Patient Spotlight

December 12, 2025

How Scott Smith beat the odds to live a full life with hydrocephalus through over a dozen surgeries at Vanderbilt Health

The Tullahoma, Tennessee, native turned 60 this year — something that would’ve seemed like an impossibility when he was growing up with a neurological condition.

By Evan Dorian
Sebastian Brook is what his parents call ‘the exception.’
December 8, 2025

Minutes to hours, to weeks, months and years … How a patient defied the odds

Born at 34 weeks gestation June 8, 2023, Sebastian Brook was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt with severe hydrocephalus and tetralogy of Fallot.

By Jessica Pasley
November 18, 2025

A renowned music producer needed a laryngectomy. His VUMC team helped him achieve the ‘Cadillac’ of vocal recovery.

Dan Hannon’s music industry accomplishments include over a billion streams, more than 4 million albums sold and multiple No. 1 albums and songs. Doing it all without his voice wasn’t an option.

By Evan Dorian
Patient Theresa Stratman. (Photo by Donn Jones)
November 3, 2025

A walking miracle — patient receives three major surgeries sequentially

The patient, Theresa Stratman of Louisville, Kentucky, is now able to get to her continuing medical appointments and live without medical oxygen.

By Matt Batcheldor
October 27, 2025

Macon County father’s voice restored following oral cancer surgery

After surgical removal of a rare tumor left a sizable hole inside Nick Schrock’s mouth, he could only speak in a muffled, lispy whisper. Tyler Ames, a dentist at VUMC, fashioned a prosthetic device to close the hole and allow Schrock to speak more clearly.

By Jill Clendening
August 28, 2025

Jennifer Pack, a mother and a real estate agent, wanted to better hear the voices of her children and her clients; how VUMC research audiologist Jonathan Neukam helped that happen

“My preconceived idea was that cochlear implants are for deaf people, and I didn’t understand that they’re also for hearing-impaired people.”

By Evan Dorian
July 31, 2025

Turn left for the plan, turn right for the miracle: when triplets couldn’t wait for Nashville

Triplets decided to enter the world at 26 weeks. The plan was Nashville, but it was a left turn and an hour away. Would choosing the local hospital be right?
By Danny Bonvissuto
July 21, 2025

Jonesborough nurse’s heart attack-pregnancy journey leads to Vanderbilt Women’s Heart Center

Her care illustrates the multidisciplinary expertise of the Vanderbilt Women’s Heart Center, Cardiac OB/High-Risk Pregnancy Team and maternal-fetal medicine specialists.
By Matt Batcheldor
July 7, 2025

Quick action to treat young dancer’s rare heart condition a testament to what multidisciplinary teams can do

Bystanders assumed the healthy teen — who has danced for nine years, six of those competitively — was overheated or exhausted. Conscious, though unresponsive to questions, Zoe quickly worsened.
By Christina Echegaray
June 26, 2025

John White’s medical team has spent decades helping him achieve goals in life — and on the soccer field

His different heart didn’t mean accepting limits
By Evan Dorian
June 25, 2025

First pediatric liver-pancreas dual transplant performed in Tennessee

Phone call changes the life of family whose daughter with cystic fibrosis needed both a liver and pancreas transplant.
By Jessica Pasley
June 18, 2025

Transplant patient’s long journey brings her from the Aloha State to the Volunteer State

She was turned down by multiple transplant centers between Honolulu and Nashville, deemed too sick, before the Vanderbilt Lung Transplant Program accepted her as a patient.
By Matt Batcheldor
June 16, 2025

From stadium to stents, quick response saves soccer fan

When her evening pivoted from cheering for Nashville Soccer Club to suffering a heart attack, well-coordinated teams kept Leigh Anne Clark’s heart and life safe.
By Jill Clendening
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