According to her parents, senior Amanda Pelletier is awake and doing well after a successful surgery to remove a cyst from her brain. 

Amanda’s doctors said that her cyst was larger than they previously thought, and that it had herniated into the third ventricle of the brain, which may explain the severity of her symptoms. Cyst herniation occurs when a cyst ruptures a wall of smooth tissue; in Amanda’s case, this tissue was the lining of a natural, fluid-filled cavity in the brain.

Despite these discoveries, the surgery was completed as planned. Amanda is currently resting in the hospital in Los Angeles, where she will remain for a couple days.

“She is doing well on all the tests so far,” said Janet Pelletier, Amanda’s mother. “[Today] they will begin trying to get her up and maybe walk[ing].” 

Amanda will remain on painkillers for a short time to manage the aftereffects of surgery. 

“Hopefully, tomorrow she will be feeling better,” said senior Anna Killpack, who has been receiving updates on Amanda’s progress. “Everything is looking great.”

The Central Focus and FHCtoday.com has covered Amanda’s journey to recovery in print and online. Click here to read more from our staff, or here to read past updates from Amanda’s blog.