Fergus Thomson is recovering well after a surgeon removed most of a second, rapidly growing, golf-ball sized brain tumour last month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The former Eurobodalla Shire mayor and sitting councillor said the tumour had grown quickly in the three weeks since it was discovered.
“It had grown from thumb-nail size to golf-ball size,” Cr Thomson said.
“That was a bit quick and not what the oncologist and surgeon had expected.”
Cr Thomson underwent exploratory surgery on November 20 after a shadow was discovered on a routine scan earlier that month.
Surgeons had removed a large tumour in January and Cr Fergus had returned to his shire duties.
He said on Tuesday he was recovering well from the second tumour’s removal.
“I am good,” Cr Thomson said.
“Everyday is another little issue, but I am fine.”
He said surgeons could not take the entire tumour.
“They can only take a certain amount without causing damage to motor skills,” he said.
However, he said the surgeon was prepared to keep operating as required.
“The surgeon is prepared to keep on snipping away so, as long as he can keep me functioning, we will keep doing it,” he said.
Cr Thomson said he and his family had not given up hope of a more permanent solution.
“We keep having that little hope that something will come along and we can get a reprieve,” he said.
The sheep farmer said Tuesday was his “first day back in the paddock”, but he was still banned from the shearing shed.
“I have only just got the staples out and they said I could not go anywhere near the shearing shed or dust yet,” he said.
To his disgust, “they did the shearing without me”.
Cr Thomson said reports of his imminent retirement from shire affairs had again been exaggerated.
“I feel well and I am enjoying my life immensely,” he said.