November 21, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Tom Rosenberger, APR, Communications Department (513) 569-5260
CONTACT: Cindy Starr, MSJ, Communications Department (513) 584-2214

CINCINNATI--Scott Wentsler did a lot of listening and reading while immersed in his battle against lung cancer. He learned everything he could about the disease and the secondary foes that lung cancer might deploy to other parts of his body. Patients with lung cancer, he discovered, faced numerous threats to their recovery, including metastatic tumors in the brain.

So when Mr. Wentsler began suffering waves of mild headaches and dizziness, he knew he had to consider the most negative of possibilities.

That was about 8 months ago. Mr. Wentsler, a retired computer service rep who lives in Greater Cincinnati, can tell his story today because of the expert care and state-of-the-art technology that made the removal of his metastatic tumor possible. Dr. Ron Warnick, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic & Spine Institute, removed the tumor at Cincinnati's Good Samaritan Hospital with the help of a global positioning system for the human body. This computer-driven technology, known as VectorVision and manufactured by BrainLAB, Inc.,

enabled Dr. Warnick to track his surgical instruments and the metastatic tumor by viewing three-dimensional computer images on a high-resolution screen. "VectorVision is particularly helpful when dealing with a brain tumor like this," Dr. Warnick said. "It assists the surgeon in the planning process and during the performance of surgery. It helps us localize the tumor in relation to the scalp and helps us determine the tumor's borders. Everything is improved and optimized using the BrainLAB system."

Mr. Wentsler's recovery from brain surgery went swiftly.

"Right after they do the surgery they come in and check to see if you can touch your nose and smile and to see if both sides of your face work the same way," Mr. Wentsler said. "I went through that just fine, and my memory was good. I had some vision problems -- I couldn't get things in focus -- but that lasted only a few hours. I was reading the same day."

Mr. Wentsler was hospitalized for only two days. A week after surgery, on his follow-up visit to Dr. Warnick's office, he proved he could do far more than just touch his nose and smile.

"I went in with three juggling balls," Mr. Wentsler said with a laugh.

He juggled for the receptionist, and when Dr. Warnick walked into the examining room, Mr. Wentsler started juggling again, with most of the office staff watching from the door.

Mr. Wentsler, a former smoker, was diagnosed with Stage 3B lung cancer in 1999, after experiencing swelling in his neck and a blood clot in his leg. Both were common symptoms of lung cancer. The swelling in his neck indicated the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. A year of chemotherapy stopped the cancer's migration, but two years after the original diagnosis the brain tumor appeared.

Although Mr. Wentsler is once again undergoing chemotherapy, he is nevertheless staying busy and enjoying his retirement. "I'm a woodworker; I've made all kinds of things since I had that surgery," Mr. Wentsler said. "I just finished four jewelry boxes, and I'm doing some display cases right now. I'm active. I'm not as active as I was before I got the cancer, but if it weren't for the chemo, I would be. The side effects I've had from surgery are maybe a little numbness on the scalp. But I don't limp or have weakness on one side or anything. My memory is fine. People say I might be a little more emotional now. But I've always been a little emotional, a little sentimental.