Alexian Brothers Neurosciences Institute
Specialists Pool Expertise to Thwart a Silent Killer

It was a lovely fall day. Candy Steinbauer's two sisters had come over to her house to help her do some yard work and cleanup before cold weather set in. Candy started to mow her back lawn when she suddenly got a very bad headache, the worst she's ever had. She went indoors to cool off and take a rest, thinking that would solve the problem. "I was washing up when I got really dizzy. I called my sisters for help, and then I passed out," says Candy. Her sisters called 911. The paramedics examined her, but she refused to go to the hospital. When she didn't get any better, her sisters insisted on taking her to the nearest emergency room. After preliminary testing, Candy was transferred to Alexian Brothers Medical Center, a Primary Stroke Center. There, an angiogram showed Candy had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage from a brain aneurysm, or a bleeding stroke.

Two different medical specialists at Alexian Brothers Medical Center then teamed up to determine the best course of treatment for Candy. "This type of professional collaboration is what makes us so unique," says Wende Fedder, R.N., director of stroke and neurovascular services for Alexian Brothers Hospital Network. "Candy's aneurysm was in a difficult location and morphology for surgical clipping," says Dr. Tim Malisch, part of a team of neurointerventional radiologists available around-the-clock in the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network. After consulting neurosurgeon Dr. Szymon Rosenblatt, they agreed to treat her aneurysm with coiling, a minimally invasive procedure intended to stabilize the aneurysm and stop the bleeding. Because of the shape of Candy's aneurysm, she received treatment in two stages. The first stage utilized a specialized technique called balloon remodeling. Then, several months later, a stent was placed. "Neither of these advanced techniques are available in many hospitals, even comprehensive stroke centers," says Dr. Malisch. Today, Candy is very grateful to be back to normal. "I can still walk, talk and do my job, and I thank God for my sisters and for the doctors at Alexian Brothers Medical Center," she says. "I would not be alive today if it weren't for them."