conscious so Dr. Kassam and his team can assess motor function during the procedure, but there is another, more primary reason.
“The only way I can protect your consciousness — your personality, thought, memory, insight, judgment, emotions — is to make sure it is available to you and to us while we're working,” explained Dr. Kassam. “It’s impossible to protect your consciousness while you are subconscious.”
“As we got the clot out in the operating room, she started to move in real time,” recalled Dr. Kassam.
“Everybody was clapping,” said Schaeffer. “It was wonderful.”
After being initially transferred to the Milwaukee hospital where her sons work for inpatient physical and occupational therapy, Schaeffer is now back home in Pennsylvania and continuing her recovery at local outpatient therapy. She said in addition to her sons and partner, her daughter, friends and community have all played a huge role in getting her through this journey.
“I’ve gotten all of my abilities back,” she said. “I can be completely independent.”
She continues to work on coordination, balance and strength, and she is making remarkable progress. She recently went on a 5-mile hike.
As Schaeffer continues her healing journey, she said she wants to see everyone have access to the procedure that saved her life. “Dr. Kassam is like my angel on earth,” she said. “My hope for the world is that this procedure he created will one day be available to everyone.”
Thanks to Dr. Kassam’s work, that day is coming.
“I've been doing this for the better part of 20 years — we're in the early phase of the adoption,” said Dr. Kassam. “I absolutely believe this is going to be scalable; we're a few years away.”
