Faith, New Silver Cross Radiation Treatment Help Joliet Woman with Successful Brain Cancer Surgery

Jodi Norcross was relaxing in her yard last fall, reading the Bible, as she is fond of doing. 

“Suddenly, the words started getting mixed up,” said Norcross, 64, of Joliet. “I was reading, ‘Jesus lives,’ but it was looking like, ‘Go kart apple.’” 

She waited a bit, but the same thing happened again. Norcross wondered if prescribed muscle relaxants for back pain was the culprit. When her doctor said the medication shouldn’t have that effect and urged a hospital visit, Norcross didn’t delay. 

Norcross volunteered at the Encore Shop at Silver Cross Hospital, both at the former campus in Joliet and the new site in New Lenox. As soon as she and her husband, Barry, got to the Emergency Department, she was first evaluated for a stroke. But an MRI showed she had a growth on her brain. 

Dr. Peleg Horowitz, a neurosurgeon on staff at Silver Cross with expertise in brain tumors and skull base tumors, said she needed to have it removed as soon as possible. 

Without immediate treatment, “He said I may never get my reading back, and it could grow and cause more problems like blindness. He wanted to do the surgery that night! But we settled for the next day, so some of my children living nearby could get here,” she explained. 

‘Wanted to Stay on this Earth’

“I have a very strong faith. I know it rains on good people and bad people, so I don’t say, ‘Why me?’ But I wanted to stay on this earth for my husband, three children and 12 grands.” 

Dr. Horowitz explained he would be doing a craniotomy to remove the 2-inch tumor that was causing Norcross’ communication problems. Following surgery, Norcross said he seemed almost as happy as she was to learn she could once again read clearly. 

“He was so sweet,” she added. 

But Dr. Horowitz also knew Norcross would need radiation treatment on that site, as well as that of a smaller tumor on the left side of her brain. Both were found to have spread from a lung cancer Norcross didn’t even know she had. 

“I don’t even smoke!” she said. 

Dr. Horowitz said oncologists would treat the lung cancer after they contained the brain cancer with radiation. To do that, radiation oncologist Dr. Azhar Awan would use a new system called Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), installed at Silver Cross just last year.

The SRS system is adapted to the existing radiation treatment equipment, using many precisely focused radiation beams to treat tumors and other problems in the brain, neck, lungs, liver, spine and other parts of the body. 

New, Better Treatment

Like other forms of radiation, SRS works by damaging the DNA of the targeted cells. The affected cells then lose the ability to reproduce, which causes tumors to shrink. 

The highly advanced SRS system at Silver Cross uses three types of imaging (thermal, optical and X-ray) to target high doses of radiation to the affected area with minimal impact on the surrounding healthy tissue. What’s more, the system continuously monitors the patient throughout the treatment. 

If the patient moves even the slightest amount during the treatment, the machine stops automatically and then will reset to the original target and scope of radiation. The system also relies on a special operating table that can make very fine adjustments as necessary even during the treatment, Dr. Awan said. 

“I didn’t feel a thing,” Norcross said. “It lasted maybe an hour. I was awake. I lost just a little hair, but that’s OK. I went in for treatment three times, every other day.” 

A follow-up MRI a few months later showed the cavity left by the larger brain tumor had shrunk significantly, and the smaller one was nearly gone. Even more encouraging, there were no new tumors showing on the brain. 

Drs. Horowitz and Awan, both associated with the University of Chicago Medicine at Silver Cross, were very happy with Norcross’ outcome, one of the first to be treated with the new SRS system at Silver Cross. 

“Since SRS is now available to patients at Silver Cross Hospital,” Dr. Awan said, “patients can get this level of specialized treatment without having to drive to Chicago.” 

Although she now is dealing with the effects of chemo treatments for her lung cancer and a small spot on her hip, Norcross could not be happier with the care she received from Drs. Horowitz and Awan, and their staffs. 

“I can’t say enough great things about them and Silver Cross. They were all just wonderful.” 

To learn more about cancer care at Silver Cross Hospital, visit silvercross.org/care-treatment/cancer/