‘Scared for my life’: Woman travels to AU for a complex brain surgery

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – “I used to be simply scared for my life. I didn’t know what was going to occur,” stated Wendy Johnson, recovering from brainstem surgical procedure

The Georgia girl was in tears after a surgical procedure solely carried out at a handful of hospitals saved her life.

She drove all the best way from Albany to seek out out what was incorrect after she began experiencing signs like a complete facet of her face going numb and beginning to droop.

It seems she wanted a posh mind surgical procedure. Solely a handful of surgeons can carry out it, together with one at Augusta College Well being.

Lately, Johnson is a fairly widespread gal.

She stays fairly busy from the hospital mattress with all of the Facetimes and cellphone calls.

“I bought the media individuals right here. I’m attempting to interview proper now,” she stated.

Rightfully so, as a result of had she not ended up right here, she may have ended paralyzed.

“I stated, the left of my mouth is turning into numb. And she or he stayed on me. ‘That you must go to the hospital; you’ll want to go to the hospital’. I stored placing it off, after which it moved from my mouth to my head,” stated Johnson.

Her physician in Albany despatched her to AU Well being. They knew no matter was occurring would want complicated surgical procedure. Dr. Martin Rutkowski suspected it was a benign tumor outdoors the mind stem.

“On this case it was really a lesion or a mass contained in the mind stem itself. I used to be fairly stunned to see that, and at that time, the operation can be that rather more difficult,” stated Rutkowski, a neurosurgeon at AU Well being.

Surgical procedure on the mind stem is prevented in any respect prices until completely mandatory. That mind stem controls all the data despatched from the physique to the thoughts. Johnson misplaced her mother years in the past.

“She’s all the time with me,” stated Johnson.

She knew she didn’t need her daughter to be with no mother.

Rutkowski stated: “If it’s not caught early, it will probably actually trigger incapacitating incapacity.”

So, she went beneath, and oddly there was a blessing from her hemorrhaging. The inner bleeding led her surgeon straight to the supply of the issue.

“The blood had virtually fashioned a little bit defend across the cavernous malfunction itself and form of made for a really good approach to dissect it with out damaging her regular capabilities,” he stated.

Regardless that Johnson needed to miss her daughter’s eleventh birthday and watch her elementary college commencement from a cellphone, she’s right here. Right here for her daughter. And right here for a lot of extra years.

Her physician says anytime that you’ve a sudden onset of methods like numbness, paired with different extreme ache, it’s all the time a good suggestion to get checked out instantly.

Johnson lastly will get to see her daughter for the primary time since surgical procedure on Saturday.

“I simply wanna say thanks, a giant thanks to everybody,” stated Johnson.

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