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Early this summer, June 20th to be exact, we will be celebrating the 20-year anniversary of my 23-hour brain surgery. The doctor who had saved my life by working tirelessly during the marathon operation is Dr. Charles Shih-Cheng Chang, a neurosurgen who has done his residency at Bethesda Naval Hospital (I had learned later that's where the U.S. Presdents go for their annual physical and other medical procedures) after graduating from Johns Hopkins University Medical School and is board certified in neurosurgery, pediatric neurosurgery, and neurology.
His qualification was conveyed to my husband and me by Dr. Gopal Guttikonda, the neurologist who had diagnosed my life-long brain tumor which had grown to the size of 4cm x 5cm x 6.5 cm, almost the equivalent of a tennis ball. "I would not recommend anyone but Dr. Chang at Scott & White Hospital," said Dr. Guttikonda.
After 10-day semi-comatose in the ICU and 30-day rehabilitation (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy), I went back to work as a reference librararian, later a restaurant assistant manager, and eventually a special education teacher.
I do have some subtle neurological deficits which can only be detected by the most sophisticated neuropsychological assessment. The traditional IQ test still ranks me at the top tier, similar to what I tested before the surgery. That's how good a neurosurgeon Dr. Chang is. He went to the center of my brain and got rid of the huge tumor 'piecemeal' without damaging the essence of who I am.
We were told by his staff that he had operated on me 23 hours straight by drinking milk and juice to sustain his energy. "It's the longest surgery he has ever done," said one of his staff. My pre-op physical was conducted by his then fiancee, Dr. Lauren Hobratch, an infectious disease specialist practising at the same hospital.
We went to their wedding just two months after the operation. Lauren's uncle was bragging about how she had donated one of her kidneys to her sister who had been on dialysis. No wonder the lady doctor always looked so pale. Some of the guests we had talked to wondered if I was Dr. Chang's relatives since we are of the same ethnic background.
"No," I would answer, "No relations - I am the miracle patient he had operated on for 23 hours." And I lived to tell the story.
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