Patient Stories

Meet Stuart Freedman

" I’m just thrilled to be alive. "

- Stuart Freedman

EEA patient

When Something Doesn't Smell Quite Right

Over two years ago, 59-year-old Stuart Freedman lost his sense of smell, a symptom of an even graver condition that eventually led him to seek help from nationally renowned neurosurgeon Amin Kassam, MD.“I denied that anything was wrong since I had no pain,” said Freedman, who is now Director of Compliance at Medicaid managed care company Molina Healthcare. “I didn’t think the loss of smell was serious. Little did I know how serious it could be.”Freedman eventually went to his primary care physician in August 2007 and asked for an MRI.“My physician reviewed the MRI with me in his office, and the tumor was as clear as a bell,” Freedman said.

Understanding the Options

Freedman was diagnosed with a meningioma, a benign tumor growing from the lining around the brain that affects more than 13,000 Americans each year. The news was shocking to Freedman and his two sons, both in their early twenties, who weren’t sure what was in store for their father. They were worried but didn't know how to express their feelings,” Freedman explained. Freedman knew the situation was serious and immediately started seeking out the best treatment options available. A friend referred him to a radiation oncologist to see if he was a candidate for the gamma knife procedure, which is the use of radiation to treat brain tumors without surgery.
“The radiation oncologist said the tumor was too big for the gamma procedure so he referred me to Dr. Kassam,” Freedman said. “Dr. Kassam called me the next day and explained how the tumor, which started at the base of my skull in the area of smell and taste, had grown upward compressing and squeezing my brain until the tumor was about the size of a plum. He went on to say that he felt the tumor could be removed with a new minimally invasive technique – brain surgery through the nose.” 

Bottom line, my decision was based on facts.

The procedure Dr. Kassam recommended for Freedman was the Expanded Endonasal Approach (EEA), a procedure that uses the nostrils as natural portals to remove brain and skull base tumors.In a conventional open craniotomy, surgeons must make incisions in the scalp, open the skull and manipulate the brain.  Recovery from a conventional craniotomy can be as long as two weeks.  The endonasal approach, on the other hand, is a minimally invasive technique that does not require any incisions or manipulation of the brain.

“The real value to the patient is that the brain, and in this case a swollen brain, is not manipulated,” Dr. Kassam said. “It is less invasive and allows for a potentially quicker recovery time.”When Dr. Kassam first discussed this new procedure, Freedman wasn’t sure if it was the best option.“I had some doubts abut the nasal approach, so I did an extensive amount of due diligence to make sure it was the right technique to remove my tumor,” Freedman, who interviewed a number of other neurosurgeons, said.
“Bottom line, my decision was based on facts, outcomes and experience.”

Thanks to Dr. Kassam, I’m still here and tumor free.

Freedman ended up being extremely happy with his decision to go through with the procedure. Though the tumor was more involved with the brain tissue than anticipated, the more than ten hour surgery went flawlessly under the skilled-hands of Dr. Kassam. “I miss what people take for granted with their sense of smell and taste. I've always enjoyed a good meal, and I still do, but I just don't taste all of the more subtle flavors,” Freedman explained.
“But at least, thanks to Dr. Kassam, I’m still here and tumor free. I’m just thrilled to be alive.”

The condition and treatment of this patient may not be representative of all such cases as each situation and patient is unique.