Lift!

The unusually severe headache had happened once before, the previous November. Treated as a migraine, the headache had gone away, and Cindy Eidem was able to continue with daily activities. But one Sunday in mid-February, 2008, the headache was back, and worse than before. She never guessed how serious her situation was.

Courage Girl

For Barbara Ladd McNamara, Sunday, July 29, 2007, started out as a typical summer day. But that evening, during dinner, she had what she describes as a "lightning bolt" in her head.

Though she doesn’t remember much after that, Barb will never forget the encouragement from one paramedic as she felt herself slipping away. "You're not going there tonight, you're staying here. I'm right here, and you're staying with me," he told her.

Read Barbara's blog about being a brain aneurysm survivor.

The Warrior

At first, Charles Dillingham thought he had pulled a muscle. Working on his car in the garage at his condominium complex, Charles felt a sudden, tight pull in his chest. Within minutes, the pain was so intense he couldn't stand.

After crawling nearly a block from the garage to his condo, Charles lay on his bed and tried to stretch out the muscle pain. When he began sweating and shaking, he became truly frightened for the first time. Charles was having a heart attack.

Ceil's Story

Ceil Hall's idea of being a grandmother included holding her grandkids as much as possible. Finding out her daughter was pregnant, she decided to schedule carpal tunnel surgery, so holding the newborn wouldn't be an issue.

As part of the preparation for surgery, Ceil had a routine chest x-ray. The radiologist found something terribly unexpected. Ceil had lung cancer. She planned on surgery and chemotherapy. Then, her doctor suggested CyberKnife.