Yaphank Woman Shares Survival Story After 3 Brain Aneurysms

Press release from Northwell Health:

June 15, 2021

Just two months after undergoing two surgeries for three brain aneurysms, Yaphank mom of 17-year-old triplets and dog groomer, 52-year-old Judy Tedesco is telling her incredible story of survival.

On New Year’s Day 2021, after suffering from headaches and eye swelling, Ms. Tedesco found herself facing a daunting diagnosis: three brain aneurysms.

“I’m not really one to go to the doctor unless I really need to,” Ms. Tedesco said. “But it started to look pretty ugly. Chalk if it up to vanity if you want, but I went into the walk-in clinic, they shined a light up my nose, and told me that I should go to the emergency room because I might have some sort of facial infection.”

After first being diagnosed using a CT brain scan at Peconic Bay Medical Center, Ms. Tedesco was urgently transferred to South Shore University Hospital, where she underwent a cerebral angiography which confirmed that she had two right middle cerebral aneurysms measuring 3mm and 4mm; and a left 5mm aneurysm.

“We look at multiple criteria to decide what to do – the age of the patient, for example, as well as the size and location of the aneurysm,” Dr. Chalif said. “In Ms. Tedesco’s case, she was young and had multiple aneurysms. We suggested she’d be better served by getting them taken care of before they might rupture.”

A treatment plan was then put into place by surgeons, Doctors David Chalif and Ina Teron Molina, which included two surgeries: a clipping of two of the aneurysms on January 20 and three months later, a WEB (Woven EndoBridge) coil embolization of the third.

“You couldn’t be in better hands than Drs. Chalif and Teron Molina,” Ms. Tedesco said. “They took the time to explain everything, to answer my questions make me feel at ease. I feel beyond blessed that we found out that I had these aneurysms before something happened.”

A post-operative angiogram confirmed that all three aneurysms were gone, demonstrating a complete recovery.

This press release was produced by Northwell Health. The views expressed here are the author's own.