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Girl comes through brain surgery 'n sync
Tuesday, November 07, 2000 By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
On Friday afternoon, Allegheny General Hospital's Dr. Michael Forbes was removing a ventilator from Samantha Campbell, an Indiana County girl who underwent a delicate brain stem surgery late last month.
As he took out the device, he quietly explained to Samantha what her options would be if she still needed help breathing, which ultimately she would not.
At that point, though, he needed to know if she understood what he told her.
"Do you have any questions?" he asked.
Samantha did.
"Will I still get to go to my 'N Sync concert?" she wrote, scribbling on a tablet because her throat was raw from the tubes that had been there.
The answer Forbes had to give was no.
Despite a remarkable recovery from the Oct. 19 surgery, she did not get to see J.C. Chasvez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake or Joey Fatone, who performed at State College on Sunday night, even though her dad had tickets for her, her mom and two friends.
Instead, Samantha, of Heilwood, spent the day watching Disney videos with her older brothers, Joshua, 19, a sophomore at Pitt, and Joseph, 16, a junior at Penns Manor High School.
"She got real tired around 7 p.m., so we got her into bed. I noticed her looking up at the clock. She just started to cry," said her mother, Jolene, who with her husband, Charles, has been living at the hospital since Dr. Kyle Kim performed the 12-hour surgery.
Jolene Campbell at first thought her daughter was feeling sick. She quickly realized that her doe-eyed teen was broken-hearted over missing the concert.
Even so, the hospital staff has done its best to brighten her spirits.
"She was really bummed out," said Kim, a neurosurgeon who is so in tune with the needs of children --- especially 13-year-old girls --- that he even took to the trouble to make sure that Samantha's lovely mane of brown hair looked after the surgery like it did before. "Whatever we can do to help Samantha, we're going to do."
And not just medically.
Dr. Susan Kaczorowski, director of pediatric intensive care and Samantha's attending physician, provided two 'N Sync posters for the wall of her room as well as all five 'N Sync marionettes. Others at the hospital are thinking in terms of the game, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," trying to figure out if anyone at AGH knows anyone who knows somebody who can get Samantha tickets to a future 'N Sync concert that she can see when her recovery is complete.
"Right now it's just a matter of access," said Dan Laurent, the hospital's media director. "We have a call into the Make-A-Wish. We hope we can get her some tickets for a future date."
Samantha -- a seventh-grader who earns straight A's, plays basketball and is a junior majorette at Penns Manor Junior High -- was injured Feb. 28 when the car in which she was riding was hit by a drunk driver.
Samantha, her brother, Joe, and grandmother, Nathalie Stupic, all were hurt. Doctors at Allegheny General, where Samantha was treated, said she might experience headaches for a while afterward. She did through April, but they subsided in May. By June, though, the headaches were back.
At first, her mother thought they might have to do with Samantha's age and the fact that her body was changing. However, it soon became apparent that something else was wrong.
"We thought it was related to the accident," Jolene Campbell recalled.
Neurologists ordered a CAT scan, which showed nothing. Samantha went to a hearing specialist, and still no one could figure out why she was suffering from headaches that left her with nausea, dizziness and throbbing temples.
The Campbells turned to a pediatric neurologist, Dr. Imad Jarjour. He thought the headaches were migraines, but he ordered a magnetic resonance imaging test, or MRI, just to be sure there were no other problems.
By then, it was Oct. 2.
The Campbells took Samantha for the test at Indiana Hospital, not far from their home in the small town of Heiland.
"It was taking an awfully long time," Jolene Campbell recalled.
What the Campbells didn't know was that doctors in Indiana had discovered the aneurysm and already were on the phone with Jarjour. He, in turn, notified Kim.
"Finally, they came out and said, 'We saw something we didn't like," Campbell recalled.
Kim, the family learned, wanted to see Samantha. Immediately.
"They wanted us here at 2 p.m. That day. It was Oct. 2. We were here the second, third and fourth," Campbell recalled. "She just had this horrible look of panic on her face. I could have passed out."
The MRI showed that Samantha had a 1-inch aneurysm on her brain stem that was pushing it to the left. Such an occurrence is rare in adults and usually a result of hypertension or some other malady. But in a healthy teen like Samantha, it was most unusual. Doctors suspect it was there since birth.
"It's rare in children. In my career, I've only seen two this size," said Kim. "In Samantha's case, the location next to the brain stem made it really dangerous."
The aneurysm could have grown bigger and put pressure on Samantha's brain stem, slowly causing her to lose many physical functions. Worse, it could have ruptured.
"We were hysterical. If it had ruptured, I wouldn't be able to get her anywhere quickly enough. She would have died," her mother said.
With Samantha's birthday just six days later, Kim agreed to hold off on the surgery so she could celebrate turning 13.
Samantha agreed to avoid gym class and sporting activities. Her brothers agreed to no roughhousing.
And while her mother would have preferred that she stay home and do nothing, Samantha insisted on going to school, attending a volleyball game and even going to a dance.
The day after Samantha's birthday, the Campbells flew to Chicago for a second opinion. Doctors there seconded Kim's findings.
Samantha needed surgery, and she needed it right away.
So at 7 a.m. on Oct. 19, the sobbing family waved goodbye as Samantha was wheeled into surgery.
"She never cried until we kissed her and they wheeled her into that operating room," her mother said.
For her parents and siblings, the agonizing wait began. Five hours stretched to six. Then seven. Then nine. In the operating room, Kim worked to clamp both ends of the aneurysm so that it would begin to shrink.
In the waiting room, other families came and went.
Finally at 8:45 p.m., Kim came out and said Samantha was headed for her final CAT scan.
At 10:15 p.m., more than 15 hours after their day had begun, Samantha's parents could hold her hand.
"Part of what's gratifying is that she had a very dangerous condition and she's doing very well and will make a complete recovery," Kim said.
He is so pleased with Samantha's progress that by this week's end, she could be released to a rehabilitative facility.
And while she still can't eat because swallowing is difficult -- there's no talking about food in her room until she can -- doctors expect that will change this week.
The vision in her left eye, which is somewhat blurry, is expected to clear soon and her now lopsided smile eventually will return to normal.
"She is doing phenomenally well," said Kaczorowski said.
In addition to the 'N Sync memorabilia, Samantha's hospital room is filled with balloons, ladybugs -- for good luck -- cards from well-wishers and books that her mother reads to her constantly.
And while she is still sad about missing the concert and her chance to see J.C. Chasez, her favorite 'N Sync band member, she whispers that what she misses most of all are her friends.
That's supposed to change today.
Her best friend, Kayla Jusko, is coming to visit.
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