A whirlwind of changes Evan had dreamed of being a pilot his whole life. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do, for as long as I can remember,” he said. After years of working in unmanned aviation and as a flight instructor, Evan knew he wanted to finally move on to manned commercial aircraft. In Oregon, in order to do that, he was forced to be away from home for several weeks at a time while training. “I was fortunate to move through the organization really quickly, and shortly after moving to Oregon, I was offered a job on a new aircraft in Spokane,” Evan said. “We moved into an RV near my parents’ home in northern Idaho while we saved to buy a home. It was such an incredibly busy time and so many changes happened very quickly, I never dreamed that the exhaustion, nausea and tightness I was feeling in my neck could have been anything other than stress. I thought, ‘When this training is over, I need to see a chiropractor.’” “Evan has always been incredibly busy, and it wasn’t unusual for him to have multiple things going on and be traveling a lot,” said Lyn. “I just felt like his symptoms were from more than stress. He couldn’t keep anything down and was not himself. He didn’t want to take a day off from his new job, but, thankfully, I was able to convince him to go to urgent care.” Evan had already made an appointment with a chiropractor for later on the same day that he went to urgent care. “I was so sure that’s all I needed,” he said. However, after a CT scan administered at urgent care revealed an abnormality, Evan never made it to his chiropractor appointment. A short few months after beginning his journey from southern California to northern Idaho, Evan was not flying cargo planes out of Spokane, as he and his family had given up everything to do, but was undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor at the base of his skull. “Evan required surgery to remove a tumor from his cerebellum and brainstem, in a region called the posterior fossa,” said Kootenai Health neurosurgeon John McGowan, M.D. Precise surgical navigation Posterior fossa tumors are located at the base of the back of the head where the skull and neck meet. There is limited space in that part of the skull, and tumors can quickly begin to press on very important brain structures. A craniotomy is a surgical technique in which a temporary opening in the skull is made to access different parts of the brain. After creating an opening in the skull, neurosurgeons use computer-aided stereotactic techniques to pinpoint and remove tumors. Prior to surgery, a special MRI or CT scan is performed that creates a 3D map of the brain. “This model is like a GPS map. We use it to assist us in understanding the borders of tumors, and it helps us differentiate tumor tissue from normal brain tissue, as they frequently look similar to the naked eye,” said Dr. McGowan. “Stereotactic surgery allows a precision in microsurgery that we once thought impossible. I am happy to say Kootenai Health sits on the cutting edge of implementing stereotactic technology in the operating rooms.” Thanks to generous donor support of the Kootenai Health Foundation, Kootenai Health has some of the most innovative and precise surgical navigation systems available. Dr. McGowan, a complex brain tumor specialist, was drawn to Kootenai Health Neurosurgery and Spine a couple of years ago. “I wanted to expand my practice at an organization that provided me with the best team, tools and resources possible to help ensure the best outcomes for my patients,” he said. In fact, it was Dr. McGowan, specifically, whom the urgent care provider referred Evan to after seeing an abnormality in his CT scan. “Although I was scared by this diagnosis, it felt good knowing that Dr. McGowan was spoken of so highly,” said Evan. Zero complications A week after their first meeting in early September 2022, Dr. McGowan performed surgery on Evan while Evan’s parents, in-laws, wife and three children (ages 3, 7 and 9) waited anxiously, fearing the worst. “Dr. McGowan did not mince words with us prior to my surgery— we were fully aware how many complications could come out of something so intricate,” Evan said. “There was a real possibility I wouldn’t be able to swallow, walk, Innovative Surgeon Keeps a Young Pilot’s Dream Alive —Continued from page 5 John McGowan, M.D. 6
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