TOLEDO, Ohio — "I went to renew my driver license. I was a little late on it in August of '23, and failed the vision exam," Meghan Russell of Wood County said.
Not only did she fail the vision exam. She was legally blind.
"This eye (right) 20-400. Yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing."
That's a far cry from 20-20 vision. From there, Meghan would see her eye doctor who referred her to a retinologist. She'd have a procedure for a macular hole.
"I followed up with him like every other week and still was blurry," Meghan said.
So she was referred to another ophthalmologist who'd remove a cataract in a second procedure. Still no improvement. Next, she'd be referred to a neuro ophthalmologist who'd eventually recommend an MRI.
"It was June 7, two days before my birthday, and I went to have the MRI done," Meghan said. "I came out of the dressing room and the tech said, 'Um, you need to go over to the E.R. The radiologist read your results already."
That's when Meghan met Mercy Health Neurosurgeon, Dr. Sean Xin. "What she has is something called the giant olfactory meningioma. So typically they're, they're large. But hers is giant," Xin said. "Anything bigger than five centimeters is considered giant."
"It was the size of a Naval orange," Meghan said.
Tumors that large don't come around very often.
"I've done surgeries in this area, but this will be the first one this size in probably, you know, five, 10 years," Xin said.
It may have been giant, but luckily, benign. Still, it would have to go.
Xin said the tumor had been growing slowly over the course of several years. "That part of the brain was putting pressure on the optic nerve, which is why she was blind," Xin said.
Xin said there are two ways the surgery could have gone. He says many doctors would opt for a two part procedure to limit traumatic brain swelling, but it would come at the expense of Meghan's sense of smell.
"I don't mind taking more time," Xin said. "I don't like to use those retractors to hold the brain out of the way. So I take more time and be much more gentle to the brain. So it takes a little more time."
By more time, he meant 13 hours in the operating room.
"You know, when you're focused you don't notice your feet, you don't notice being hungry, you don't notice you need to go to the bathroom," Xin said.
Meghan was on board with the procedure, but she had one question first. "My daughter got my best friend and I tickets to the Cher Show tomorrow for my birthday. Can we still go? And they're like, 'Well, of course," Meghan said.
The surgery went beautifully and four months later, Meghan is on her way to getting her driver license back.
"I was reading the clock across the hall from my room. I was reading everything on the television," Meghan said.
As of last week, her eyesight in the bad eye returned to 20-40.
Xin said cases like Meghan's are challenging.
"I know it's going to be a tough case. But at the same time I was excited to help her. She was blind from the tumor and I know what we can get her and I was excited for that outcome," he said.
Meghan is grateful for the care she's received and calls herself truly blessed. But one question remained; how was the Cher show?
"It was wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful. I could not believe it. It was like she was on stage!" said Meghan.
