Neurosurgery solution

Patty Beutler, 78, of Lincoln, is well-known to our community as a longtime journalist at the local newspaper and for helping launch the Lincoln City Libraries’ One Book-One Lincoln reading project, among many accomplishments.

In Fall 2021, Patty noticed her usually high energy levels flagging, and she felt “a bit off” over several weeks. Thinking she had a stubborn sinus infection, she saw an otolaryngologist in Lincoln, who found nothing wrong.

To be on the safe side, Patty’s family physician Bradley Hohwieler, MD, ordered an MRI scan of her sinuses. “The MRI showed my sinuses were fine,” Patty says, “but it also clearly showed, to my shock, an enormous-looking round tumor in the back of my brain.” Dr. Hohwieler immediately sent Patty to Neurological and Spinal Surgery for further evaluation.

“This sounds a little funny, I know,” adds Patty, “but although this was a serious situation, I didn’t worry very much. I met with neurosurgeons Steven Gogela, MD, and Jeremy Hosein, MD. I had known Dr. Gogela for years — he and my son played soccer in high school, and I sat with his mother at games. I knew I was in expert hands and that the operation had to be done, so I just moved ahead and did it.”

Surgeons remove lime-sized tumor

Dr. Gogela picks up the story from there. “Patty’s brain tumor was indeed very large,” he recalls. “Its appearance on the MRI suggested it was a benign meningioma, a kind of tumor that can have quite a good outcome when it’s removed successfully. But, we couldn’t be sure until we tested