Model Emily Sears Reveals 'Strange' Experience Of Being Awake During Brain Surgery!

Model Emily Sears just underwent major brain surgery, and she was awake for the whole “surreal” experience!

The 35-year-old opened up in a lengthy Instagram caption on Monday about the “strange” medical procedure she had just a few days earlier — which comes after her cavernous malformation diagnosis last year.

Along with a pic of herself (above) taken in recovery after the operation, the Australia native opened up about the past year of her life after she experienced a “major seizure” while out shopping, which eventually led doctors to her cavernoma discovery:

“I’ve delayed posting this because I don’t even know where to begin. The past year of my life is so hard to put into words. In April last year, I suddenly woke up in an ambulance being taken to hospital after having a major seizure while shopping. After a few days of tests, I was diagnosed as having a cavernous malformation, otherwise known as a cavernoma, which is a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in the brain which cause epileptic seizures.”

Since her diagnosis, things haven’t exactly been easy:

“My whole life was put on hold from that point on from my work life to my social life, my relationship with my body and my identity. This past year has been a rollercoaster of the up and downs of having multiple seizures, side effects of medication trials and the emotional toll of everything in my world changing so suddenly.”

Ultimately, craniotomy surgery was the best option for her at the end of the day, Sears explained:

“I chose to have this surgery because my choices came down to living on medication for the rest of my life, always living with the likelihood of having breakthrough seizures even while medicated-or going ahead with the craniotomy surgery. Because the cavernoma was located in the front left temporal lobe, I risked losing my ability to speak as that is the speech function area of the human brain.”

Due to the high-risk operation, Emily needed to be awake throughout the procedure. She reflected on this experience, sharing:

“Because of this; I was awake while they operated as I needed to be able to speak to make sure they didn’t remove any vital tissue along with the blood vessels. I remember every moment of being awake, there was 2 surgeons and one waved at me.. it was as strange and surreal as it sounds!”

That’s wild!!

The model, who has worked with brands including Khloé Kardashian‘s Good American and Carl’s Jr., is feeling a “deepened” sense of respect for her body, mind, and soul after what she’s been through:

“Ultimately, this experience has changed my world view more than I could every express, and the overall feeling I am left with is gratitude. I have a deepened respect for the human body, the human mind and the human soul. I am humbly grateful for the ability to access healthcare, for the fact that my condition had a cure and for the support of my friends, family, industry peers and for my incredible man who has stuck by me the whole time.”

Sears concluded her caption:

“I want to remind everyone that IG is never the whole picture of our lives; you don’t know what people are going through – so always be kind. Thank you for the well wishes and love!”

You can read her full post (below):

View this post on Instagram

So, last Thursday, I had brain surgery! . I’ve delayed posting this because I don’t even know where to begin. The past year of my life is so hard to put into words. . In April last year, I suddenly woke up in an ambulance being taken to hospital after having a major seizure while shopping. After a few days of tests, I was diagnosed as having a cavernous malformation, otherwise known as a cavernoma, which is a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in the brain which cause epileptic seizures. . My whole life was put on hold from that point on from my work life to my social life, my relationship with my body and my identity. . This past year has been a rollercoaster of the up and downs of having multiple seizures, side effects of medication trials and the emotional toll of everything in my world changing so suddenly. . I chose to have this surgery because my choices came down to living on medication for the rest of my life, always living with the likelihood of having breakthrough seizures even while medicated-or going ahead with the craniotomy surgery. Because the cavernoma was located in the front left temporal lobe, I risked losing my ability to speak as that is the speech function area of the human brain. . Because of this; I was awake while they operated as I needed to be able to speak to make sure they didn’t remove any vital tissue along with the blood vessels. I remember every moment of being awake, there was 2 surgeons and one waved at me.. it was as strange and surreal as it sounds! . Ultimately, this experience has changed my world view more than I could every express, and the overall feeling I am left with is gratitude. I have a deepened respect for the human body, the human mind and the human soul. I am humbly grateful for the ability to access healthcare, for the fact that my condition had a cure and for the support of my friends, family, industry peers and for my incredible man who has stuck by me the whole time. . I want to remind everyone that IG is never the whole picture of our lives; you don’t know what people are going through – so always be kind. . Thank you for the well wishes and love! . #cavernomaawareness #cavernoma #brainsurgery #epilepsy

A post shared by Emily Sears (@emilysears) on Jun 29, 2020 at 3:10pm PDT