Helen Crawford

Helen Crawford is a friend of Derek Shepherd who had an aggressive brain tumor.

History
Helen had a parafalcine meningioma, a brain tumor, near her sagittal sinus. Because of its type, Derek was unable to remove all the tumor, so he had her come in every few years to debulk it, prolonging her life. Helen flew to Seattle for him to remove the tumor, but told him it was the last time because recovery took too long. She planned to have him remove as much of the tumor as he could and then go live out the rest of her life on the beach.

Derek instead proposed a sagittal sinus bypass, which would allow him to remove the entire tumor. However, it came with increased risks. Helen initially rejected the idea, but ultimately agreed.

In surgery, Helen's heart stopped due to an air embolism. Instead of waiting for cardio, Derek opened her chest and aspirated the embolus before using cardiac massage to restore her heartbeat.

When she woke up after surgery, she was surprised to see an incision on her chest. She said Derek would have trouble convincing her to do it again, but he told her he'd gotten the whole tumor and she was going to live a long life.

Romantic
She mentioned a Jake, likely a former partner or husband. She said that recovering from the tumor resection was much more difficult without him around.

Friendships
She is close with Derek Shepherd. They worked together in New York and when she needed a tumor resection, she flew out to Seattle to have him operate.

Career
She is a doctor. She and Derek Shepherd worked together in New York.

Notes and Trivia

 * She stayed at the Archfield Hotel when she was in Seattle.
 * She'd had three tumor resections prior to the final resection, which removed the entire tumor.