Latest news with #brainsurgery
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Danielle Spencer death: Child actor star of What's Happening!! dies at age 60
Danielle Spencer, who was most known for playing Dee Thomas, on the sitcom What's Happening!! has died at 60 years old. According to one of her co-stars, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Spencer died on Monday in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia. 'She suffered for a very long time but did it with a great deal of courage,' Haywood Nelson told the publication. Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2014. Four years later, she underwent emergency brain surgery to remove a bleeding hematoma that was left undiscovered from a car accident back in 1976. Due to the actor not having insurance at the time, her loved ones launched a GoFundMe page to pay for her medical expenses. The page raised over $10,000 at the time. Born in June 1965, Spencer was raised by her mother, Cheryl, and her stepfather, Tim Pelt. She began acting at the young age of 7, where she landed roles in Serpico (1973) and Harry and Tonto (1974) before earning her role on What's Happening!! when she was 11 years old. 'I had never seen any young black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn't have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity,' she told Jet about earning the role during an interview in 2014. 'I was from the Bronx. What I did was use my own family as the reference on how to portray my character.' What's Happening!! was based on the 1975 film, Cooley High, which followed two high school seniors and best friends, Leroy 'Preach' Jackson and Richard 'Cochise' Morris. However, the sitcom followed the lives of three working-class teenagers in the Los Angeles neighborhood, Watts. In the show, Spencer played Dee, who was the sassy younger sister of Roger 'Raj' Thomas (played by Ernest Thomas) and the daughter of Mabel (played by Mable King). She was most known for her signature phrase, 'Ooooh, I'm gonna tell Mama!' What's Happening!! first aired in 1976 as a four-week summer series before returning in November and then for another two seasons. Spencer then reprised her role as Dee in the show's sequel, What's Happening Now!, which aired for three seasons. Following the cancellation of the sitcoms, Spencer and her family moved to the Ivory Coast, where she attended UC Davis, UCLA, and then veterinary school at Tuskegee University. She worked as a veterinarian for two decades before relocating to Virginia, where she regularly ran a pet-care segment for CBS affiliate WTVR-TV. The actor is survived by her mother and brother Jeremy, who is a jazz musician.
BBC News
08-08-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'My son's head size led to doctors spotting rare vein condition'
"The consultant was looking at his belly button, and then suddenly wanted to ask me questions about his head."A mother has described how a doctor noticed her son's "pronounced forehead" during an unrelated appointment which led to his rare now 3, was diagnosed with vein of galen malformation (VOGM) - where brain vessels connect abnormally - which affects only about 10 to 12 babies in the UK each year and can lead to serious complications if was treated with a new surgical technique at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool in March, which involved open surgery. "Thank you just doesn't cut it," his mum, Lucy, from Bolton, said. "They not only saved his life, they saved ours too." She said she had initially felt "slightly confused" when the doctor started asking about Conor's head, after going in to check on a potential umbilical hernia. "He felt like he had quite a pronounced forehead; it was quite a large head," she said."And he had very visible veins on his forehead, and his temples, around his eyes."She said an MRI scan showed eight-month-old Conor had a "significant brain issue" that would require surgery."It was only after those scans that they said to us that they think that it's vein of galen malformation and then started to explain to us a little bit what that meant," Lucy said."But in reality, they'd never seen it before in Bolton."She said the experience was "terrifying" and the couple felt "helpless" and what followed felt like "a bit of an out of body experience". Conor went on to have three operations at Alder Hey. However, he was one of a rare group of patients where veins block off and doctors could no longer get to the malformation. It was causing swelling and damage to the brain stem and spinal cord, leading him to deteriorate, according to his surgeon Conor said: "It's a fight against time, and that happened quite early in Conor, which is why we had to come up with this alternative route."A new surgical technique was used involving access through Conor's skull to target the affected blood vessels. Alder Hey is one of only two centres in the UK equipped to carry out this procedure on hospital has a state-of-the-art theatre with advanced imaging machinery, giving specialists real-time X-ray pictures of blood vessels during operations and allowing them to combine endovascular and open technique has never been performed at another Mallucci said: "Exposing these veins that were blocked at the jugular level is high risk."You lose blood. It's a big operation, and to put a needle directly into one of those is a little bit hair raising, so we had to be very careful about that."Conor was expected to sleep for about a week after the operation and stay in hospital for six weeks, but he woke up soon after and asked his mum for chips. "I obviously went into mum mode and said 'can we get some chips in here please?," Lucy left the hospital 10 days later. Now aged three, Conor recovered well and is now considered "99% cured" by Mr has left nursery and will be attending pre-school in September. Lucy said: "As much as I feel like this is an incredibly unlucky diagnosis, I sometimes have to pull that back and think actually we were incredibly lucky in a lot of ways."She said she was "so proud" of her "resilient" son, adding: "At one point they were saying, 'we may want to hold him back' and 'maybe it might be a bit too much for him'."But they've said now that they think he's doing incredibly well." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
CBS News
15-07-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Chicago area family stranded in Dominican Republic after husband needs emergency brain surgery
A tropical vacation to the Dominican Republic ended with a far northwest suburban Chicago family stuck in the hospital, and drowning in medical debt. The Dervis family joined about 30 other people from the Johnsburg area on a trip to the Dominican Republic — all of them celebrating their kids' recent graduation from Johnsburg High School. Now, the Dervises are trying desperately to figure out a way to get back to the United States — finding themselves stranded after her husband had to go in for brain surgery. "I just want to go home," said Bonnie Dervis. "I just want to get to the United States. I just want to get medical treatment." Dervis spoke to CBS News Chicago from a medical center outside of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Far from the picture-perfect vacation she had planned with her husband, Greg, to celebrate the graduation of their son, Cole. "It's really hard on Cole, because he feels bad, you know? He doesn't know what to do either. He feels bad," said Bonnie Dervis, "and then he's worried about me, because I'm alone in a different country all by myself." Greg Dervis got sick on the trip, and was diagnosed with a blood clot in his brain. "They had to remove the whole blood clot and part of his skull to reduce the swelling," said Bonnie Dervis. "He needed to go to the ICU, but the hospital wouldn't put him in ICU until I gave them $10,000." Greg and Bonnie Dervis will be married 21 years in August. They work together at an HVAC repair company, and Bonnie said their insurance won't cover the overseas medical treatment — including the brain surgery. "I needed $15,000 just to give them to do the brain surgery," said Bonnie Dervis. "Twenty-five grand total I've done so far right now." Greg Dervis has been released from the ICU. He is talking and recognizes Bonnie. But doctors say due to swelling from the blood clot, he cannot get on a commercial flight for at least six weeks. A family friend, JD Sylvanus, started an online fundraiser through GoFundMe, in an effort to cover medical expenses and get the couple back to Johnsburg. The GoFundMe said the family needs desperate help with ongoing hospital and medical expenses, temporary housing near the hospital, food and transportation, and support for the Dervises' 7-year-old daughter, Morgan, back home. As of Monday night, the fundraiser had netted $14,495 out of a $25,000 goal. "It's very heart-wrenching to try and tear yourself in two to be there for your family members," said Bonnie Dervis. Both of the Dervis children are back with a family friend in Johnsburg.
