Published: July 29, 2007 10:41 pm         

Book chronicles author's battle with brain malformation

Patricia Grimes heard giants in her head and knew something was wrong.

Her book “Giants in the Land” is a story of how she finally discovered the problem and survived extremely serious brain surgery — a testament to the power of prayer and faith, which she believes got her through that difficult time. She does not identify the physicians who treated her, because she did not obtain legal permission to use their names in the book.

The problems started 11 years ago when she began having strange feelings in her head.

“It felt like there were giants in my brain. Something was there that wasn’t supposed to be and I knew it,” she said.

Physicians she went to had difficulty finding the problem, but a visit to an ear, nose and throat doctor finally narrowed it down. He got her an appointment with a neurosurgeon in Enid who correctly diagnosed her.

Previously, she had begun to lose motor skills, running into doorways as she attempted to walk through them, knocking over a glass of water as she reached for it — signs the symptoms were worsening. The Enid neurosurgeon diagnosed the problem as dura arteriovenous malformation, a rare congenital defect that affected the left side of her brain. Some 30 million of the 300 million people in the United States are afflicted by it.

Grimes said the artery becomes a feeder and smaller arteries and other areas of the brain go out like tree branches and plug into the artery so nothing feeds that side of the brain. The right side of the brain compensates and grows healthy veins on the impacted side of the brain.

Her neurosurgeon told her it was the worst he ever had seen and she would only be the third surgery he had done in his career. He offered to send her to the Mayo Clinic, but Grimes felt she had a support network in Enid and wanted to stay here.

Grimes underwent open-skull surgery, where a procedure was performed that repaired the brain. She was told she would have a three-year recovery, but recovered in one year.

During the time she was recovering her mother was in the hospital and subsequently died, her mother-in-law had been hospitalized and was moved into Grimes home, along with her husband’s aunt. He had three people to take care of at the same time and he had a lot on his hands. A professor at Phillips University, he was given a leave of absence with pay.

Her doctor told her he did not expect her to survive. He told her after the surgery the highest probabilities were she would die on the operating table, go into paralysis or stroke out. Her survival was amazing, Grimes said.

“I determined I would live. I told the doctor the Lord isn’t through with me yet, and he will help you bring me through this,” she said.

“I owe it all to the Lord.”

Grimes said she had prayers said for her all around the world. Her church’s missionaries sent e-mails asking about her health. She attributes her recovery to prayer and a good doctor.

“It strengthened my faith and showed me firsthand the power of God,” she said. “After the surgery I began to appreciate every day I have. I came very close to death, I shook hands with it.”

Grimes said every day is a wonderful experience for her and she wrote the book as a way to witness how her faith and prayer helped her to survive. She has used the book to talk to people in similar situations and answer their questions and encourage them.

“I’ve never taken my life for granted. Never, ever take life for granted because you don’t know from one day to the next what will happen to you. Value every moment you have. Life is definitely a gift, that’s why they call it the present,” she said.