(Washington Post via MSN) – This time, the surgeons faced a greater challenge. A second, smaller chordoma was strangling Flores’s spinal cord near the base of the skull. After much discussion, the medical team had decided to try something that had never been done.

They would remove the spinal tumor through her left eye socket.

If the surgical path was not precise to within a few millimeters, Flores could lose all movement below the neck or suffer a fatal brain-stem stroke. If the procedure was successful, however, it would open a new avenue for doctors around the world treating difficult-to-reach tumors. (Read More)