Neurosurgeon Profile:
Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, August 6 and November 26, 2006

Show 321

Both Dawn Cordes and Lori Berry have undergone gamma knife surgery for their malignant brain tumors. Life expectancy after diagnosis with a brain tumor is six months to one year. So far, both Dawn and Lori have beaten the odds. Dr. James Chandler, Director of Neuro-Oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago says, "I navigate people down a dark road, but the dark road is filled with bright spots." Dr. Chandler says he feels like his work is a calling. An African-American surgeon who treated Dr. Chandler's brother after a car accident, became his mentor. Years later, Dr. Chandler lost his nephew to a brain tumor. He turned his tragedy into a life lesson. "It allows me to be sympathetic and to truly understand my patients," he says.