Students observe brain surgery, learn how their efforts help
Students Supporting Brain Tumor Research members visited Barrow Neurological Institute to observe a brain tumor surgery via live, closed-circuit television.
The students observed the removal of a meningioma, a tumor that forms in the meninges, the area between the skull and the brain, and that is usually benign. Typically, meningiomas occur in people ages 40 to 60. They are twice as common in women as in men.
The surgical observation gave the SSBTR students an opportunity to see how their contributions help brain tumor patients. Brain tumors are the leading cause of solid-tumor cancer deaths among teenagers.
Amy Lindsey, a student at Pinnacle Peak High School who is interested in a medical research career, said the observation was a unique opportunity for her to learn more about a subject she is very interested in. “I was very excited,” she said. “I’ve never seen a surgery before.”
Steve Glassman, who is a student government advisor at Pinnacle Peak High School, established SSBTR after a friend of his from his home state of Massachusetts became involved with the Brain Tumor Society. Glassman had been looking for something that would get his students to become more civic-minded. “It’s a great cause,” he says.
“It gets the students involved in community service, and it raises money to stop students from dying.” There are now more than 100 schools involved in SSBTR, and the annual walk is by far the biggest event.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams how much it has grown,” Glassman says.
