TV Presenter Davina McCall Leaves Intensive Care Following Brain Surgery

Television personality Davina McCall has been discharged from intensive care, having achieved an “enormous leap forward” over the past day, subsequent to an operation to excise a rare brain tumor. Her partner, Michael Douglas, provided an update via his Instagram account, stating: “Thanks so much to all the well wishers. She really has made an enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours. She is out of ICU.” The 57-year-old had previously shared a video on Instagram, announcing her diagnosis with a benign tumor known as a colloid cyst. While a benign tumor is non-cancerous, these types of cysts typically exhibit slow growth, as reported by the Brainstrust charity. Mr. Douglas further commented in the post directed at McCall’s 1.9 million followers: “Massive relief to see some light coming though. Thanks for all the good vibes coming in from all angles.” Prior to her surgical procedure, McCall had elaborated on the fortuitous discovery of the tumor. In a video uploaded on Friday, she recounted: “A few months ago, I did a menopause talk for a company and they offered me a health scan in return, which I thought I was going to ace. But it turned out I had a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, which is very rare – three in a million.” The Brains Trust indicates that colloid cysts commonly develop within a fluid-filled cavity situated in the brain’s core, and are themselves fluid-filled. These cysts constitute under 2% of all primary brain tumors, and their growth rate and associated symptoms can differ among individuals, as per the charity. McCall detailed that a surgeon would conduct a procedure known as a craniotomy, involving the removal of a section of the skull to extract the tumor. Mr. Douglas had earlier described the operation as “textbook.” McCall’s extensive career as a television presenter encompasses programs such as Channel 4’s Big Brother, ITV’s Long Lost Family, and My Mum, Your Dad, in addition to Comic and Sport Relief for the BBC. Earlier in the current year, she received a special recognition award at the National TV Awards, acknowledging her career-long contributions to the television industry. Furthermore, she advocates for menopause awareness, having been motivated by her own hormonal changes to spotlight women’s experiences through her professional endeavors. In the previous year, she secured the highest honor at the British Book Awards for her 2022 publication, Menopausing, co-authored with Dr. Naomi Potter. The phenomenon dubbed the “Davina effect” led to a significant surge in demand for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) following her 2021 Channel 4 documentary, Sex, Myths and Menopause. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.