Brain Aneurysm Screening

It is rare that we come in contact with someone who's an ordinary person living their life as a testimony to the strength of the human spirit.  57-year-old Linda Inglett is that person.

A doctor's appointment in December 2006 turned into a mind trip she'll never forget.

"I went to an ENT doctor for problems with my vocal cords", Linda says.

There was a bigger risk that Linda could not see.    "When I was sitting in there he told me I had a possible brain aneurysm. And I thought he got me mixed up with someone else", Linda says.  MRI and MRA results proved positive.  Linda's aneurysm in the middle of her brain had been caught by accident. When I got diagnosed it was like I'm gonna die." 

Dr. Fred Daniel suspected she had an aneurysm while reviewing her test results.

"It was just fortunate that we found it.  These things can get bigger over time and rupture.  They can be life threatning and cause severe injury  even if they don't kill you", says Dr. Daniel.

Days later Saint Joseph's/Candler and Neurosurgeon Dr. Jay Howington became her source for hope.  "She was lucky that her aneurysm had not ruptured", says Dr. Howington.

Wasting no time, Dr. Howington used the best technology to keep her alive.

"He was just an angel..savior…when he told us he could go up into my brain and look and see what size it was, and he could put some coils and some stents in it”, says Linda.  

Dr. Howington relied on Endovascular Embolization, a familiar procedure which has advanced to become the perferred treatment for  many patients with brain aneuryms.

It's been a year since Linda had the surgery.  She recently went back to Dr. Howington for one of  a series of follow-up cerebral angiograms to check her progress. "For mrs. inglet we checked at 6 months.  Then we checked at a year which is what this angiogram is .  Then we will do one at 24 months.  If at that point there's no further aneurysm on angiography we consider that cured", says Dr. Howington. 

Today Linda bravely shares the story of her battle with local stroke survivors. Part of her mission is to raise awareness and hopefully prevent brain aneurysms and illnesses associated with them.  "If I could get on top of a mountain right now and scream to the world to wake up people with brain aneurysms that you can be fixed with a brain aneurysm before it ruptures lord somebody help me get there", says Linda.

And her testimony has touched the hearts and minds of people like Ann Farr who was born with an aneurysm and has suffered from a stroke.  "We need help to get the time to go in it so that the stroke belt can slow down and get down. so many people here do not have the knowledge that they need", says Ann.

Linda's work even has her husband excited about what she's doing.

"We've got to get more awareness out about what to look for and doctors...like she was saying earlier they can't read your mind. If you're having a problem tell them.  If something doesn't feel right tell them, and then it may be something they can do about it", says Wyman Inglett.   

Dr. Howington says there are few places in the country offering screenings for aneuyrsms, and Linda is trying to change that.  "I'm trying to start brainograms.  We've got mammograms..why not brainograms to look for ba's, brain aneurysms..bs's. But yeah that needs to happen...needs to happen.  save your life."

Linda is pushing to get Brain Aneurysm screening in Savannah.   There is only one early detection screening program in the country that doctors know of.    It's in Austin, Texas sponsored by The Missy Project.   It's in memory of  Missy Magel.  She died from a brain aneurysm in 1999.

To view "Mind Trip" Part One: Exploring the Brain, click here.