Statement 30 November 2017: What is Next for Sarah

Statement from The SurvivalSurgery4Sarah Campaign Team, 30 November 2017

As stated previously, Sarah Gearing's medical situation is complicated and she has now undergone major surgery that has a long recovery time. This has meant that we have had to wait and see with regards to her future medical prognosis, with so much depending on how her body recovers from the surgery. In the last few days we have had a mixture of both good and bad news.

Good news: Sarah has had her life-saving neck fusion surgery, which was very successful, and following this she continues to discover many physical improvements. She has not had any seizures since the surgery and is finding breathing and swallowing much easier. Most crucially, Sarah’s life has been saved by this surgery and she is no longer in danger of her skull coming away from her spine. The compressed nerve in her right arm is healing, with Sarah expecting to regain full use of it with time.

Bad news: Sadly Sarah’s recovery has suffered a setback, with an infection taking hold. Sarah had to undergo further surgery on 21 November to flush out and treat the infected area which resulted in two bone grafts from her neck fusion having to be removed in order to deal with it. This now destabilises her neck to a degree and therefore corrective surgery will be needed to reinstate the necessary elements when Sarah is suitably recovered and strong enough for the procedure (the doctors have suggested this may be in about 6 months). Sarah is very keen to stress that this doesn't undermine the fact that her surgery was a success; this is a new complication arising from the fact that her body was harbouring many toxins in her own stagnant spinal fluid, the free flow of which had been impeded by her brain stem compression.

Good news: Following the neurosurgical team’s post-surgery assessments they are now recommending that Sarah does not have fusion on the remainder of her spine. They think it would be unwise to put her body through this procedure and are saying that Sarah will do better with rehabilitative therapy and the use of an external body brace to provide the required support.

What does this mean for the fundraising campaign?

We will continue to raise funds and pursue our fundraising goal for an additional £70,000, which will be reviewed once Sarah’s exact costs become clear. What began as a sprint is becoming more of a marathon, and we hope that all of Sarah’s friends and supporters will remain with us on this journey.

In the short term, Sarah will need additional funds because she will now be in recovery in Spain longer than originally anticipated and the costs of her aftercare are therefore increasing. Because of her particular set of complications, including her mast cell condition which, if not managed properly, could give rise to anaphylaxis landing her back in intensive care, Sarah is needing to buy in extra nursing care to ensure one-to-one recovery support. Sarah will now also be needing an external body brace, in addition to the costs of new scans and the restorative surgery that will be needed next year to reinstate the elements of her neck fusion that had to be removed, the full details of which are yet to be confirmed.

We wish to thank all of Sarah’s friends and supporters, you have helped to save her life and Sarah says words are not enough to express her gratitude. We hope you will continue to support Sarah through to the conclusion of this campaign in the coming months. Our end goal is to see Sarah safely back home with her neck fusion surgery completed and restored. Sarah is very much looking forward to coming home in the new year, and to having the reinstatement surgery at the right time, which will leave her in a strong position to get on with living and enjoying her life.

• To donate please go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/survivalsurgery4sarah
• For campaign information and fundraising ideas please see the Facebook page, SurvivalSurgery4Sarah.
• To follow Sarah’s medical progress and personal journey she invites you to her blog, www.survivalsurgerysarah.blogspot.co.uk