Michelle Worton, a dental hygienist and clinic owner from northern British Columbia, went from backcountry-athlete and busy mom to bedridden within months after a sudden neurological decline in late 2021. Across years of mislabels (vestibular migraine), missed findings, and “it’s incidental” shrugs, her symptoms escalated—blinding cranial pain and pressure, cognitive lapses, intermittent right-eye vision loss, and more. Canadian imaging later acknowledged a pineal cyst, but help never came. Michelle liquidated her practice, fundraised, and traveled to MUSC to see Dr. Patel. She had occipital craniotomy on Nov 20, 2023; within days the crushing head pressure, eye-movement pain, and other cyst-related symptoms lifted. At 3 months, ~80–90% of those issues remained resolved. Michelle still navigates separate, serious ...