Living With Brain Cancer — and Still Living Fully
Lindsay Vieira was 43 when a sudden seizure led doctors to discover a large brain tumor pressing against the area controlling movement. Her treatment would ultimately involve two brain surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy and an individualized treatment strategy.
“My life was completely normal — until it wasn’t.”
Lindsay was getting ready for work when she suddenly had a massive seizure on her bathroom floor.
Her daughter, who was just shy of three years old, brought her a phone. Lindsay called her husband and told him she thought she was having a stroke.
Emergency responders took her to the hospital, where an MRI revealed a large mass in her brain. She was transferred for specialized brain tumor care and underwent surgery the following day.
What the surgical team found made the operation particularly challenging: Lindsay’s tumor was pressing against the motor cortex — the area of the brain responsible for controlling movement.
“I told my husband I thought I was having a stroke and asked him to call 911.”
Lindsay VieiraRemoving the tumor was only part of the challenge.
Lindsay’s tumor was pressing against the motor cortex — the part of the brain responsible for controlling movement.
For Yaron A. Moshel, MD, PhD, and the surgical team, the goal was not simply to remove as much tumor as possible. It was to do so while protecting the healthy brain tissue responsible for the functions Lindsay depended on every day.
That required a surgical strategy designed around both the tumor and the functional anatomy surrounding it.
Remove as much tumor as safely possible — without sacrificing neurological function.
When a brain tumor sits near an area responsible for movement, language or another critical function, knowing precisely where functional brain tissue begins can shape how surgery is performed.
Map the anatomy
Advanced imaging and stereotactic navigation helped define the tumor’s location and surrounding anatomy.
Identify critical function
Electrical stimulation brain mapping helped identify areas involved in movement.
Resect with function in mind
Mapping helped guide tumor removal while prioritizing preservation of neurological function.
Surgery was the beginning of Lindsay’s treatment — not the end.
The tumor was identified as an anaplastic oligodendroglioma. After recovering from surgery, Lindsay continued treatment with chemotherapy and radiation.
For a time, the treatment worked. But approximately a year and a half later, the tumor returned — and Lindsay and her care team faced a new set of decisions.
The next treatment decision couldn’t simply repeat the first.
About a year and a half later, Lindsay’s tumor came back.
Recurrence meant another brain surgery was being considered — but this time, Lindsay’s previous treatment had created an additional complication.
Chemotherapy had left Lindsay with a dangerously low platelet count, increasing the risk of bleeding and making another operation unsafe until that problem could be addressed.
Before moving forward, her medical team first had to help restore her platelet levels so she could safely undergo a second surgery.
The immediate problem wasn’t only the tumor.
Lindsay’s low platelet count had to be addressed before another operation could be performed safely. Her treatment plan had to account for both the recurrent tumor and the effects of the therapy she had already received.
Once Lindsay was able to undergo surgery, tissue from the recurrent tumor provided another opportunity to understand the disease more deeply.
Specialists compared tissue from her surgeries and examined the tumor at the molecular level — looking beyond what it looked like under a microscope to biological characteristics that could help guide treatment.
Molecular testing revealed an IDH1 mutation.
That information gave Lindsay’s care team another piece of the tumor’s biological profile to consider as they planned what came next. For recurrent brain tumors, treatment decisions may evolve as physicians learn more about how an individual tumor behaves.
Same patient. Recurrent tumor. New information. Lindsay’s treatment strategy evolved as her tumor — and what was known about it — changed.
Cancer is part of Lindsay’s life. It isn’t her whole life.
Lindsay’s story includes brain surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and recurrence. It also includes work, family, travel and the everyday life she kept living.
She returned to the school community where she works with students and colleagues she loves. She continued traveling with her husband and daughter. And over time, her experience with brain cancer became something she could use to help other people facing their own diagnoses.
The most positive part of my journey is using my story to help other people. I have a daughter. I have a husband. I have a great life.
Lindsay Vieira
Her experience became a way to help someone else through theirs.
Lindsay began volunteering with Cancer Hope Network, connecting with people facing cancer and offering the perspective of someone who has lived through the fear, treatment and uncertainty herself.
Helping other patients became another part of the life Lindsay continued building beyond her diagnosis.
Lindsay’s diagnosis changed her life. But living remained the point of it.
Lindsay’s story shows how brain tumor care can evolve over time.
Her care changed as the circumstances changed — from surgery near an area controlling movement to treatment for recurrence and molecular testing that provided new information about the tumor. These resources offer more context about the care involved in her story.
Brain Tumor Care
Specialized care for newly diagnosed, complex and recurrent brain tumors.
Explore ABS Brain TumorBrain Tumor Surgery
Learn how tumor location, functional anatomy and other factors can shape a surgical approach.
Explore Brain Tumor SurgeryYaron A. Moshel, MD, PhD
Meet Lindsay’s neurosurgeon and learn more about his work in complex brain and skull base tumor surgery.
Meet Dr. MoshelLooking for an evaluation or another perspective?
If you’d like to discuss a brain tumor diagnosis or treatment recommendation with an ABS brain tumor specialist, our team can help.
Lindsay Vieira’s experience is unique to her. Treatment recommendations and outcomes vary based on the individual patient, diagnosis and clinical circumstances.
