Woman underwent emergency neurosurgery and would have been dead within days if she hadn’t gone to the hospital after an unchecked condition spread throughout her brain

The 25-year-old woman said she was initially prescribed with antibiotics when she went to the hospital with a sinus infection. Unfortunately, when her symptoms got worse, the unfortunate woman ended up in hospital where she underwent emergency neurosurgery to remove half of her skull. The surgeons told the woman that she would have been dead within a week if she hadn’t gone to the hospital when she did.

The 25-year-old woman from California, Natasha Gunther, said that she was initially prescribed with antibiotics when she went to the hospital with a sinus infection. But, her her symptoms got worse and she underwent emergency neurosurgery to remove half of her skull, the New York Post reports.

The woman is now sharing her story on her social media accounts to raise awareness about the seriousness of sinus infections. 

The 25-year-old woman from California, Natasha Gunther, reportedly said: “This all started because I had a lot of sinus infections last year. I had about five to six of them. I kept going to my primary doctor who prescribed antibiotics for a normal sinus infection. But it got so bad to the point that I was throwing up a lot and having horrible migraines.”

The 25-year-old also said that her mom and dad forced her to get a CT scan on December 12. She underwent emergency brain surgery including a craniotomy on the same day.

Per reports, the surgeons reportedly removed Natasha’s bone and discovered she had a massive amount of straph and strep caused by the sinus infections.

The 25-year-old woman from California, Natasha Gunther, reportedly said: “That mass had moved my brain 9mm to the right.  In total, they removed around 12-14cm of my skull and put it into a freezer. I stayed in hospital for another five weeks and also had further sinus surgery.

As most people who get sinus infections will know, you don’t think anything of them and neither did my usual doctor. I teach martial arts to kids so I’m used to getting colds. Surgeons told me I would have been dead within a week if I hadn’t gone to the hospital when I did.

If you have more than one sinus infection per year or even just a sinus infection, please go to the hospital or the ENT just to be safe. Please just don’t rely on your primary doctor because it could be serious. I don’t want anyone to go through what I did. I have half a head now and you can avoid that!”

The brave woman also said that she is hoping to undergo surgery to get her original skull or a 3D print of her skull put back in later this year.

Gunther also said: “I’m waiting to get my skull put back in April this year. Doctors are either going to use my skull that they have kept in the freezer. Or if that doesn’t work, they’re going to make a 3D print of my skull and insert that in.

I’m hoping to go back to the normal life by the end of this year but it’s been hard. My life is very different to what it used to be. I used to have a busy life teaching martial arts and hanging out friends every day – like any person in their twenties.

When I came out of surgery, I struggled to talk so I’ve been having regular speech therapy since then. My boyfriend Joao – is also a martial arts instructor – has been doing a lot psychical therapy so I can get my energy back in my body. But there are some martial arts moves like grappling that will be too risky for me to every do again. 

But I’m staying positive and I try to have a sense of humor about everything. I want to share my story and raise awareness so that others get the help they need – before it’s too late. That’s all I care about now.”