Heath Needs Urgent Brain Surgery

$80,392 of $150,000 goal

Given by 3732 generous donors in around 4 months

Heath has two brain tumours, both in critical locations. We need to raise $150,000NZD for the radical surgery that will save his life.

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** A post-op message from Heath**

Hello amazing people.

There is literally a clicking going on in my brain they say I’ll hear strange things like that for a short while.

I’m tired and my head feels like razors but I am finally going to post something personal. I’m Sorry I have been so unresponsive, I have actually been quite disconnected since the news of these invaders and it seemed for a while that every thought about a future weighed a tonne. My identity has been in an explosion and I knew straight away I wasn’t finding all the pieces again, so things are different now and that is just how it has to be…

To the important stuff

I am so thankful to everyone who has put up with me, worked on the fundraising, donated, shared the cause and sent positive energies in any form. I felt quite embarrassed about the whole thing being so public as I’m quite the private person but I am lucky to have people that help me realize that it is ok to ‘accept’ and I have a new faith in people I could not have imagined. Sincerely.

So, I’m sitting here in a private ward where I arrived from ICU this afternoon. I will be walking out of here tomorrow, yes because I am not paralyzed. Everybody here at NSWA has made this situation as comfortable as possible, It takes a special kind of person to be a nurse, even the evil looking ones that when you gaze upon them and whisper “ no please not them” instantly change your mind with their natural kindness… or maybe that’s because they are witches.

The surgery went well, everyone is happy with the outcome, the front meningioma was completely removed through my right eyebrow and no complications with my eyesight.

The omen at the back however proved to be more dangerous and difficult due to the paper thin blood vessels surrounding it. There may be some residue, which means there is a possibility it may grow back in the years ahead. This could mean more surgery but I think it will just give up wasting it’s time.

Morphine and scars

**Heaths Story**

Recently Heath and his family visited Dr Charlie Teo, a world renowned Sydney based neurosurgeon, who specialises in this field. He wants to operate urgently. Dr Teo admits that the surgery will be challenging, even for his highly skilled team. But he is confident that if surgery happens soon, Heath will make a fantastic recovery.

Heath is a fighter. He's already beaten the odds once before, having survived childhood cancer. At only 6-years old he battled acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for three years. However the radiation to Heath’s brain that saved his life then, has caused the tumours he has today. This means that further radiation treatment isn’t a possibility. His only chance for long-term survival is radical surgery.

So for the second time in his 33 years, Heath is fighting for his life. This is where we need your help. We need to urgently raise $150,000 NZD for the surgery and rehabilitation costs.

Heath is determined to put this hard time behind him, and he can once these tumours have been removed. Heath can continue sharing life’s journey with his girlfriend Alex and their cat Cyan. He can get back to making the music he is so passionate about, being an avid soccer supporter and being the brother and son his family are so proud of.

8 weeks post op! 14 December 2014

So I am 8 weeks post-op now and doing well. I came out of surgery with no major deficits and I thank Dr Teo for his incredible skills and resources. I am absolutely amazed at what a tidy job he has done. After surgery we were informed that he removed all of the tumors visible and that this was one of the best and most challenging surgeries he had performed. We were however told that there is the chance of regrowth as there may be some cells left over (the surgery went into very delicate territory).

The total costs so far have totaled around $115,000 NZD. Due to the surgery going so well this is a lot less than we were expecting. The huge efforts made by my family, friends and the One Dollar Warriors means we managed to fundraise around $85,000 of that! This money meant we could book the surgery just in time. Another few weeks and the tumor behind my right eye may have completely invaded my optical canal resulting in blindness (in the right eye).

Recovering from brain surgery is a slow process and I still have a way to go. I get exhausted quickly and get pretty nasty headaches some days. My sense of smell has not returned which of course affects my taste as well, time will tell if this returns. A super healthy lifestyle has been on the cards (Whole foods, juicing,vitamin regiment, exercise).

We returned from Sydney last week from our follow up consult with Dr Charlie Teo and my first MRI scan since the surgery. We also got the pathology report back and we are pleased and relieved to report that all is clear and healing very well. The pathology report showed Grade1(this means benign!) tumors which is the best outcome we could have hoped for as there was some concern over malignancy.

Here are some images and my pre-op MRI scans. These scans show just how big the tumors had grown since the initial scans I had in April when I was diagnosed.

Heath

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