"The first time I had a stroke, that was a pretty indication that something was a little higgly, higgly," said Linda Dolan.

Dolan has a history of brain aneurysms. They are weak spots in her blood vessels that balloon out and if untreated, can lead to strokes or death.

Nine years ago, Dolan had major surgery to repair two aneurysms. It was then a 17-day recovery in the hospital. To say it was unpleasant is an understatement.

"Well my head was shaved and they had this thing screwed in the top of my head and then this drain tube and it was awful."

Dolan thought she was finished with surgery, but this month, tests showed another dangerous aneurysm -- this one on her carotid artery.

"Well I cried and I think I got scared; I don't want to die," she said.

Tuesday, a team of three doctors performed Dolan's surgery at Harborview.

Wednesday, striding briskly into Dolan's room in the intensive care unit at Harborview, Dr.Gavin Britz, Dolan's neurosurgeon commented on their repair procedure: "So, it went really well yesterday."

As he shows her films of the vessels in her brain and explains what they did, the other two vascular surgeons, Dr. Brian Kott and Dr. Raj Ghodke, look on.

Normally, Dr. Britz would have had to perform a craniotomy, opening Dolan's skull, cutting out the aneurysm and replacing it with another section of her blood vessel.

"That is a very invasive operation, carries reasonably high risks," adds Dr. Britz.

Instead, the team used a relatively new treatment, threading a catheter through Dolan's arteries to place a new type of stent, called a neuroform stent, inside her carotid artery.

The stent, made by Boston Scientific, is basically a tube made of a certain type of cellular material. It holds up the walls of the artery. Meanwhile the team has packed miniature platinum coils inside the aneurysm, to prevent blood from pooling there.

Together, the stent and the material in the aneurysm allow blood to flow freely.

"But it's no doubt in my mind," says neurosurgeon Britz, "that this is the safer way to go, and this is the way of the future."

Best of all, it's not brain surgery. Which means the day after the procedure, Dolan will go home.

"This is so much easier," says Dolan. She'll be home in time for Christmas.

The doctors at Harborview expect that 8 out of 10 of their aneurysm patients will be able to avoid surgery because of this new procedure.