A popular opera singer from Wexford recently underwent life-saving surgery on a tumour that she put down to neck pain.
Clare Kavanagh had been experiencing persistent neck pain for months which she put down to an old injury or sleeping in a certain way.
She had been attending physiotherapy for the pain but it didn't seem to be working for her.
Clare said she was going about life normally at the start of 2023 "working away, planning for the future, enjoying time with friends, family and looking forward" before it all changed in what she describes as "what seemed like a blink of the eye"
When physio didn't resolve Clare's neck pain she went to her doctor to get a referral for an MRI not thinking that the results would come back with a tumour but with the old injury she had been referring to.
Sadly the results didn't come back showing an old injury but instead showed a large tumour growing inside her spinal cord. "The results of the MRI floored me," Clare said.
The tumour was extremely rare and sat in what is described as the ‘prime real estate’ area of the spine and surgery was the only option to remove it.
If Clare didn't receive this surgery she could have been left in a wheelchair, with further degenerative impacts thereafter.
Clare said "As you can imagine as a young, fit woman, this was so difficult to process.
"What made it even harder was the fact that the medical consultations that followed presented life-altering risks and scenarios.
"I was told it might be something I’d have to live with and manage, that there was a high possibility that they couldn’t remove the tumour due to its location.
"The glimmer of hope I had rested with my surgical team. I was referred to the top neurosurgical team in the country at Beaumont Hospital. Given the risks associated with the surgery, this team were the only team that could take this on. My only hope."
Clare was only diagnosed 5 weeks before she got the 12-hour surgery she described as "gruelling" and "highly precise".
The surgeons removed all of the tumour which Clare says is the outcome she had wished for even though she has had and still has to go through a long recovery process.
"The outcome of which was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle I put down to the skills, experience, and dedication of my medical team (and prayers of many!)."
Clare has had to learn to walk again and regain the use of her arms and hands.
Now Clare wants to give back and raise money for those who saved her life. "I vowed before I went into hospital that, if by a miracle it could be removed, that I would do my very best to raise money for those who saved my life." She explained.
Her surgeon, Professor Bolger asked that the money she raises would go to the neurosurgery research and development fund in Beaumont.
Clare set up a GoFundMe page on Friday with a goal of €15,000 which she has already nearly hit. She has raised €13,206 from 231 donations in just three days (as of Monday at 13:30)
Clare said "This money will contribute to the amazing work of that team and department, who quite literally do lifesaving work every day. We all know how broken the health system is, so these funds are so needed."
She also plans to organise a fundraising concert next year when she has recovered a bit more.
Clare thanked her family, friends and people who sent cards, lit candles and kept her in their thoughts for everything
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
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