Davina McCall had a heartbreaking message for the surgeon who performed a life-saving operation on her.
Davina, 57, had to undergo a gruelling five-hour operation in November after doctors discovered she had a benign tumour, known as a colloid cyst. They made the discovery when she underwent a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy.
But the surgery was not without its complications, one wrong move and Davina could have had a stroke, or lost her short term memory, something that could have ended her glistening TV career. Leaving the tumour however meant she could, at some point, die suddenly.
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The former Big Brother presenter admits she went into surgery having put her “whole life in order” in case the worst did happen. It involved writing letters to her grown up children Holly, Tilly and Chester.
Speaking to The Times, Davina says she could have begged surgeon Kevin O’Neill to keep her alive, but admits that would have been “quite the stress”. She remarked: “It’s an immense pressure and what he needs to know is that I have faith in him.
“I know that he is the best at his job. I know that he wants to do the best for me.
“So I said to him, ‘You do whatever you need to do. I put all my faith in you.’ He doesn’t need me screaming at him to keep me alive. He needs to be in the calmest and most confident place. I wanted to empower Kevin to do the best job he could.”
The procedure saw Kevin peel back the scalp, drill into the skull, and then remove the cyst using GPS trackers to guide his hand. The experienced surgeon likened it to attempting to diffuse a bomb.
Little did the world know however, that by the time news of Davina’s tumour had broken on Instagram, she had already gone under the knife. She was in hospital recovering with partner Michael Douglas.
Four months after the operation, Davina says she has become close friends with her surgeon. Kevin says he likes to “connect” with his patients admitting that the more positive they are, the more positive he is before going into theatre.
However he acknowledges that brain surgery on Davina was “stressful” because so much of her work relies on her memory, and the cyst was sitting on her short-term memory pathway. Four months on however Davina says she has a newfound appreciation for life, and acknowledges that “everything is beautiful now” – though she admits she has no plans to keep on talking about her experience.
What are colloid cyst symptoms?
The NHS says people with a non-cancerous benign tumour – such as a colloid cyst – can also experience issues with their memory. It says symptoms can come on gradually, worsening over the months and years.
Symptoms include:
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headaches that get worse over time or do not go away – although it’s unusual for a headache to be the only symptom
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seizures (fits)
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feeling sick (nausea) and being sick (vomiting)
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feeling sleepy or dizzy
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changes in your eyesight, such as blurred or double vision
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changes in behaviour or personality, such as confusion or problems with memory and concentration
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problems with speech, movement and balance