Woman who underwent brain surgery while awake thanks medics
Brooke MacFadyen was treated at the Institute for Neurological Sciences in Glasgow.
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Your support makes all the difference.A woman who underwent surgery to remove a brain tumour while she was awake is looking forward to the future after the ālife changingā operation.
Brooke MacFadyenās tumour was discovered in May when she had an MRI after she went to her GP following a seizure.
In August, she underwent a highly specialised brain operation known as awake craniotomy, a procedure used to remove primary brain tumours.
The goal of the surgery is to remove as much tumour tissue as possible while minimising the risk of complications or longer-term effects on motor control and cognitive functions.
To do that Ms McFadyen was kept conscious during key parts of the surgery to help ensure the procedure was going to plan.
The 24-year-old needed to wait a few weeks after her operation to find out how serious the tumour was, but she has just been given the positive news that she and her family were hoping for.
She said: āI will be getting looked after with some future treatment to prevent the tumour coming back, but basically I can look forward now with real confidence.ā
The medical team at the Institute for Neurological Sciences, part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow, used a new system called NeuroMapper ā a digital platform that allows monitoring across a wider range of functions such as language, attention, working memory, visuospatial and executive functions, during the awake stage of the surgery.
During the operation, which took more than seven hours, staff operated the NeuroMapper and worked with the rest of the theatre team to gauge the patientās reactions and ensure the procedure was going to plan.
Ms McFadyen, from Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, said she was initially shocked to hear about awake craniotomy but is now looking forward to the future.
She said: āWhen I heard about the awake craniotomy, it took me a couple of weeks to get over the shock, but then I decided āIām going to do thisā.
āStrangely itās been a really positive experience. Iāve been through life-changing surgery and now feel completely different.
āBefore I doubted myself so much ā Iād get into my own head with things, talk myself out of things. But not now ā I now know Iām a really strong person, and super-independent.
āMaking this decision ā something I was so scared of ā Iām going to use it as a positive from now on.ā
The 24-year-old has already booked a holiday to Tenerife with a friend and is now determined to fulfil her dream of becoming a primary school teacher.
She thanked the team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde who cared for her, saying: āFrom the doctors to the cleaners and the nurses on the ward, they are all special people to be able to do what they do ā Iāll never forget what youāve done for me.ā
She also said a special thank-you to Dr Sharon Mulhern, consultant clinical psychologist and lead for regional neuropsychology services, who held her hand and kept her calm during the procedure, saying she was like a āsecond mumā.
Dr Mulhern said: āAwake craniotomy is a highly specialised procedure often working to extremely fine margins.
āItās early days, but NeuroMapper has real potential to be a revolution in intra-operative brain mapping, bringing real benefits for the surgical team, for the patient ā and for longer-term outcomes.ā
Consultant neurosurgeon Likhith Alakandy, who carried out the operation, said: āI have found NeuroMapper to be a great addition to awake craniotomies. It provides an accurate and objective assessment of patientsā language and cognitive abilities, comparing it to their pre-operative function.
āBy providing constant feedback, it allows the surgeon to push boundaries of tumour removal while preserving important neurological and cognitive function.
āMaximising tumour removal is known to improve survival in patients with intrinsic brain tumour, so it helps provide a better outcome in these patients.ā