BRAVE Kings Somborne resident, Meg Jones, underwent life-saving surgery in America last week (Wednesday June 6) and is already back on her feet.
Meg, 21, had a pioneering operation to remove a brain tumour and is already out of hospital and amazing her family with a speedy recovery.
She was in surgery for around eight hours on Wednesday (June 6) as American doctors used high-tech equipment to successfully remove the tumour.
Meg said: "My first memory after waking up was Professor Black telling me he got it all out. Can't say I'm feeling marvellous, but it's so nice to know I can only get better."
She spent three nights in intensive care after the operation, as there were no other beds spare and was discharged straight from ICU to her bed and breakfast on Saturday (June 9).
Meg's mum, Helen Bulbeck, said: "Much to our amazement Meg is continuing to recover really quickly. She's still looking gorgeous as ever."
She added that Meg's surgeon, Professor Peter Black, had been like "superman" as he held Meg's hand before the eight-hour operation.
Meg's stepfather, Peter Bulbeck, added: "He's a truly lovely man. His personal interest in this case has amazed and delighted us."
The couple, along with Meg's boyfriend, Josh Hill, were updated by staff at Boston Children's Hospital every 90 minutes as surgeons removed Meg's tumour.
Boyfriend Josh said: "It was just magic to see a sleepy Meg in intensive care. She talked to us and within a few hours was looking her normal self. She's such a star she'll be better in no time."
Meg is now recovering at her bed and breakfast in Boston, where she will stay for two to three weeks until she is fit enough to fly home. Her vision is still blurred from the operation and she needs to get plenty of sleep but she has already been for short walks and is doing well.
Friends and family back in the UK have been keeping track of her progress via her online blog, which has been flooded with messages of support.
Jill Mellor, assistant head teacher at The Westgate School where Meg was a pupil, wrote: "You have come on an incredible journey and our thoughts and good wishes are with you and your family. Take care and come back and see us at school when you are feeling fit and well."
Jenny Shackelford, Meg's cousin, wrote: "You are so wonderfully brave and the biggest shining star."Close friend, Sian Carter, said: "We are all thinking of you and that I can't wait for you to get well very soon and come home."
Meg was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was 18 and her mum, Helen Bulbeck, set up the brainstrust charity to help her daughter and other sufferers.
Last summer, the charity raised enough for Meg to have the pioneering operation in Boston, which is one of only two cities in the world offering the high-tech surgery. Meg could have had a more basic operation in the UK but its success would not have been guaranteed, so she opted for the US surgery, which uses an intra operative MRI scanner so doctors can see how much of the tumour they are removing.
The operation cost £50,000 and Mrs Bulbeck is working hard to bring the technology and training home for brain tumour patients in the UK.
You can visit Meg's blog, which has already received more than 4,000 hits, at http://megjones.wordpress.com/
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