Mackenzie’s Story

In 2015, I was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst in my brain, which was ironically found through an MRI at the RCH for a research study. I was medically completely fine at the time of diagnosis and was in my second last year of primary school. After this diagnosis, I began to regularly see the neurosurgery team at the RCH (and many other services) and received frequent scans and monitoring.

Unfortunately, not long after diagnosis, I began to experience constant headaches. It became a concern (due to my diagnosis), and I had my first brain surgery in 2017 (my first year of high school). This was a horrifying thought, but I was willing to do anything to give myself a chance at a pain-free life. This surgery worked for a month or so, and my headaches were minimal, but unfortunately, they came back.

I cannot fault the treatment I received, and all the work the nurses and medical professionals did. After seeing many teams at RCH, I had my next brain surgery at the peak of covid in 2020. Having strict visitation restrictions was extremely hard, but all of the nurses made the experience much easier.

I have since been discharged from the RCH, and am now 18, and I can’t thank them enough for all that they did for me.