Surgical technician works with doctor who saved her life
Ten years after surviving a burst brain aneurysm that almost claimed her life, Lauren Melnick-Lamb, a surgical technologist at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, approached a co-worker for his medical opinion on where to go for a follow-up appointment.
She had no idea that the co-worker she approached, someone she has passed countless times in the hallways, was one of the neurosurgeons who saved her life so many years ago.
“Fate brought us together,” Melnick-Lamb said. “One of my heroes and lifesavers has been right here, working with me in the same hospital all along.”
Early symptoms of a life-threatening brain aneurysm can be easy to overlook. Ten years ago, Melnick-Lamb experienced the worst headache of her life, and her vision was blurred. Then she lost all feeling on the left side of her body and lost consciousness, landing her in the emergency department at a local Chicago hospital.
Imaging showed that a blood vessel in Melnick-Lamb's brain bulged, forming a brain aneurysm, and burst. Doctors performed surgery to control the brain bleed, and Lauren spent two weeks recovering at the hospital before being discharged home.
Fast forward 10 years, Melnick-Lamb is now due for a 10-year follow-up appointment to check on the aneurysm. She approached Dr. Raed Abusuwwa, a well-known neurosurgeon at the hospital where she worked, for his opinion on where to go for the appointment. Eager to help, he asked a series of questions, each one more probing than the next.
“He asked me very specific questions, like if my husband brought me to the hospital and what I was doing when my aneurysm ruptured. I answered his questions and told him my aneurysm was clipped,” Melnick-Lamb recalls.
“I know, I was there,” Abusuwwa responded to her. “I remember all my patients.”
Abusuwwa remembered Melnick-Lamb's questions at an appointment following the surgery, when she asked how soon she'd be able to dye her hair again or go on a roller coaster. As he recalled these detailed moments, Melnick-Lamb realized the person who saved her life was standing right before her. They took a selfie to commemorate their reunion.
Melnick-Lamb, who still loves to have her hair done and visit amusement parks with her friends to this day, believes their reunion was fated.
“I cried as we hugged, and I thanked him for saving my life all those years ago and that I have been trying to pay it forward ever since,” Melnick-Lamb says. “This has been one of the most special moments of my life.”
“I was really very humbled to see Lauren thriving and giving back to her community so many years after her brain injury. To be part of her story has been the greatest gift, and the reunion gave me a boost of hope that will keep me going for many years to come,” Abusuwwa says. “Her survivorship story will not only inspire others but also raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of brain aneurysms.”