KETTERING, Ohio -- What started as a severe headache turned into the fight of a lifetime for a single mother from Springfield this past fall. At just 24 years of age, Debbie France learned that she had a brain tumor. Her only chance for survival was brain surgery and, making matters worse, she would have to be awake for it!

“They told me there was a possibility I would be paralyzed. I am a Christian, though, so I believe God was my ultimate surgeon. If it is meant to be, it is meant to be, and I believe I will see my son, Eli, graduate one day,” France said. “The only other time I had surgery was 18 months before my brain surgery when I had C-section to deliver Eli.”

Kettering Medical Center neurosurgeon Asif Bashir, MD, performed an awake craniotomy on Debbie on Oct. 14. It was only the third time such a procedure had been done in greater Dayton to extract a brain tumor. Dr. Bashir was assisted by a huge team that included neurologist Robert Simkins, DO, and anesthesiologist Roy Haines, MD. Sophisticated 3-D medical imaging procedures called “stealth neuro-navigation” were used to identify the borders of Debbie’s hand-ball-sized tumor. Functional MRI and PET scans were also fused with the steatlth to identify the tumor borders.

Senator Ted Kennedy endured a similar procedure for his brain tumor at Duke University Medical Center in June. He is going through the grueling follow-up procedures and pitfalls from come after such an invasive surgery. Debbie France’s awake craniotomy was followed by a series of radiation treatments and chemotherapy.

“Debbie was under light sedation and a local anesthetic solution that allowed us to expose her brain,” Dr. Bashir said. “It was important that she was awake because we needed her to follow commands – move her hand or talk – so we could pinpoint eloquent areas of the brain we did not want to touch in a surrounding area called the motor strip. We would probe areas of her brain with small electrical stimulators and see how she responded. If she had been asleep, we could have easily paralyzed her.”

Dr. Bashir was able to remove all Debbie’s tumor in the three-and-a-half hour procedure. She had minimal blood loss and no negative affects from anesthesia. Debbie was up and walking the same night, and she was released from the hospital in three days.

“Attitude has a lot to do with how patients do, and Debbie is very positive,” Dr. Bashir said. “She was totally supportive all along. Debbie came into pray with me prior to the surgery, and she brought an ice cream scoop with her. She said she thought it might help, demonstrating what a great sense of humor and positive attitude she had. I brought the scoop with me into the operating room, but I told her I didn’t think we would need it.”

Debbie wanted to start driving one week after surgery. Dr. Bashir did not allow this, but she was back working part-time within a month and now she is working full time.

“It felt like the whole surgery took 5-10 minutes,” Debbie said. “I remember feeling really hot, and I remember someone holding my hand the entire time. The whole room was cheering when they finished, then they took me to see my mom and dad and all my friends and I was with it and talking to them like nothing happened. I feel like I have lived a complete miracle.”