Brain Trust: New surgery saves life

DECATUR, Ind. (WANE) - At 34 years old, Jeff Bulmahn never imagined he'd be diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. But, his worst nightmares became reality last August.

"I thought it couldn't be me. I'm too young," Bulmahn said.

Bulmahn grew up on a farm in Decatur and now manages 3,200 acres with his brother and father in Jay and Blackford counties. A few years ago, Bulmahn started getting horrible headaches and bad neck pain every spring and fall during planting and harvest.

"I'd go to a chiropractor and he'd crack my neck, and three days later I'd feel better. But, the last time just didn't feel right," he said.

When the pain got too much to handle, Bulmahn went to the emergency room. Doctors quickly ruled out a heart attack. Then a CAT scan showed a shadow on Bulmahn's brain, and he was transferred to a hospital in Fort Wayne. That's where an MRI confirmed that he had a brain tumor.

"I was told it was inoperable and we'd do chemotherapy and radiation, but they only gave me two years to live," Bulmahn said.

Bulmahn was devastated, but he didn't give up hope. A friend gave him the name of a surgeon at Clarian Neuroscience at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Dr. Aaron Cohen-Gadol said there was another option. The catch was it had never been done before, and Bulmahn would have to be awake during the surgery.

"We have done surgeries awake to map the brain in the parts that control movement of the arms, legs and speaking, but not in the area that controls vision," Dr. Cohen-Gadol said.

Bulmahn's tumor was deep in the brain and was imbedded in the area that controls sight. In the past, to take the tumor out, surgeons would have cut out brain with the tumor.

"Without knowing exactly where the vision was controlled we could have compromised the vision," Dr. Cohen-Gadol said.

But, Dr. Cohen-Gadol decided to take the same techniques used in other areas of the brain and apply them to Bulmahn's case.

A month after his diagnosis, Bulmahn went in for brain surgery. Dr. Cohen-Gadol planned on sending electrical signals to the brain around Bulmahn's tumor during the surgery. When he did that, Bulmahn would tell him if he lost any sight.

"In this case, knowing where the vision was, we were aggressive in our removal [of the tumor] without being blindfolded and not knowing how far to go without hurting him," Dr. Cohen-Gadol explained.

Bulmahn looked at a poster board divided into several sections during the surgery.

"I had to tell them if I was losing vision in certain parts of the board or if a region was getting blurry," Bulmahn said.

He added he doesn't remember all of the surgery, but he can recall bits and pieces.

"It was sort of like a dream state," he said. "They say the brain's not supposed to feel any pain, but I don't agree with them."

The surgery took several hours, and Dr. Cohen-Gadol was able to remove 96 percent of the tumor. He decided to stop when trying to get some of the last tentacles of the tumor was causing Bulmahn's vision to have black dots.

"He did everything he could and he did great," Bulmahn said. "My vision's back to the way it was before surgery and things look promising."

Five months after his surgery, Bulmahn's finished 31 days of radiation and is in the middle of a chemotherapy plan. He takes the pills one week a month and has four more months to go.

"Just don't ever give up hope. There's someone out there to help you. You just have to find them," Bulmahn said with tears in his eyes.

He credits a lot of prayers and his strong family support for helping him get through the surgery and recovery. Now he's looking forward to planting another season of corn and beans in April.