Good news! American Idol season 15 finalist, Avalon Young, got through her brain surgery to remove a peach sized tumor. And she’s already playing guitar again.
The singer spoke with FOX 5 San Diego after her surgery. The Feb. 26 procedure at UC San Diego Medical Center in La Jolla lasted about 16 hours and kept the singer hospitalized for two days.
Avalon worried that the risky surgery would affect her ability to speak or cause paralysis. After waking up, the first thing she did was move her fingers to make sure they worked.
“I told the doctor, I said, ‘Please, just anything that happens, please pray that my right side is going to work,’” she said. “Because being a guitar player and a singer and a writer, my right side is my most important.
“I woke up and it was pretty dark in my room, but I was breathing and talking and able to eat and then I saw my mom there and I was like so stoked I wasn’t alone in there.”
The surgery has left Avalon with 29 staples on the left side of her head. She expects they will be removed in a week or so.
Doctors were not able to remove the entire tumor, and Avalon may require further treatments. But for now, she feels great.
“I’m good; I’m young; I’m able to overcome all of these things,” she said. “If I need another procedure in four, five, six, 10 years in the future then I’ll face it when I come to it. Right now, I’m so happy.”
As far as the guitar playing is concerned, it came right back to her like muscle memory.
“I was worried about how my creativity would be, how so many things would be for me,” she said. “I was really naive. You get an operation on your brain and you don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m starting to feel like myself more every day.”
Avalon is selling hoodies which feature her motto “humor in the tumor” A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the American Brain Tumor Association in Chicago and the Department of Neural Sciences at UCSD. Get them HERE. Also it look like she’s still raising money to defray medical costs via GoFundMe.
Avalon shaved her own head before surgery. In a another Instagram post, she displays a row of staples across the left side of her head.
this is me before my 16 hour brain surgery. when i found out i had a brain tumor i wanted to do a bunch of s*** i’ve never done before so i shaved my head. i’m trying to act like it didn’t happen, but it’s something that’s pretty hard to ignore. i finally made it home from the hospital and i feel so happy to be home. i wish there were enough words to thank everyone who has given me love and support. i can barely stay awake, but i can’t wait to go back to LA and give you guys some new music. i love u.
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