Jennifer Bisram, an award-winning reporter and anchor at CBS News New York, disappeared from the air for several weeks in spring 2026 after learning she had a brain aneurysm — a discovery that came only because she refused to ignore months of persistent headaches and pushed her doctors for an MRI. What she found out next led to a procedure, several days in the hospital, and a moment when she sat down to write out her wishes in case she never came home.
Months of Headaches Led to a Frightening Diagnosis
Bisram, who covers aging and caregiving, crime, and community stories for the station, described the ordeal in a personal account published by CBS News New York. She said the headaches lingered for months before she insisted on imaging, and the scan revealed a brain aneurysm — a swelling of a blood vessel in the brain that develops a bulging, balloon-like shape, according to the outlet's report. Bisram described the feeling in stark terms, saying she felt like a walking time bomb once she understood what was inside her skull.
The diagnosis came from Dr. Charlotte Chung, a neurointerventionalist who told Bisram her aneurysm was more dangerous than many others, per the same account. Facing that reality, Bisram wrote out her wishes in case she did not return home — a detail she shared as part of describing just how seriously she and her medical team treated the threat.
A Wrist-Based Procedure to Reroute Blood Flow
Dr. Chung performed a flow-diversion procedure on Bisram, a technique that redirects blood in the brain using a mesh tube or stent. The device was inserted through Bisram's wrist vein, the station's report notes. Bisram's surgery was successful, and Dr. Chung said the stent would be given six months to one year to disappear on its own.
Bisram spent several days in the hospital following the procedure before resting at home during her recovery. She said she was ready to get back to sharing stories, and along the way posted updates on social media to keep viewers informed of her progress, according to the report.
Turning a Scare Into a Message of Recovery
Bisram, who is a mother, daughter, and wife, said she wanted to tell her story to encourage others that they can recover from a similar diagnosis. She also said she wants to live fully, a sentiment she tied directly to the ordeal she survived. Bisram has since volunteered at the annual Brain Aneurysm Foundation Long Island Run/Walk, an event held every year to raise awareness of the condition, per the same account.
Bisram joined CBS News New York in 2022 and has covered New York news for nearly two decades, according to her CBS News biography.
How Common Are Brain Aneurysms?
Medical experts note that unruptured brain aneurysms affect between 2% and 5% of otherwise healthy people, and about one-quarter of those people have multiple aneurysms, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The vast majority of brain aneurysms never rupture, the clinic notes, and aneurysms can develop over many years without producing any symptoms at all, according to the American Heart Association.
Doctors typically rely on CT scans, CT or MRI angiography, and ultrasound to find and diagnose aneurysms, and treatment can range from medication to surgery depending on the aneurysm's type, location, and size, per the Cleveland Clinic. Estimates on the danger of a rupture vary by source: Medical News Today has reported that around 30,000 brain aneurysms rupture in the United States each year, with about 25 percent of those cases causing death within 24 hours, while the CBS News New York account states that a ruptured brain aneurysm causes death for half of those who suffer one. Bisram's own account also cites an estimate that nearly 1 in 50 people in the United States live with an unruptured brain aneurysm.
For Bisram, the numbers are secondary to the message she says she hopes will reach others facing the same fear she once did — that a diagnosis like hers does not have to be a death sentence, and that recovery is possible.
