Leah Epstein

Leah Epstein is the daughter of Tim Epstein.

History
While stringing up Hannamus (Hanukkah/Christmas) lights at his house, Leah's father, Tim, fell 12 feet and hit his head. He had weakness in his left side, so they ordered a CT. Despite the fact that noise made his head hurt, Tim insisted that his kids stay in the room because he didn't want to miss out on the holidays with them.

The CT revealed a subdural hematoma. He needed surgery, but was warned that the bleed was in the area that controls speech and motor function. He had the surgery and it went well, but afterward, he was irritable and had an angry outburst at his kids and sent the out of the room.

Izzie suspected that Derek's disparaging remarks during Tim's surgery, but he said there was probably something that the first CT missed. He ordered Izzie to monitor Tim for a few hours and if it didn't improve, to order a new CT.

The new CT showed a second bleed in his frontal lobe that had had a delayed presentation. They prepped him for a second surgery. He was still angry and irritable, which concerned his wife. In his second surgery, wondering if it might help, Derek had the nurses play carols.

Tim woke up from his second surgery smiling.

Familial
The Epstein family is very close and takes the holidays very seriously. They have elaborate celebrations of both Hanukkah and Christmas. When Tim's personality changed after he had brain surgery, his family was very concerned as he wasn't anything like the happy, loving man they'd known before.