Colleen McCullough’s fear as she prepares to undergo brain surgery

MELBOURNE - Acclaimed author Colleen McCullough, who is set to undergo brain surgery, says she can’t describe what she’s going through.

McCullough is halfway through writing her 22nd novel but will soon undergo the surgery that may leave her unable to complete the book - or ever write again.

“The pain is unbelievable; I’m a wordsmith but I can’t describe to you what it feels like,” the Herald Sun quoted McCullough as telling The Daily Telegraph.

“I just stand there and cry. I’m really not a sook; I’m tough but it’s bad pain,” she added.

The 72-year-old has trigeminal neuralgia, or prosopalgia, an illness that causes an intense, stabbing pain in her face.

The Norfolk Island-based writer, who was a neuroscientist before publishing her first book in 1974, will travel to Sydney in January for surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain.

McCullough says that he biggest fear is not of dying but of losing her mind and being unable to indulge her greatest passion: writing.

“The biggest risk is surviving but not being me any more - that would be worse, I think,” McCullough said.

“It’s daunting when you know what you’re in for and you know the risks. But you pay your money and you take your chance: it’s that simple,” she added. (ANI)